The Lost Soldier

Chapters

Chapter 1: Insertion
Chapter 2: Awakening
Chapter 3: Introductions and Recovery
Chapter 4: First Impressions
Chapter 5: Inspection
Chapter 6: Recon
Chapter 7: Fire Runner
Chapter 8: Memories and Elements
Chapter 9: Confession
Chapter 10: Hunter
Chapter 12: Gear Check
Chapter 13:Combat Effective Part 1
Chapter 14: Combat Effective Part 2
Chapter 15: Combat Effective Part 3
Chapter 16: Free Fall
Chapter 17: The Past
Bonus Chapter: Combat
Chapter 18: Mistakes
Chapter 19: Flatline
Chapter 20: Decision Making
Chapter 21: An Empty Promise
Epilogue
Chapter 11: Cassandra
Author's Note
Alternate Ending 1: All's Well That Ends Well

Chapter 1: Insertion

Hey all you bronies and non bronies alike that decided to read my very first MLP fanfic.
This will be a human in equestrian fanfic and no pony will make a speaking appearance in
this first chapter, just the human.

"Five mikes till jump."

Gunnery Sergeant Raymond James snapped his head up and looked around the empty C-130 cargo hold. There were only two other people in the cargo area: his spotter, Corporal Janet Elise, and the jumpmaster.

"Three mikes."

Both Gunny Ray and Corporal Elise were part of an extremely secretive special forces group called Task Force Spartan. It was a multinational group that was composed of volunteers. These people, if accepted, would be taken to a secret facility, one located in almost every country, where they would endure extremely harsh training over a long span of time. The reason it prospered so well was because there were no age restrictions for volunteers. With parental consent, if the volunteer had any, anyone under the age limit of any country could join. Both Corporal Elise and Gunny Ray were only fourteen years old.

"Check altimeters and remember to not open your chute until 500 meters above sea level," Gunny Ray cautioned.

"Yeah, I know! I went through the same training as you did remember? The only difference is that you're the shooter and I'm the spotter this time," Corporal Janet replied, slightly irritated.

"Hey jumpmaster, we got clear skies right? I don't want to be killed by a jet while free falling before any terrorists get to shoot at me. Where's the fun in that right?

The jumpmaster shook his head as he listened to the pilots from the cockpit on his headset. Gunny Ray stood up and checked to ensure his gear was properly stowed in his jump bag that was attached via a cord onto his tactical vest.

"One mike!"

"Ready Gunny?" Corporal Elise inquired as the two approached the open ramp before them.

"Heh, ready as I'll ever be HALO jumping into enemy territory, at night, with no recon and a vague mission."

The two teenage Special Forces operators checked their gear one last time before the jump. The jumpmaster held up his hand, all five fingers extended, and one by one, curled them into a first. As the last finger curled to complete the fist, he yelled into his microphone to the two operators

"Jump! Jump! Jump!"

Both operators tossed themselves out of the plane and fell from 11,000 meters above sea level. The operators gained speed rapidly and were soon falling at terminal velocity towards their target. Ray checked his altimeter as he approached storm clouds over the landing zone. 1,000 meters above the clouds, however, a jet screamed by the falling operator and he was pulled off course to the right, falling through the storm clouds.

"I thought there weren't any planes nearby," Thought Gunny Ray as he struggled to correct his fall. "At least it didn't kill me."

However, as he was falling through the clouds, he felt a brief moment of disorientation in his body and the rain suddenly stopped. Slightly confused by the rapid change in conditions, Ray quickly brought his mind back towards the mission. He would have time to wonder what just happened after he returned home. But all of a sudden, a light blue blur shot past his vision. It had moved past so quickly that Ray wasn’t even able to make out what it had been. The slight shock of that, however, was not as great as the one he was about feel after he broke through the cloud covering.

"What the..."

Ray gazed down at a forest stretching below him. That was the problem- he wasn't supposed to be over a forest. He was supposed to be over a Middle Eastern desert. He immediately deployed his parachute and activated the high powered radio that was attached to his helmet.

"Sierra Base, Sierra Base, this is Viper One. I am over an unknown forest, presumably way off course. Do you read?"

Ray paused for a moment and asked again.

"Sierra Base, do you copy me?"

The silence that followed disturbed him. Along with having the best operators, Task Force Spartan also had the latest cutting edge technology. In other words, there was no reason for him to not be able to contact a base miles away. He tried to contact Corporal Elise next.

"Viper Two, do you read me?"

After another eerie silence, Ray decided that he was on his own. He quickly scanned the area below him and saw that near the edge of the forest, there was a small village. He struggled to decide whether or not to land in the village or in the forest. If he landed in the village he could get immediate help, if they weren't hostile. If he landed in the forest however, he could safely recon the village, but risked injury during the landing because the trees were so closely packed. He decided to compromise and land at the edge of the forest. He angled his chute and glided towards the edge of the forest, but right before his chute passed the tops of the trees at the forests edge, a sudden gust of wind yanked Ray's chute, and him with it, backwards.

"Crap," Ray muttered to no one in particular as his parachute snagged to the top of a tree. "Well it can't get much worse than this," he thought to himself. He then turned his head and saw the tree had very thick, very hard looking branches.

"Why does that always happen," he thought to himself as gravity pulled him down into the tree. This was his last conscious thought before the back of his head smashed into a large branch.

Hey guys just wanted to say thanks for reading and also three things, one seeing that this
is my first story I do not mind, and in fact do want lots of constructive criticism for both
the writing and anything about military techniques I will eventually make a mistake on, pls
send it to me in a PM. Next if you have any ideas of what Gunny Ray and the other ponies
of Ponyville will be doing during Ray's stay in Equestria just, launch me a PM also.

Chapter 2: Awakening

Hey guys thanks for the great feedback regarding my fanfic and I will do my best to
provide a great story for all you bronies out there reading my fanfic! Now onto the story!

Gunny Ray awoke from unconsciousness with a sharp headache and blurry vision. He blinked several times, hoping it would help, but his vision remained blurry. It wasn’t a surprise he was having vision issues, considering where he had hit his head was where vision is controlled by the brain. Ray hoped that he would recover before any enemy forces decided to show up.

The operator slowly tipped his head back to look up into the sky. He could make out daylight from the sky, most likely an early morning hour of 0800 or 0900ish. Ray looked down and also noticed a huge blur of bright colors gathered below him. He became aware of murmurs that appeared to come from them, but none that he could make out. Ray reached up and pulled off his helmet, which was attached to an oxygen tank, and let it hang along with the rest of his gear. There was a collective gasp from below when he took off the helmet and he looked up at a multi-colored blob at head level with himself. It was similar to the cyan object that had passed Ray earlier, but had a swirl of other colors at the top and bottom. Ray was slightly puzzled by this, believing it was a bird until it started talking to him.

“What in the hay are you?”

“Wha-?” was all Ray could manage to murmur.

“You heard me. What are you?” the blue blur asked again, more agitated this time.

Ray heard a voice from below, but he couldn’t make out what it said. He heard a softer murmur, barely a whisper and saw movement from blue blob.

“I don’t know, but I can check.”

The cyan blur moved closer and he felt it touch his head. Ray immediately let out an involuntary yelp as pain shot through his head.

“Uhhh, I think its hurt,” the color replied back to the ground.

Ray watched as a yellow and pink blend rose from the crowd and closed in on him. This new being floated behind him and gasped. He figured it was from a serious head wound that he had received from when his head hit the tree branch.

“Umm, Rainbow Dash... I think we should get him to my cottage,” Ray heard a very light voice say from behind him.

Ray thought to himself, “Who names their kid Rainbow Dash….”

“Help me with this white cover thingy that’s stuck on the tree. It looks like he’s attached to it,” said the blue color called Rainbow Dash.

“N- no need,” Ray murmured.

“Whoa, you speak the same language as us?” asked Rainbow Dash, surprised.

“Yeah, but you don’t need to unsnag my parachute. I can just release myself from it,” replied Ray.

Ray felt for the clips on his chute and unsnapped them to remove himself from it. After doing so, Ray realized he probably should have prepared for the fall. He gasped as he suddenly dropped and approached the green earth below him. There was another collective gasp and the single collective blur below him separated into several scattering blurs. As Ray hit the ground, he tried to perform a roll to distribute the force of the fall but only managed to redirect it… onto his left arm, which promptly snapped. He had had worse injuries previously, but in his weakened state, he lost consciousness again.

Ray awoke again and found he was lying down on a couch in a strange little room. He was pleased to find his vision had returned to normal and tried to look around the room, but his attempt was met with a burst of pain. Ray settled back and closed his eyes, picking up on faint murmuring from nearby. He strained to hear what the voices were talking about. He recognized two voices from his encounter earlier from when he was in the tree. He heard two other voices, one sounded like a young girl and the other sounded older. Ray then realized that all the voices he heard up to now were all feminine. He could barely make out what was being said however.

“So that thing over there is called a... a ‘human,’ huh?” asked the voice he recognized as Rainbow Dash.

“Yes,” said the younger female voice. “Even though the princess or I have never seen one before, we have studied them from books: Legends, myths, and a few books on their lifestyles. Judging by that, however, we never really thought of them as a peaceful species.”

“Yes, I agree. You ponies should exercise great caution when dealing with him,” said the older feminine voice.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry. I wouldn’t have helped him if I knew he would try to hurt us,” said the soft voice.

This last part hurt Ray because he thought of himself as a pretty nice guy who only resorted to violence when necessary. Unfortunately, being a soldier meant that violence was needed quite often. Ray slowly turned his head towards the direction of the voices and stared at what he saw. He saw four different horses standing off towards the side of the room. He was so surprised that he let an involuntary gasp escape from his lips and the four horses snapped their heads towards him. Three of the horses stared at him with fierce eyes and Ray immediately knew they did not trust him. The yellow horse, however, was stricken by fear, it seemed, and started backing away.

Ray was the first to speak as his training kicked in. He remembered that, whenever one was unknown of their current location, he should begin to gather intel of his location. “What are you all?”

“Ponies,” said the purple colored one, bluntly.

“Okay,” Ray said. “Where am I?”

“You are in Equestria in the town of Ponyville,” said the purple one again.

“Very creative town name,” Ray thought to himself.

“Now what is your name?” inquired the taller white pony, more calmly.

Ray thought to himself for a minute. If somehow these ponies were connected with any terrorist forces, he could compromise himself by telling them his name. On the other hand, he could start to gain their trust- Wait, what was he doing? Ray realized that nothing like this could happen on Earth so there was no point in evaluating the situation like this!

“My name is Raymond James, but you can just call me Ray. I heard you talking a few minutes ago about my race…”

“Yes, we know about your race’s violent tendencies and let me make it clear that if you hurt anypony here during your stay in Equestria, I will personally make sure you regret it” The tall white pony notified Ray. He couldn’t help notice her three-colored mane was flowing without there being any wind.

“Okay, you can trust me. I won’t hurt anyo… anyPONY, I guess, unless I have an absolutely good reason. By the way, I didn’t happen to catch any of your names besides Rainbow Dash’s.”

“I’m Twilight Sparkle” said the purple pony who, Ray inferred that from the horn on her head, was a unicorn from mythology on Earth. Yep, clearly he was not on Earth anymore.

“I’m Fluttershy,” squeaked the yellow pony, but her voice was hardly able to be picked up by Ray.

“And I’m Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria,” said the tall white pony.

“Okay, so can anyo- Er, anyPONY tell me how I managed to get to Equestria?”

“Well, uh, I suppose that might have been me,” Twilight Sparkle said. “You see, I was experimenting with some of the clouds over the Everfree Forest last night. Rainbow Dash here was helping me and I was testing some magic on the clouds. I was trying to see if my magic would work on clouds in the Everfree Forest like they do over Ponyville, but it didn’t work.”

“Well I don’t see how that could have brought me here...”

“They were teleportation spells,” she replied bluntly.

“Okay...” Ray thought to himself. “They have magic here in Equestria. It looks like Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are pegasi, another thing from mythology. Definitely not on Earth anymore.”

“Okay, well I guess you can just teleport me back to Earth and I won’t be a problem anymore. Right?”

“Well, you see,” Twilight started. “I was performing an extremely complicated teleportation spell I have never tried before. I don’t even know how you got teleported here. If you really are from another planet or, even worse, a different dimension, I have no idea how to get you back.”

Ray began to realize the situation and it dawned on him that his spotter was on her own to complete the mission.

As if she could somehow read his mind, Princess Celestia asked, “Can you three give the human and I some privacy? We need to talk about something.”

“Okay Princess,” Twilight said as the others exited the small cottage.

The princess turned towards Ray. “I know what you do.”

“Okay.”

“I don’t trust you, but I’m wise enough to know that I should give you a chance to prove yourself before I pass judgment. Therefore, over the next month, I am going to have my student Twilight write to me about how you are doing and what you are doing. As I said before, if you hurt anypony, I will make sure you regret it. I must to go back to Canterlot, the Equestrian capital, now but I hope you have a good stay here in Equestria.”

Her words were bitter in Ray’s ears. She meant business.

Hi guys I hope you liked the chapter and like before send any comments or
criticisms to me and I will try my best to fix any problems in the story.

Chapter 3: Introductions and Recovery

Hi all welcome back for chapter 3 .

Ray lied his head back down onto the pillow on the couch, his thoughts wandering about what had happened over the past few hours. This was, by far, the strangest thing that had ever happened to him. He also had a chance to examine his injuries more thoroughly: He looked at his left arm, which was in a sling, and he felt a bandage around his head. Aside from those, the only injuries left were cuts and bruises, so he figured he was in pretty good shape compared to most other times he was hurt. Ray decided to test his uninjured limbs as well to see if he could still move. He slowly turned and stood up off of the couch. His legs were a little stiff, but other than that, he was perfectly fine and his right arm was almost completely unharmed. Ray then checked around to see where his equipment was. He still had a silenced .45 pistol in a thigh holster and a 10 inch Gerber combat knife in a sheath attached to his shoulder, but he was curious as to where the rest of his stuff was.

Ray walked over to the cabin’s door and opened it, he then ducked through the short hole and came across six ponies, three of which he knew.

“Oh, Ray! I didn’t know you were up and walking. I thought you fell asleep after the princess left,” Twilight said.

“Yeah, well I hate being cooped up against my will. The only time I like to be still is when I want to be, otherwise I’m quite active. Anyways, I have yet to be introduced to these three ponies I haven’t met yet.”

“Oh, sorry. My apologies,” said Twilight “This is Applejack.” The purple unicorn nodded to an orange pony that was wearing a Stetson. Her blonde mane and tail was tied back with two scrunchies.

“Howdy,” Applejack greeted.

“Nice to meet you,” Ray replied.

“This is Rarity,” Twilight motioned towards a white unicorn that had a styled purple mane. She was obviously a very well-pampered pony.

“Pleasure to meet you Ray.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” Ray replied

“And finally this is Pinkie Pie!” Twilight motioned to a pink pony whose mane didn’t seem styled at all. It looked like it had its own thing going. She also had a peculiar smell of cotton candy.

“Hi there mister,” she started in a bubbly manner. “You suurrre do look funny in that strange outfit of yours.”

The other five ponies shot looks at her and she quickly corrected herself, “Er, I mean they look nice...”

Obviously, they still didn’t trust Ray because he was from a violent species and they didn’t want to see how quickly he would anger. Luckily for them, but little did they know, Ray was a very nice calm guy. He just needed to earn their trust, which he knew from experience is hard if they feel you are a very large threat to them.

“It’s fine. I guess I do look kind of strange in my uniform. However, I’m wearing this because it might save my life.” The ponies looked confused and Ray assumed they did not know the concept of war. “Well I’ll just say it’s a kind of protective measure, sorta like a hardhat.”

“How does it act like a hard hat? It looks like any regular material besides the strange pattern on it,” said the inquisitive Twilight..

“It makes it so that anyone that wants to try to hurt me can’t see me as well because I blend in with the environment.”

“Oh, okay. That makes sense I suppose,” she replied.

Ray noticed that Twilight seemed to be the only one talking, but it only made sense because did seem to be the smartest of the bunch so she would probably be clever enough to diffuse a tense situation.

“Anyways,” Ray said, trying to change the subject before any other questions on the matter arose. “Does anypony know where all my stuff is? I have some really expensive gear in my backpack that I don’t want to lose.” Rainbow Dash gave him a suspicious look and he knew that by that, they knew what kind of “stuff” he had brought with him or at the least Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Twilight did.

“What kind of stuff?” inquired Rainbow Dash.

Ray knew that the answer to this question could either help earn their trust or make them more suspicious of him. If he straight out said weapons, that might not help much, however if he was too vague it would also make them suspicious.

“I brought some tools that I use for my job.”

“And just what exactly is your job?” Rainbow Dash shot back, which triggered looks of shock and panic from the other ponies.

Ray knew he shouldn’t tell them his job until they trusted him more so he quickly hatched up a brilliant plan to change the conversation. Ray began to take a step to the side and “accidentally” snagged his foot on an inconveniently placed rock and tripped over. He let his head hit the ground and another wave of pain shot through his head. Showing immediate concern Fluttershy shot over to him.

“Are you okay Ray?”

“Yeah, I think so.” His trick seemed to work and the other ponies forgot about what the conversation they had just been having was about. That tends to happen when a supposedly violent being gets hurt and might get angry. “Anyways, how about my stuff?”

“Oh, it’s just over here,” said Twilight, heading off towards the forest Ray had jumped into.

“Well I’d best be goin’. I got a lot of work at the farm and those trees ain’t bucking themselves, ya know?” Applejack told the group.

“Yes, I have some orders to finish back at the shop so I believe I can’t come with you ponies either!” added Rarity.

“Yeah, and I have something I gotta work on too!” said Pinkie Pie exclaimed, rather cheerfully.

“Umm Pinkie, I don’t think you should…” Twilight began, apparently knowing what the pink pony was up to.

“Oh, no worries. It won’t be a problem,” Pinkie said with a wink.

“That’s not what I meant…” Twilight said, but Pinkie was already shooting away back towards Ponyville.

“What was that all about?” asked Ray, obviously not aware of Pinkie’s strange ways.

“Oh, it was nothing. Just Pinkie being... Pinkie,” said Twilight in a slightly worried tone. “Well, here we are.”

They approached the edge of the forest and Ray saw a tree with his parachute hanging off of it. Directly below it was a camouflaged bag, which he picked it up and slung it over his right shoulder before realizing something else.

“Uh, where will I be staying while I’m here in Ponyville?”

“I have a room in my basement under my library. You can stay there for the time being,” Twilight informed him.

“Oh, well thanks Twilight!”

Ray wanted to check his equipment as soon as possible in addition to feeling oddly tired, despite having been out for an unknown amount of time.

“I’m really tired right now and I could use some rest. Mind if we start heading over there now?”

“Sure, let’s get going then. See you later girls,” Twilight told the two pegasi. She then took Ray along towards the quiet little of town of Ponyville, leaving her two other friends by the forest.

“Well, he seems rather nice...” Fluttershy said.

“I dunno ‘Shy, I don’t like the looks of him. I think he’s hiding something and I don’t trust him one bit... Look, I’ve got to get a little practice in. I’ll see ya later.”

And with that, Rainbow Dash was gone.

Hey guys as before im accepting criticism and ideas for future chapters, im hoping
for at least 30 chapters, if you send in an idea then I will mention you at the end of the final
chapter that includes the idea just in case it spans multiple chapters.

Chapter 4: First Impressions

Hi all thanks for all the feedback, not much else to say.

Ray followed Twilight through Ponyville as she lead him to her house, which she
explained was a library in a tree. As they were walking he noticed the he didn’t see anypony on
the street or in any buildings and was about to ask Twilight about it but then thought it was
probably his ‘reputation’ or the fact that they had never seen a creature like him before. They
approached a tree that, to Ray, looked like someone had hollowed it out and put in some
windows and wall mounted planters, but was somehow still alive and growing because of the
healthy looking green leaves sprouting from the trees branches. Twilight opened the door and
found it pitch black inside. Twilight entered and Ray followed her inside. Just after he entered
however the door slammed shut behind him, and there was a loud popping sound, very similar to
a gunshot. The first word that entered the young operators mind was ambush and as the light
snapped on his hand was already on the grip of his .45 caliber MK 23 pistol.

“SSUURRRRPRISE!!!!”

Ray stood still and let out a sigh of relief. Judging from all the decoration it wasn’t an
ambush but a surprise party. Twilight looked as shocked as Ray and shot a horrified look on his
face as he slowly removed his hand from his sidearm. Normal party activities commenced as
Twilight trotted over to Ray.

“I am soooo sorry I should have warned you, I hope you’re not mad, I should have
known this was coming”

Ray observed a large sign that read “Welcome to Ponyville” and figured that this
happened often.

“No it’s fine” said Ray as he flashed a soft smile “In fact I’m impressed”

“Really?” replied Twilight.

“Yea it’s really hard to surprise me because I’m such a good observer. For example on
our way over here I noticed that no pony was on the streets or in the buildings. I assumed it was
because they haven’t seen a human before or were informed of my species ‘reputation’. Now I
realize that they were all here getting ready for a surprise party.” Before Ray could continue
Pinkie Pie came bouncing over to them.

“Hey how do you like the surprise party?” asked Pinkie.

“I’m surprised you surprised me” replied Ray “but it seems nice and a party is a good
way to break the ice, and I enjoy parties.”

“Yay I’m glad you like it!” exclaimed Pinkie.

“But” continued Ray “It was a very big risk throwing this party, from what I’ve gathered
you ponies think humans are a violent species. Some people I know react very violently to
surprises, but as I said before it’s a good way to break the ice. Next time I suggest you think a
little bit about the person you will be surprising, even if you only meet them for a few minutes
like you did. You can learn a lot about someone from spending only a few moments with them.”

“Okie Dokie Lokie” said Pinkie and she raced into the crowd to rejoin the party.

“Hmm I might have been wrong about you, you seem to be very logical and calm, not
violent like some of the books I’ve studied said” Twilight replied to Ray’s comment.

“You might be surprised; humans are capable of huge acts of kindness, or huge acts of
violence. Also, even though I love reading books, you can’t believe everything they say. You’re
lucky that I was transported here to Equestria and not some other person, because I do admit,
there are many bad people on my planet. Anyways I want to put my stuff away before I join the
party.”

“Ok follow me, your room will be in the basement, I’m sure we will find a better place
for you to reside in but it should be fine for now.” Twilight replied.

Ray imagined that he would be sleeping on a floor in a dark cold room and was
pleasantly surprised again. He saw a large assortment of scientific supplies in a nicely lit room,
and a bed, with sheets! To most people this would have seemed normal but to any soldier,
especially one who should have been on a mission right now, this was a very great luxury.

“Thanks Twilight” A very grateful Ray said.

“Oh it’s no problem. There’s a dresser to the right of the bed for anything you need to
store in it.”

“Ok.”

“I’m going up to the party now.”

“I’ll see you up there” replied Ray.

Ray took the long bag that held two of his other weapons and put them in the locker, he
wouldn’t need them anytime soon he hoped. However he didn’t expect that this world was
perfect and assumed there were some dangers or predators so he decided to check out his
weapons after the party. Lastly Ray decided to change out of his green and black jump suit. Ray
never really thought about what he should wear but he figured that he might freak out or make a
bad impression on anypony he met up at the party if he wore the wrong thing. Ray always liked
to make sure he was prepared for anything so he always packed several different BDUs

whenever he went on a mission. Sure it added a few pounds but it had saved his life more than
once. He wouldn’t wear his digital desert camouflage because it was for concealment, and he
definitely wouldn’t wear his ghillie suit which would probably scare several ponies to death
should they see him. Ray eventually decided to wear a straight black BDU designed by Delta
Force for urban combat and anti-terrorism ops that was made of a fire resistant material. He
chose it because it didn’t have an erratic design and didn’t look like a monster to somepony.
Reluctantly Ray put his sidearm and combat knife in the drawer as well. If he wanted the ponies
to trust him, he would need to trust them. Ray got up and ascended the staircase to rejoin the
party.

Ray opened the door and entered a place that he thought was as chaotic as a battlefield,
some pony obviously knew how to throw a party. Ray figured he would have to wade through a
sea of waist high ponies but apparently he was channeling Moses and he managed to part the
pony sea. He began to look for the other four ponies he had been introduced to earlier. Seeing a
familiar orange pony he again miraculously parted the pony sea for a second time and walked
over to say hi.

“Hi there Applejack”

“Oh uh howdy there Ray”

“Am I interrupting anything?

“Nope ah was just gitting myself a cup of punch”

Applejack nodded towards a punch bowl full of a purple liquid. Ray figured if it was
good enough for ponies so he should try some too. He grabbed a familiar plastic red cup and
used a ladle to spoon a few scoops of fruit punch into his cup and took a sip.

“Wow this is pretty good” said Ray.

“Yep it sure is, made from the best ya know?”

“Not really… wait earlier you said something about trees, so you farm some of the fruit
in this punch?” asked Ray.

“Just apples sugar cube”

“Ah I see”

They traded small talk about Applejack’s job until she asked Ray something that caught
him off guard.

“Well I…” Ray tried to think of something to say to stall for time but he didn’t need to.

“MY TAILS ATWITCHIN’!” Ponies everywhere jumped under the closest object, which
was basically nothing except for the table with the fruit punch and food.

“What?” Ray said before he noticed a shadow loomed over him and barely dodged a very
well-aimed plastic cup filled with punch. Ray’s combat instinct’s and training kicked in and he
calculated that from the angle and speed the ‘projectile’ had come from a high altitude and was
not an accident. Ray’s eyes traced a line following the trajectory of the cup, but even his
lightning quick reflexes barely caught a cluster of bright colors disappear from his sight.

“What was that about?” Ray said in a calm but loud voice.

“What do you mean?” a pony said.

“Are you not from around here?” said another.

“Actually I’m not.” replied Ray in the same calm loud voice

“It’s ok every pony I’ll tell Ray about it, you can just continue to party.” Twilight said.

“It’s ok my tail stopped twitching” said Pinkie.

Everypony resumed normal party activities and Twilight waded her way over to Ray.

“What was that all about?” Ray asked again.

“Well Pinkie has something all of us in Ponyville call ‘Pinkie Sense’ which is when she
can predict a sudden upcoming event. A different part of her body twitches for a different event,
for example her twitchy tail means watch out for falling things.” Twilight waited for Ray to
reply with denial and disbelief but was surprised by his response.

“So it’s sorta like a gut feeling?”

“Umm I guess” replied Twilight

“Oh ok that makes sense”

“Aren’t you going to deny that or something, I mean I know you’ve proven that you are
smart and logical, kind of like me, and I know I couldn’t believe it at first I had to learn to just
trust it even though it’s inexplicable.”

“Actually I learned a long time ago to trust my gut feelings, it has saved my life more
than once when I was working.”

Twilight just shrugged and walked away. She realized that she still realized that she
didn’t know exactly what his job was and turned to ask him but he was gone. Twilight looked
around and noticed that he was making his way toward one of her other friends and decided to

ask him about it later.

Ray made his way towards Fluttershy because he still had to thank her for patching him
up after his rough landing. He noticed Rainbow Dash was talking to her and figured he could kill
two tangos with one bullet.

“Hi there Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy.”

“Oh hi there Ray, I didn’t hear you walk up your so quiet…” said Fluttershy.

“Heh yea I tend to be quiet like that.” Replied Ray “By the way thanks patching me up

today.”

“‘Patching you up’?” said a confused Fluttershy.

“Oh yea it’s a way of saying treating my injuries from where I’m from” replied Ray.

“Oh I see, well your welcome”

“Ok what’s your game?” Rainbow Dash growled “acting all thankful and nice, but I’m
on to you, Princess Celestia and Twilight said your race is violent so what’s your plan huh? Earn
our trust and betray us?”

“What? No I honestly am not planning on hurting you guys. Earn your trust: yes, betray
you: no.”

Ray’s eyes caught a flash of her rainbow colored mane… multicolored… A sly grin
spread across his lips. That’s when a very young pony came bouncing up, she had a dark orange
coat and a purple mane. Fluttershy excused herself saying she needed to go check on some
animals she was caring for as the younger pony, Ray searched his memory for the proper term,
filly came up.

“Hi Rainbow Dash!” said the filly.

“Hi Scootaloo” said Rainbow Dash.

“Hi uh… whatever you are” Scootaloo said to Ray.

He let out a little chuckle “I’m a human”

“Hue man?”

“Yep”

“Ok anyways were you bothering Rainbow Dash? I saw her give you a suspicious look”
Scootaloo then gave Ray a suspicious look also.

“Well I wasn’t intentionally bothering her” Ray answered. “Oh yea I need to talk to
Rainbow Dash about something important so can you give us some privacy?” He then asked.

“Sure, but I’m watching you…” with that she trotted away.

“She’s a good kid, she’s not related to you is she?”

“No she isn’t related and yeah she’s a good kid.

“I can tell she idolizes you.”

“What?! How’d you figure that out?”

“It’s clear by the way she was protective of you and you yourself admitted she isn’t
related to you.”

“Ok your smart I’ll give you that” Rainbow Dash growled.

“Also I think you would want to know that I sent her away because I didn’t want her to
know how bad of an example her idol is.”

Rainbow Dash’s shock registered on her face for a split second “I, I don’t know what
you’re talking about” was all Rainbow Dash could manage.

“Oh drop it I saw you throw that cup at me, you may be fast but I’m fast too” Ray replied
nonchalantly. “Oh by the way I wanted to thank you also”

The sudden change of subject again caught Dash off guard.

“I saw you on my way down” Ray explained “If it weren’t for you I would probably be
still up in that tree, you told everypony that you saw me didn’t you?”

“Well yea I did” Dash managed to say.

“You single handedly saved my life I owe you, so if you ever need a favor come looking
for me, I shouldn’t be too hard to spot”

With that Ray left feeling had made progress earning everypony’s trust, he was glad he
had made some progress on Rainbow Dash too because he knew it would be hard to earn her
trust. The party itself was dieing down and he made his way over to see Twilight.

“Hi I think I made a favorable impression in some of your friends tonight” Ray said to

“I saw” was all that came as a reply.

“Well I’m going to get to bed now.”

“Good night, see you tomarrow”

Chapter 5: Inspection

Sorry bout not including closing words for chapter 4 but I was dead tired and
forgot, but it would have been the same old stuff anyways. Just wanted to say that I am
happy to report that over 200 people have viewed my story, which is way over what I was
expecting so I want to say thanks and I hope you stick with it!

Ray was in fact very tired but he still had some important business to attend to before he
could sleep soundly. He sat down on his bed and opened the drawer containing a long
camouflaged bag and pulled it out and prayed that the large fall hadn’t harmed any of his
equipment. He pulled the zipper and first pulled out a custom fit M4A1 carbine. Ray quickly
released the magazine and pulled back the charging lever to release the chambered bullet, and
then reinserted the round into the magazine. He did an ammo count and found six full thirty
round magazines, including the one he just released from the carbine. He set the ammo aside and
examined his rifle. He had ‘tricked it out’ with a SOPMOD (special operations peculiar
modification) before he had left on the C-130. However it wasn’t the normal SOPMOD kit he
had used. Task Force Spartan, along with getting the latest cutting edge technology often was
called upon to field test prototypes as well. This new SOPMOD kit had the next generation
attachments that would be included in future versions of the SOPMOD kit.

After checking the prototype equipment he pulled out another rifle from the bag. It was
an M40A5 bolt-action sniper rifle. It too was custom fit to Ray and had also been customized.
Ray had swapped out the scope for a more diverse scope that could provide x8-x20 zoom
capabilities, making it much more diverse. He had then switched out the muzzle and firing pin
which were formerly for a .308 lapua magnum round for the more powerful .338 lapua magnum
round. Lastly he had changed the trigger so it would have a two pound pull. He found three five
round magazines for the rifle, but had attached an individual five round holder onto the stock of
the weapon with an elastic material. Instead of the standard military issue round that filled the
magazines he had, they were custom made rounds which were slightly more range and accuracy.
He was extremely confident in the five rounds because he had made them. Unlike other special
operations forces, Task Force Spartan also taught their operators some unique skills, one of
which had involved hand making rifles and ammunition.

Ray slid the rifle and carbine into the bag and zipped it and put it into the drawer. He then
pulled out his sidearm and inspected to make sure it was ready to use and took stock of his
ammunition for the handgun. He counted three spare twelve round magazines and the one he had
in the pistol which made four magazines of .45 hollow points ready to use.

Even though he desperately hoped he would never need these weapons here he still
wanted to know they would work should the need arise.

Sorry for the short chapter but I felt like I needed to show you some small
background on our protagonist Ray and his equipment. Also I want to mention that I have
been managing around a chapter a day only because I’m on spring break, so after this

Chapter 6: Recon

Hi guys sorry for the last chapter, cause it was probably pretty bad, but I was even more
tired than when I finished chapter four, but that’s still no excuse so I might go and try to
salvage what I can after I finish a few more chapters for you guys.

Ray awoke to the sound of a door creaking shut. He lay still and kept his eyes close while
he tried to remember where he was, and then remembered the events of the last day. The next
sound that Ray heard was a voice.

“Let’s see what he brought with him here…” said a very familiar voice.

The sound of a drawer opening filled the room as Ray eased himself silently out of the
bed and making no sound crept up on a cyan Pegasus looking through his stuff. He exploded
forward and grabbed Rainbow Dash’s muzzle with his good arm and struggled to subdue her.

“Shhhh try not to wake Twilight up, it’s quite early isn’t it” Ray said in a hushed voice.

Rainbow Dash slowly calmed down and shot a cold glance at Ray.

“So do you normally look through a new comer’s stuff the first night they spend here in
Ponyville?” Ray teased.

“No! And how did you know it was early anyways?” Rainbow Dash hissed back.

“Lucky guess” was Ray’s honest answer.

“Ok whatever”

“Well let’s go see if the ruckus you made woke up Twilight” Ray said in a normal
volume.

“What do you mean ‘ruckus’? I thought I was pretty quiet when I came in here”

“Well to me it was ridiculously loud; here let me show you how to do it”

Rainbow Dash watched as Ray found a slim sturdy piece of wood and inserted it under
the door below the hinges and lifted up. Ray tried the door and it moved without a sound.

“How did you do that?” asked Rainbow Dash incredulously.

“Well you see the squeak is from the part of the hinge that holds the part attached to the
door and the frame” Ray pointed out the part of the hinge he was talking about “if you apply
pressure from the bottom of the door towards the top, it relieves pressure from the hinges so it
doesn’t squeak anymore”

“Wow” Rainbow Dash said, momentarily impressed “Oh great now you can sneak
around Ponyville silently” she quickly realized.

Ray was about to say something but decided that he wouldn’t be able to win Rainbow
Dash’s trust by arguing with her. By her initial reaction he also figured he would be earning her
trust through acts and not words. As the saying goes ‘actions speak louder than words’.

“Oh you’re awake”

“Whoa hi Twilight I didn’t expect to see you up this early” Ray replied.

“Well I wanted to do some research on humans and I guess I got a little carried away”

“I see”

“Well I think I’ll get a little rest before the day starts. And Rainbow Dash, do you mind
showing Ray around Ponyville seeing as your up” Twilight asked.

“Well I don’t know I’m sorta busy right now…”

“Really? Then why were you snooping around my stuff when you woke me up?”

“Well I… uh… grr fine”

Ray looked out the window and saw the sun hadn’t even risen yet.

“Hold on, let me get something” Ray walked back to his drawer and opened the third of
four drawers and took out one of the non-lethal pieces of equipment he had: an AN/PVS 21, or
night vision goggles.

He returned to the main part of the library with the NVGs strapped to his head.

“What the hay is that?” inquired Rainbow Dash

“They’re called night vision goggles, they allow me to see in the dark because they take
the existing light and amplifies it making it seem brighter than it really is”

“Ok then let’s go”

Ray figured that Rainbow Dash could navigate Ponyville in the dark and he figured it
was worth the battery power. Besides, one of the pieces of equipment he was testing was a
designed to recharge the batteries of his equipment and detonate explosives with an electrical
charge so he could always just recharge the NVGs.

They exited the library and Ray flipped down the NVGs and activated them. The town
was lit up with a green hue as Ray started following Rainbow Dash who set a brisk pace. Ray
was accustomed to walking at these paces for long distances from his training and easily kept up.
Rainbow Dash showed him important places around Ponyville like the Carousel Boutique and
Sugarcube Corner. They even managed to have time to visit Sweet Apple Acres.

“And that’s about it, we have seen all there is to see here in Ponyville.” Rainbow Dash
said when they finished the tour.

“Well the sun’s rising, let’s go see if Twilight’s up”

“Ok, you can go I have to start working on the weather”

“Ok see you later”

Ray made his way back to the library as the town started to awaken. He admired the
sunrise as he opened the door to the library and went inside.

“Good morning Twilight”

“Oh Ray your back” Twilight replied.

“Is there anything I can help with?” Ray inquired.

“Oh no not really, I can do it all, I mean with your arm and all I thought you should rest”

“Oh yeah” Ray said as he looked at the sling “I forgot about this. Wait, can’t you just use
magic to fix my arm or something?” Ray asked.

“Well I could try but I don’t know if it will work”

“It’s worth a shot isn’t it?” Ray replied

“Ok if you’re fine with it I’ll try it, can you find where the break is?”

Ray lightly felt his arm for the break “Ok its right here” Ray pointed to an area about mid-
way up his forearm.

Twilight pointes her horn at the spot and it began to glow and a purple spark leaped into
Ray’s arm. If Ray had to put the pain he felt on a scale of 1 to 10 it would be around 20 making
it achieve one of the top 15 most painful things he had ever experienced. When he could think
again he was on all fours and his left arm was successfully supporting his weight.

“Omigosh are you ok?” asked a concerned Twilight “I’m sorry, I didn’t know it would

“No it’s fine, I’ve felt worse. Besides I can use my arm now!” Ray reassured her.

“HELP HELP” two voices said in tandem.

“Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, what’s wrong?” asked Twilight

“There’s a forest fire at the place where the Running of the Leaves takes place!” Sweetie

Belle exclaimed.

“I’m sure everything will be fine, the fire ponies should be able to take care of it” replied
Twilight.

“You don’t understand” Applebloom shot back.

Ray didn’t know these two fillies but he knew the filly they would soon mention.

“Scootaloo’s in the forest!”

Hi all of my faithful readers Akkura here just wanting to say thanks again for all of
you who are sticking with my story and as always I am accepting ideas for subplots if you
want to have some credit for helping me out with this story, I have received none so far so
I’m wide open for suggestions.

Chapter 7: Fire Runner

Congrats to Sir Walter Geekly for getting the Shooter/Point of Impact reference
even though it was really vague. If I make any more references I’ll make sure to make it a
little bit more obvious.

Ray followed Twilight and the two fillies he would have to be introduced to later as they
raced towards a forest near the town. Twilights other friends were there already when they got
there.

“Has anypony seen Scootaloo?” Applebloom asked

“No, why?” asked Rainbow Dash

“We think she is in there” Sweetie Belle motioned towards the burning forest.

“Don’t worry I’ll get her” Rainbow Dash replied.

“Now wait” but Twilight started but Rainbow Dash shot upwards over the forest.

“I hope she’ll be ok” wondered Apple Jack aloud.

“I for one think she is a very capable flier” Rarity replied

“Yeah but if she wants to find Scootaloo she will have to land somewhere in there” Ray
pointed out.

“I hope all the animals will be ok” said Fluttershy

“They’ll be fine” replied Ray “They naturally tend to be able to escape fires”

Fire ponies began to arrive at the edge of the forest and began to try to put out the fire.

“Does anypony know how this started?” asked Ray to no one in particular.

By now a crowd had begun to gather around the burning forest and watched as fire
ponies tried to keep the flames under control. Then everyone cheered as an orange filly burst out
of the forest on a scooter and Sweetie Belle and Applebloom raced over to her.

“Wow that’s a relief” Twilight said.

“Oh no…” Ray said as his eyes widened.

“What? What’s wrong Ray?” Twilight asked “Scootaloo got out and she’s more or less

“Rainbow Dash doesn’t know that…” Ray replied as the grim realization settled on the
five other ponies.

Ray stayed back as the other ponies rushed forward only to be stopped by the fire ponies.

“I’m sorry but you can’t go in there” one of them replied.

“But our friends in there!” Apple Jack exclaimed.

“I’m sorry but there’s nothing we can do now get back and let us work”

Ray took the opportunity to quietly make his way around the fire ponies who struggled to
keep Rainbow Dash’s friends out.

“Hey you stop!” a voice said.

Ray dodged to the left as a pony tried to tackle him, and sprinted towards the burning
forest in roughly the same direction that Rainbow Dash went.

“Yeah go Ray!” he heard Pinkie cheer.

This drew the attention of other fire ponies, who turned in his direction. He had hoped to
take the path into the forest but that was no longer an option and he made a beeline straight
towards the forest edge. A burning fallen tree blocked his path but he slid under and escaped the
fire ponies but was introduced to a whole new set of problems. Ray silently thanked whoever
had decided to make parkour training an option for Task Force Spartan operators as he leapt over
a burning log. He had pulled a balaclava over his face made of the same flame resistant material
his black uniform was made of as he made his way further into the forest.

Ray burst into what was formerly a clearing in the forest, but was now littered with
burning trees that had fallen over in the inferno. He quickly scanned the area because this was a
very good place to have landed if there hadn’t been fallen trees here, and Ray believed these
trees had fallen within the past two minutes. He vaulted a few more logs and was about to exit
the clearing when he barely heard a cough. Ray thought for a moment it was himself until a
weak voice said

“H help me”

Ray pivoted around trying to locate the voice.

“Rainbow Dash?! Where are you?!” Ray yelled at the top of his voice.

Receiving no reply he frantically searched around until he tripped and fell. Ray
scrambled to his feet and looked down at what had tripped him. He saw Rainbow Dash lying on
the forest floor with a wing pinned under a burning log, barely conscious looking desperately up
at him. Ray kicked the log but it wouldn’t budge, he then sighed and bent down and grabbed the
burning log with his gloved hands and lifted. He felt the heat from the log through the gloves and
struggled to move it. After what seemed like an eternity the log rolled off of Rainbow Dash’s

Ray picked up Rainbow Dash and barreled through burning branches in the general
direction of the edge of the forest. He was gasping for air that was quickly being replaced by the
constricting smoke. Ray was running at a good pace when he felt a very heavy, very hot object
smash into his back and knocked him to the ground. He struggled to get to his feet and looked
behind him to see a large tree had just fallen on him. In an act of sheer will, desperation,
adrenaline, and strength he pushed himself up and the log rolled away. Ray picked Rainbow
Dash back up and continued to struggle towards the edge of the burning forest. His back felt like
it itself was on fire and his legs burned from lactic acid and the flames.

Finally Ray collapsed and he hit the ground and Rainbow Dash, who had long since lost
consciousness rolled away from him. Ray struggled to get up but couldn’t find the strength.
Finally he was able to stagger back up but fell right over again and a picture fluttered out of his
breast pocket. Ray slowly reached out to it and stared at it. He shoved it back into his pocket his
and eyes burned hotter with determination than the forest around him. He wasn’t about to die
from a stupid fire, he had been shot at, been in vicious hand to hand combat, and jumped out of a
burning plane. Ray got up and grabbed Rainbow Dash and continued to struggle out of the
forest. He was soon sprinting, and finally smashed through a last few burning branches and was
met with cold crisp air that he sucked in greedily.

He collapsed again as fire ponies ran to get them and he lost consciousness as he was
being dragged away from the fire.

I am actually surprised I finished this so quickly, which is actually the same day
that Chapter 6 was released, but due to the need for a cliffhanger or the fact that I’m just
plain evil I am not releasing this until later. Why am I telling this to you, you all ask? Well
I figured you would all like to know!

Chapter 8: Memories and Elements

Hi all, more background for Ray in this chapter! That’s all im saying to avoid
spoilers even though you will be reading about then in this chapter.

Ray snapped his eyes open and looked around, he was back on Earth… on a familiar
airstrip that many Task Force Spartan aircraft launched from to start missions.

“How did I get here?” Ray asked aloud.

“Actually this is just a dream Ray”

Ray snapped his head around towards the voice.

“Cassandra…”

“It’s nice to see you again Ray”

Ray choked up and was on the verge of tears.

“Aw come on Ray, you’re not the crying type” Cassandra teased.

“I… I’m so sorry”

“Why it’s not your fault I’m dead”

“But I should have known…”

“Known what? That a tango was lurking behind the door? How would you have known
that? I know your all sniper and observant but what could have possibly told you he was on the
other side of that door? You know you are the only one that thinks that it’s your fault that I
died?”

“So since this is a dream I assume I’m still in Equestria?” Ray asked.

“Yup”

“Ok”

“Well I gotta get going Ray”

“So soon?”

“Yes, and remember if you ever need me” she produced a photograph from one of her
pockets and took off her dog tags “I’ll be right here” she put them in his breast pocket.

She turned and boarded a Black Hawk helicopter that had familiar scratches and dents.
Ray had remembered every detail of that one fateful mission. How could he forget? He had lost
his greatest friends.

“Wait please don’t go” Ray pleaded.

“You and I both know that I have to” Cassandra Replied.

She boarded helo and Ray sat down next to some cargo containers and leaned against
them. He pulled the picture from his pocket, it was of him and Cassandra in full combat gear
posing in front a Humvee. He leaned his head back against the crates and closed his eyes, on the
verge of tears. He put the picture back in his pocket.

“I’m sorry” Ray whispered as the Black Hawk lifted off to bring his team to a mission
one of them would never come back from.

The familiar beeping of a heart rate monitor started to ring in Ray’s ears and he struggled
to open his eyes. At first he could only make a dark shadowy figure in the center of his vision.

“I think he’s waking up!” came the voice of Rainbow Dash.

More figures appeared in his vision and Ray struggled to get his vision to focus.

“Hey Ray, can ya hear us?” Apple Jack’s voice floated into his concoiusness.

“I’ll say! He looks absolutely dreadful!”

“Rarity! He escaped a forest fire, what do you think he would look like?”

“I think we should let him rest” Fluttershy’s soft voice barely reached his ears.

A sudden figure appeared and blocked his vision “Heeellloooo??? Are you awake sleepy

“Pinkie!” five unanimous voices said.

“Uuugghh” Ray moaned “Where am I?”

“Ponyville Hospital” Twilight replied.

“There a doctor around?”

“Yes, right here”

Rays vision began to focus and he saw a pony in a doctor’s coat with a stethoscope with a
yellow coat and a brown mane.

“How bad are my injuries” Ray asked.

“Actually it’s not that bad” the doctor said “somehow you only have first and second
degree burns on your back and second degree burns on both your hands. You also have a
fractured rib, but that’s not much of a problem, if it was broken…”

“Yes I know I might have had a problem if it broke” Ray said “You can go tend to other
patients Doc, I’ve been hurt worse than this, I’ll pull through.”

“Ok then, I have no idea how your injuries aren’t more severe” the doctor said as he
exited the room.

“Actually I do” said a familiar voice.

“Princess!” Twilight exclaimed and the six ponies bowed.

Ray raised his arm in a weak salute and the princess gave him a confused glance.

“Oh yeah, that’s called a salute” Ray explained “It’s how people in my job render honors
to our superiors”

“I see…” the princess replied “Anyways that’s not why I’m here” the Celestia
continued “I’m here to thank you for saving Rainbow Dash”

“Oh it was nothing really…”

“So you’re telling me you run into burning forests normally?” the princess asked.

“No but I do much more dangerous things back where I’m from” Ray replied.

“Anyways as I was saying I know why you’re not more severely injured” the princess
continued “It is because of that” she motioned towards something on his left wrist.

“What is this? A watch?” Ray asked

“Well it is… but it is also an element of Harmony”

The other six ponies fell quiet and processed what the princess had just said.

“A what?” Ray asked

Celestia proceeded to explain what the elements of harmony were until Twilight asked “I
thought there were only six”

“So did I until I felt a burst of powerful magic” the princess said.

“But still what does this have to do with my injuries?” Ray asked again.

“I did some research, and apparently there is a seventh element that is very elusive. The

element of bravery, apparently it only presents itself to one who possesses great bravery. It also
protects the pony, or person that has it when they do an incredible act of bravery.”

“Oh I see” Ray said as he took it off and looked at his new watch.

He took off the back of the watch where normally the batteries were and found a small
green crystal in the shape of the shield.

“Cool” Ray muttered. He guessed this meant that he would never have to get the battery
changed.

“Ok ponies, may I have a private word with Ray?” the princess asked.

“Sure thing princess” Twilight said and lead the other ponies outside.

“I want to thank you for saving Rainbow Dash” said the princess “But why did you do it?
I mean from what I’ve heard she didn’t think all that highly of you before you saved her.”

“Well, those ponies seem fairly young, and I lost a friend when she was really young… I
just want everyone to be able to live their lives and not have it cut short, like my friends” Ray
replied.

“I see. Are you going to tell them about your… occupation?”

“Yes I am planning on it, I just wanted to earn their trust before I told them.”

“Very well, I’ll leave now, I’m sure that Twilight and her friends will want to talk to you.
Also I might have been wrong about you humans.” she said.

“Well actually you were sorta right, you’re just lucky that I’m one of the few good ones”
Ray said and grinned.

Celestia smiled as she exited the room. A few minutes later Twilight and her friends re-
entered the room. Ray observed that a bandage kept Rainbow Dash’s wing firmly pressed to her
side, which meant it was probably broken.

“Anypony know when I can get out of here?” Ray asked.

“The doctor said ya could actually leave today if ya take care of that rib of yers” Apple
Jack said.

Ray gingerly got out of the hospital bed and found his legs were more or less in good

“Ok shall we go to the library?” Ray asked “I want to change into something a little less
burnt and I need to tell you all something.”

“Sounds like a plan!” Rainbow Dash said “But first, how did your arm get fixed? I
thought it was broken.”

“Twilight?” Ray asked.

“Well I used a simple mending spell” she replied.

“Why didn’t you do that when I was stuck in the hospital?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Well I wasn’t sure if it would work… and besides if I had then you wouldn’t know that
you love reading!” Twilight responded.

“Oh so you use me as a test subject?” Ray teased.

The ponies started to exit the room but Rainbow Dash stayed behind.

“Hey Ray, can I uh talk to you?” she asked.

“Sure” Ray replied.

“Uh thanks for saving me back there”

“Oh it was no problem” Ray said.

“No really, and I’m sorry about not trusting you earlier, you were just suspicious and I
didn’t want you hurting my friends” Rainbow Dash admitted.

“It’s ok I understand, and remember you saved my life too so I owed you”

“Are you kidding me?” she said “I just told everypony you were out there, but you ran
into a forest fire to save me. Why did you do that anyway?”

“Well I’ll tell you when we get to the library” Ray replied.

“Ok, and one more thing” Rainbow Dash said as she extended her hoof towards Ray
sheepishly “friends?” she asked.

Ray looked at the extended hoof and took it in his hand and shook “Friends” he said and
as a smile spread across his face.

Hi all! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, now you know a little more about Ray and
what he’s been through as an operator. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.

Chapter 9: Confession

Nothing to say so I'll just start the chapter.

Ray thought about how he would tell the ponies about being a soldier. Did they even know the concept of war? How will they take this information? Would they just hate him? Thoughts like these flashed through his mind as they neared the library. He briefly thought about not telling them but that wouldn't be very brave of him. Besides that had been fairly nice to them and he owed them an explanation, or at least a brief background of him. He realized that they probably didn't know much about him, nor he about them. Ray sighed as he entered the tree.

"Let me change out of these burned clothes then I'll tell you what I need to" He said dully.

Ray went downstairs and changed into the tan digital camouflage and grabbed the rifle bag. He would need to show it to them as well. Ray checked one last time to ensure that it was on safe and unloaded and walked up the stairs. He grabbed the door knob and turned it, feeling more nervous than the first time he had jumped out of a perfectly good plane with a backpack with a piece of cloth in it.

"What an… interesting design" Rarity commented.

Ray couldn't help but grin. He sat down on the floor with the six ponies and took a deep breath.

"I have a confession to make. Back where I'm from I'm a soldier." Judging from the blank looks on their faces they probably didn't know what war was. "Umm do you know what war is? ... Well let me begin with saying Twilight was partially right, humans are generally violent people, and are capable of horrible things. You see war is when one faction fights another faction for some reason" Ray said "and this fighting is done by soldiers like me" At this a scared look came across Fluttershy and she slowly started to scoot away from him and Rarity and Apple Jack had worried looks on their faces. He had been afraid of this. "Don't worry I'm only violent when I need to be" This relaxed Rarity and Apple Jack but Fluttershy still looked a little scarred. "You see though, as like all job's there are other 'sub-jobs' like in when running a restaurant there are chefs, and there are waiters and so on. Anyways some jobs in the military are generally non-violent, like doctors, engineers, and chefs. However my job is to be a sniper. What a sniper is, is basically someone who specializes in killing others long distances away, they also have to know other stuff because they generally operate alone or in pairs." Ray explained "In fact, do you know the saying 'jack of all trades, master of none'?" Ray asked "snipers can be described as 'jack of all trades master of one. Also, these are called guns, they are what I use when I'm doing my job." Ray pulled out the M4A1 and the M40A5. "The way they work is when you load one of these:" Ray picked up one of the .338 rounds "into one of the guns and pull the trigger, the gun powder in the combusts, the resulting expanding gasses push this upper part of the bullet out the end of the barrel. It then flies into whatever or whoever I aim this that's what I needed to tell you." Ray concluded.

The deafening silence followed was easily one of the most terrifying things that Ray had been through, and he had been through many terrifying events.

"Heh that's ok, you are generally act like what you have been for the past few days then I'm confident enough that you're ok" Twilight finally broke the silence.

"Ya, you even saved my life and that makes you cool in my book any day." Rainbow Dash followed up.

"Thanks girls" Ray replied "Actually, do you want to see what I do? I mean I'll shoot an apple or something, not a pony." Ray said.

"Sure" Apple Jack replied.

"Cool, ok so all I'm going to need is an apple, can you go get one Apple Jack?" Ray asked.

"Sure thing Ray" she replied and went off to grab an apple.

"Ok the rest of you follow me" Ray continued.

He grabbed a spotting scope that had a built in range finder and the sniper rifle and set off to find a nice clear area. A few minutes later he found a large open area surrounded by hills and went to the middle of it. He began to use the laser and range several of the hills.

"750 yards, perfect" Ray murmured to himself as Apple Jack came trotting up with an apple.

"Here ya go Ray" she said.

"Thanks" Ray replied and put it on the ground "This way everypony"

Ray led them up onto the hill he had found and set up shop on top. He turned towards the apple and got into a solid prone shooting position, put his eye to the scope and clicked the safety off. The ponies were quiet as Ray ran calculations through his head for different variables such as wind, humidity and bullet drop. Normally he could use a ballistic computer but he wanted to challenge himself. After zeroing the scope for all the variables he put increased the magnification until he could clear see the apple.

"Somepony want to look through the scope and watch the apple?" Ray asked.

"I'll do it, but I don't know if you can hit that, it's very far away" Twilight said.

Ha! 750 is nothing! Try an apple at 1000 yards plus then it starts to get tricky! Ray thought to himself.

"Ok I see it" Twilight said.

Ray slowed his breathing and his heart rate dropped as he slipped into an icy state reserved for sniping. He transformed into a killer before the pony's eyes and they didn't even know it. Ray slowly pulled the trigger back. Crack! The silenced rifle spat out a supersonic round that reached its target in two seconds. The apple promptly exploded as the supersonic piece of metal hit it dead center.

"Wow" was all Twilight could manage.

Ray ejected an empty cartridge from the rifle and put it back into the case. He would clean it later but first he was going to show the ponies what was left of the apple. After a short walk they reached the unfortunate apple's remains.

"Pretty good Ray" Rainbow Dash said.

"I sure would hate to have you point that at me" Rarity replied.

"Oh my, you have to do that to other humans?" Fluttershy asked.

"Sadly yes, it's not easy to take a life, but sometimes it's necessary to save the lives of others"

With that the group broke up to go their separate ways for the rest of the day and Twilight, Ray, and Rainbow Dash were the only ones headed back to the library.

"What am I gonna do?" asked Rainbow Dash "I can't fly back home"

"Twilight can't you just fix her wing like you did my arm?"

"I guess but I must warn you Rainbow Dash, it will hurt"

"A lot" added Ray.

"It's ok can't be worse than not being able to fly" she replied.

The trio reached the library and went inside, Ray went to go grab a cleaning kit as Twilight prepared to fix Rainbow Dash's broken wing. He started to disassemble the rifle when he heard a pained yelp come from upstairs. He walked up to investigate.

"Rainbow Dash? Are you alright?" He asked

"I didn't know it would hurt that much!"

"I told you it would hurt" came the reply.

"Ok whatever, see you tomorrow everpony" and with that she took off.

"Well I'm going to finish cleaning my gun, I'll be downstairs if you need me" Ray said.

Hi again, I'm back, I hope you enjoyed this brief bit of sniping, and I cannot confirm, nor deny that there may or may not be bloodshed. Also sorry to all you reading this on FimFiction. The only reason this wasn't up earlier was cause i couldn't figure out how to wrok the bold XD.

Chapter 10: Hunter

Hi everyone! Sorry for the slightly longer delay than usual (for those of you at FIMfiction) as I’ve been prepping for tests and have had very little time to write. Also, I’m getting comments on more details so I’ll try my best because before I was afraid of going overload on details. Thanks for the critiquing!

Ray took a swig of water from his canteen. It had been two whole days since he had entered the Everfree Forest searching for some lost ponies.

“I thought they were too scared to even get close to this place,” Ray thought to himself. “How did ten ponies manage to disappear near here in just a single day?”

Two Days Earlier

“HELP! HELP!” a voice cried out.

“Really? Another one?” Ray asked, peeking out the window of Twilight’s library. These cries for help had been occurring regularly today.

“That’s the tenth one today!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. “What in the hay is going on out there?!”

“You six really are the go-to girls when there’s a problem,” Ray continued.

“Well, we have saved Equestria two times,” Twilight replied, proudly.

“And we’ve helped a lot of other ponies with their problems!” Pinkie said cheerfully.

Just then the library door burst open and a mint green unicorn burst through the library door. She looked like she had seen a ghost and had run from it. Far.

“What is it hun?” Applejack asked.

“It’s Bon Bon!” the distraught unicorn cried. “She’s gone! We were at the edge of the Everfree Forest and I turned my back for just a few seconds. When I turned back, she was gone!” The unicorn then fell to the floor and began to cry.

“It’s ok Lyra. We’ll be able to find her” Fluttershy said, trying to sooth the unicorn. Ray walked over to Twilight’s desk and took a blank scroll.

“You don’t mind, do you?” he asked Twilight.

“Of course not,” Twilight replied, giving a warm smile.

Ray then reached for a pencil in his pocket, “Could I get a description of your friend?” Ray asked Lyra. She sniffled a bit and slowly rose.

“She’s about my height,” she started as Ray was already at work, making a quick sketch. “She has a very pale-colored yellow coat, almost white. She also has a blue and pink mane, light blue eyes, and her tail is usually in three curls at the end”

“Like this?” Ray asked a few moments later, turning the scroll and showing Lyra a light sketch. It wasn’t perfect, but it was enough to get Bon-Bon’s “general shape”.

“Yes! Wow, how did you do that?” Lyra asked.

“On the job experiance,” Ray merely replied.

Spike added the sketch to a group of papers that had been steadily growing since that morning.

“We will do our best to find her. The best thing you can do is stay away from that forest and warn anypony you see by it,” Twilight advised. Lyra just nodded.

“Uhm, hey. Come with me. W-We can talk about it!” Fluttershy said, motioning the upset pony forward. Only a few steps out the door and Lyra was already pouring her heart out about her friend. When the door closed, Ray stood up.

“That’s it, I’m going in there.”

The five remaining ponies gasped when they heard this. Going into the Everfree Forest wasn’t something they were accustomed to.

“Ah wouldn’ do that if ah were you. The Everfree Forest is filled with all sorts ‘a weird monsters and animals in there!” Applejack warned with caution.

“And it’s just so dirty,” Rarity added. The other four ponies turned their heads towards her. “What?

Ray dismissed their protests and asked, “Rarity, can you make me a dark green cloth suit? I also need several sheets of light green, dark green, and brown burlap, a needle and thread.”

“Sure, but why?” she asked, a bit puzzled.

“I’ll explain later,” Ray said, pacing around. “How long will it take to finish?”

“Not long. I expect half an hour, an hour at the very most. It’s a very simple job really,” Rarity replied

“Great thanks” Ray said as he opened the door to his “room”. The ponies all looked at each other and began to chat amongst themselves.

Ray walked down the stairs and over to his dresser. He retrieved both of his rifles, his sidearm, knife, some camouflaged face paint, and his rifle bag. He walked back up to the main room and pushed all of his equipment onto a table. He turned his rifle bag inside out, which changed the pattern from desert yellow and brown to the green and brown swirls of forest camouflage. Grinning at his own creation, Ray sat down and began to inspect his equipment. The already dark colors of the weapons would be fine for the dark Everfree Forest, but he worried about what he would find in it. Or more importantly, who.

“Does anypony know what is in the forest exactly?” Ray inquired, pulling the bolt on his carbine.

“I have a book written on the forest,” Twilight said “Spike, can you-?”

“Found it!” Pinkie Pie shouted quickly as a book landed in Ray’s lap. Ray looked over towards Pinkie Pie and shook his head.

“I’m not even gonna ask,” Ray said, opening the book.

He read through the book quickly, trying to gather as much information on the forest as he could. The ponies eventually left except for Twilight considering this was her house. She started pacing around, thinking intently about something.

“How recent is this book?” Ray asked after some time, searching the cover pages for a date.

“Oh!” Twilight said, snapping out of her thinking process. “I’d say a year or two.”

“So it’s pretty up to date?”

“Well, there’s no way to be sure seeing as the forest is not watched carefully by ponies. Everypony is usually too afraid to venture into the Everfree Forest alone. The book should be fine however.”

Ray nodded and turned back to the book. Twilight went back to pacing. He wasn’t sure what was on her mind, but he had to focus on the task at hand. He spent more time reading up on the forest until Rarity returned with the cloth suit and sheets of burlap. Ray stood, closing the book.

“Thanks Rarity,” he said as he took the floating items from Rarity’s magic grip.

“Oh, it’s no trouble at all darling! If it will help get our friends back, I’m more than eager to help.”

Ray brought the items down to his room and began to meticulously assemble a new ghillie suit for the forest. It took some time, about an hour, as he needed to figure out how to place the dark green burlap on the suit. When he did eventually finish, he sat back, satisfied with his work.

Ray returned upstairs, now wearing the ghillie suit. Twilight was now seen by one of the many bookshelves, browsing for something. She pulled a book out with her magic and turned around, facing Ray. She looked at him for a moment, then held a hoof to her mouth, trying not to laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Ray asked.

“You’re costume. It looks so…” She pauses to giggle. “Ridiculous. I mean, you’d probably blend in to the environment, but still.”

Ray rolls his eyes. “Well as long it isn’t obvious that I’m there, then the suit is doing its job. Here.” He pulls a radio from his bag. “I’ll talk to you through this when I’ve found the missing ponies.”

“Are you sure you want to go?” Twilight asked one final time.

“My mind’s made up. I have to do this. For the ponies’ sake.”

Twilight sighed. “Well I guess I can’t stop you then.

Ray applied paint to his face. “You’re right.”

He stepped out of the library and Twilight resumed what she was doing. He walked towards the edge of the Everfree Forest, looking back. He was hoping to spend the day hanging out with the ponies, but he had this more important task now.

“Oh well, operations come first,” Ray thought to himself.

Ray stepped into the forest, darkness almost immediately setting in as he set off to look for the ten missing ponies.

Present Day

Ray screwed the cap back onto his canteen and stowed it away. He started to stand up, but heard something. More accurately, he heard nothing. Ray raised the M4 and slowly stood up. The past two days had been filled with the sounds of birds and other creatures that roamed the forest, but now there was absolute silence. Ray walked forward with an equal silence until he came close to a clearing. He paused for a moment as the familiar crackle of fire filled his hearing and soon quiet whispers were present as well. He went to step out into the clearing, but stopped dead in his tracks. What he saw chilled him to the bone.

“No way, I know nowhere is perfect, but I didn’t know they had problems like this here too.”

Ray saw three unicorns sitting around a small fire and to his left Ray spotted a crudely constructed cage containing ten ponies.

“No, no, no, this can’t be right.”

Ray got down, blending in with a nearby bush to observe the three unicorns. He waited for a little while to make sure that no other pony joined them. After ten minutes passed, Ray got up and took out his compass, which thankfully still worked in Equestria, and headed towards the east, down the single trail the forest contained. When he made some distance between the camp and himself, he set his bag down under a medium-sized tree.

He searched his pack for a moment and pulled out what appeared to be a yellow box with spikes sticking out from the bottom. The “box” was actually a claymore mine, known for its anti-infantry capabilities. It was usually set up as either a tripwire or fired through detonating it manually. Ray set the mine down, jamming the spikes into the ground and facing it towards the tree, beginning to arm it. Ray hoped to detonate the mine and cause the tree to collapse and make noise, possibly making one or more of the unicorns come out to investigate. This would give him time to get to the camp, knock out any remaining unicorn there, and get the captured ponies out. Ray picked up his bag again and left the tree, heading back for the clearing with the detonator in hand. He had to hope the group of unicorns didn’t search the trail when the mine went off. It was a risk, but a risk Ray was ready to take.

When Ray arrived back at the small camp, the three unicorns were still quietly chatting. This pretty much confirmed that the three were the only ones in the camp. Ray pressed down on the detonator. The sound of an explosion and a tree falling down filled the quiet setting of the forest. He strained to listen to the hushed voices, but was too far away to hear clearly. After a moment, two of the three unicorns got up and started to make their way towards the source of the sound.

Ray slowly got onto his feet and crept forward into the clearing. Holding a finger up to his lips, he hoped the ponies in the cage would understand the message. Thankfully, they did. Ray stopped directly behind the pony sitting near the fire and lifted the carbine up over his head. The back end of the weapon came down and connected with the unfortunate pony’s head, knocking him out. Ray pulled out a roll of green duct tape and taped his four legs together, then proceeded over to the cage.

“It’s ok, I’m here to rescue you,” Ray told the ponies in the cage.

The cage itself was made of flimsy material and probably could have been broken by the trapped ponies, but they probably were too afraid of their captors to try. Ray cut the ropes that held the cage together with his knife. The door fell apart, allowing the prisoners to exit.

“I’m going to need you all to listen to what I say so I can get you out of here,” Ray continued. “The other two will be back any minute now and I’m going to need you to stay calm. I’ll take care of them when they get here. Just stand out here for a moment.”

The sound of twigs snapping came from the direction of the trail and Ray quickly melted back into the forest. The group of ponies started to panic as the unicorns came back.

“Hey, how’d you get out?” He heard a rough, but slightly startled voice say.

The other two unicorns entered the clearing and their horns started to glow as they approached the formerly captive group of ponies. Ray quickly walked around the clearly and stepped out behind one of the ponies. While he was distracted with his magic, Ray drove the butt of the carbine into his head. Upon hearing his partner collapse, the other unicorn pivoted and stared at what appeared to be some swamp monster. Ray turned to the last unicorn and smashed the carbine into the unicorn’s face. That unicorn fell over as well.

Ray secured the unicorns and returned to the group.

“Alright every pony. Follow me and stay close. Wandering off could get you lost.

Ray held his carbine up and led the group onto the trail of the forest, being wary of any other dangers of the forest. Remembering what he told Twilight, Ray took out his radio.

“Twilight, if you can hear me, I have the missing ponies. I’ll be back in town in a half hour. See you then.” there was no response, but Ray figured it was because Twilight didn’t know how to respond with the radio.

The walk through the forest was tiring, especially for Ray as he had been walking for almost two days. Brighter light became visible ahead. The group of ponies rushed towards it, ahead of Ray. Something seemed off to Ray though as they rushed ahead. He shook his head and dismissed the feeling as he took off the hood of his ghillie suit. He stepped out of the forest to be met with loud cheering. The ponies he saved were all hugging their friends that they didn’t see. Twilight approached Ray.

“I was getting a little worried. Two days in the forest is a long time.

“You’re telling me. I’m really tired from that.” He took a sighing pause. “I’m going to head back to the library. Just make sure these ponies aren’t injured and use the radio if you need anything.” He pointed to the button on the radio.

“I was wondering how to use this thing… Alright, will do!”

Ray began to walk towards the library, but Twilight spoke again.

“And Ray?” she said, making him turn his head. “Thank you. I’m sure these ponies are forever grateful.”

Ray just nodded before he continued on to the library. That feeling he had though was now really strong. Something… Wasn’t right. He had learned to trust his instincts before. He walked into the library and slowly went up the stairs to the second floor, reviewing the scene in his mind.

“Neutralized the unicorns… freed the ponies… They ran ahead…”

Ray walked up to a window near Twilight’s room with a range card he had sketched when he had nothing to do. An old habit, or an instinct perhaps. He placed his bag of equipment on the floor and flipped the card between his fingers as he looked down on the crowd that was still gathered. He started counting the ponies he had seen get ahead in the forest.

“Seven… Eight…”

Ray’s eyes landed on Rainbow Dash treating the back of a pony’s head.

“Wait a second…” Ray picked up the radio from his bag. “Twilight, what’s Rainbow Dash doing?”

From the window, he saw Twilight turn towards Rainbow Dash. “Seems like she’s just treating the last pony.”

“I don’t think that’s one of the ponies I saved…”

“What are you saying Ray?” Twilight asked.

“Walk calmly over to Rainbow Dash and get her away from that unicorn.”

Twilight started walking towards Rainbow Dash as calmly as she could. The button on her radio was pushed down.

“Uhm, Rainbow? C-Can I speak with you for a moment?”

“Yeah, sure Twilight. Just after I- HEY!”

From the window, the unicorn took down Rainbow Dash and stood on her back pointing his horn at her. Twilight jumped backwards.

“Get back, all of you! Get back or this pegasus gets it!” he yelled.

Twilight took several more steps back. The crowd of ponies had fanned away from the unicorn and watched from a safe distance. Rainbow Dash tried fighting, but the unicorn’s horn began to glow and she stopped.

“No, no, no, this can’t be happening…” Ray said to himself. He held up the range card he made towards the unicorn. Just over 500 yards. “Twilight, I need to know what’s going on down there.”

“The unicorn is yelling at the crowd to stay away,” she said in a panic-stricken tone. “He’s saying he’ll kill Rainbow Dash! Ray, what do we do?!”

“Calm down Twilight. Panicking isn’t an option now. Try to calm him down and maybe we can get him to just walk away.”

“How do we do that?”

“Ask him what he wants first,” Ray told Twilight as he unzipped his rifle bag. He pulled out his sniper rifle, still loaded, but he hoped he wouldn’t have to use it. He knelt down, placing the barrel of the rifle down on the window sill.

“He says he wants everypony to leave and that he’s going to take Rainbow Dash into the forest,” Twilight said over the radio.

“That can’t happen, but tell him that he can just let her go and we won’t hold this against him,” Ray said, adjusting his scope. His breathes became slower, allowing him to aim more accurately. The unicorn shook his head angrily after Twilight relayed the message.

“He’s not-“

“Yeah, I can see that.”

“Wait, Ray? What are you going to do?”

“What I have to.”

Twilight quickly spun towards the library and looked up towards the windows. “Ray, no! You can’t- Oh no, he said if we’re not gone in thirty seconds, he’s killing Rainbow Dash. He’s counting down!”

“I’m sorry Twilight,” Ray said coldly. “I have to.” He placed the radio down and adjusted his scope. “Slight wind out of the south.” 500 yards isn’t a bad distance for a sniper, but any small wind gust or miscalculation could mean the death of an innocent pony. He didn’t want to do this, but it seemed there was no other way.

Meanwhile, Twilight had turned away from the unicorn and started galloping towards the library. Ray’s finger was just against the trigger as he began to hold his breath. With the crosshairs over the unicorn, Ray could see his features. A messy red mane and desperate blue eyes were obvious. So was his anger.

Ray pulled the trigger of the rifle, firing a round down towards the hostage-taker. Displaced air was visible through the scope as the bullet cut through the air. Rainbow Dash’s hooves were over her eyes as the high caliber round pierced the unicorn’s skull, scattering blood and brain matter. The unicorn fell off of the turquoise pegasus. The crowd yelled in surprise at the scene which just unfolded. Rainbow Dash slowly got up, not daring to look back as she knew what had happened.

Ray stood up and grumbled angrily. He put the rifle ontop of his bag and slumped against the wall, his hands over his face. “There should’ve been another way…” he said to himself aloud. The front door of the library burst open.

“Ray!” Twilight called. He didn’t respond. Twilight climbed up the stairs. “Ray… Are you okay?”

Ray sighed. “My instructor once told me snipers have the most emotionally draining job in the military. We get to see the damage dealt as opposed to a pilot or frontline infantry who doesn’t get to see what they’ve done. We all cope in our own way too. Me, I just go over it in my head until I can accept what I’ve done. So to answer that question, I’ll be okay. I just need to collect myself.”

Twilight just sighed, turning to leave. “I guess I’ll just go make sure Rainbow Dash is okay.”

Ray’s mind raced over possible scenarios about the unicorn’s background. He obviously had someone who loved him once in his life. What if he had a family? What if he was just trying to get money for them through a ransom? These thoughts kept running through Ray’s head for some time. It took him believing that he had to do it to save his friend to calm him down.

He took in a shaky breath as he stood up. He pulled off the ghillie suit, which now had the stench of the forest, and stuffed it in his bag. He took his range card, placing it in his pocket, and walked down the stairs with his bag over his shoulder. He got to the first floor, then placed his bag down again. He made his way towards the door, but then it opened by itself, revealing Rainbow Dash.

"Ray…” she flew into the library and wrapped her hooves around him. “You saved my life... Again… Thank you.”

Ray returned the hug, wrapping his arms around her. “You’re welcome…” There will still some blood spattered on the back of her coat.

“I just wish… There was another way…” Rainbow Dash said softly.

“Me too Rainbow Dash… Me too…”

Twilight and the rest of their friends walked into the library and stopped in their tracks. They were used to seeing Rainbow Dash being so… affectionate. They took notice and quickly separated, clearly embarrassed.

“So why-“ Applejack started, but a bright white light suddenly filled the library. Ray expected it to be Princess Celestia, and he was correct.

“Ray, we need to talk. Now.”

Editor’s Note: As you may have noticed with this chapter, I have revised it greatly so that the grammar and spelling is correct. I have also added more details to make the story easier to understand. The story isn’t changed much, Akkura still wrote it. I’ve just hoped aboard on improving it, so I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Be sure to leave criticism in the comments section. Thanks. – Jd896

Authors note: Hey all, I want to announce the Jb896 is now going to be the official prereader of The Lost Soldier, written by yours truly, as he stated he did revise the chapter and made it at least 20% better! Thanks man!

Chapter 12: Gear Check

Hello all you readers! Akkura (and jd896) here with another chapter, hope you enjoy!

The two friends walked back to Twilight’s library in silence. Rainbow Dash had many questions she wanted Ray to ask. She turned to ask him her first one, but the look on his face told the pegasus that he was in deep thought. She thought it best to talk to him at a later time.

They soon reached the library and the two approached the door. Ray, who had ceased his brooding, slowly grasped the handle of the door, took a deep breath and opened it. All the ponies that were in the library when Ray left were still inside. They all flinched for some odd reason as the door suddenly swung open. They all turned to watch Ray and Rainbow Dash enter the library. For a moment, it was quiet, so Princess Celestia took this to her advantage.

“I’m sorry Ray,” the princess began.

“It’s ok ma’am. I know you are concerned for your subjects. Any good leader would be.”

Ray remembered how Cassandra would always make sure her team got home safely, taking care of them before herself. Ray had to blink to hold back the coming tears.

“You forgot these too,” she continued, levitating a picture and a pair of dog tags towards Ray with her magic. He grasped them and the magic wore away.

“Thanks…”

There was another deafening silence. Celestia tried to change the subject.

“You know, you two seem to be quite fond of each other,” she said, somewhat teasingly. “Rainbow Dash, why don’t you show Ray around Cloudsdale? I’m sure he’ll enjoy it very much.”

Rainbow Dash shifted a bit awkwardly.

“With all due respect Princess, uh, how exactly is he going to get up there? I mean, he can’t exactly fly you know.”

“If I remember correctly, I believe Twilight owns a hot air balloon. Am I right in saying this Twilight?”

“I do Princess!” the purple unicorn said, nodding. “I wouldn’t mind letting Ray borrow it.”

“Please, if you could Twilight, retrieve it for us.”

“On it!” Twilight said, trotting off to another part of the library.

“Right, but Ray still can’t walk on clouds either unless he’s going to fly that giant balloon around Cloudsdale which I’m sure would be a bit of a problem,” Rainbow added.

“Allow me to take care of that,” the princess said. She placed her horn on Ray’s head and a dim light glowed around Ray’s body for a brief moment. Celestia then pulled her horn away.

“What happened?” Ray asked uncertainly.

“I just cast a spell to allow you to walk on clouds of course.”

Ray was somewhat shocked at the sudden generosity, but decided not to question. The princess was right in saying they were fond of each other. He had saved Rainbow Dash’s life twice and had been good friends since. He turned towards the soft blue pegasus who had a big grin on her face.

“Oh, you’re going to love Cloudsdale! There’s so much to see, so much to do!” Rainbow exclaimed. Ray chuckled a bit.

“I don’t really know what to say but thank you Princess. I just hope this doesn’t carry over to my world, heh.”

Ray briefly thought about himself jumping out of an airplane and smashing into a cloud.

“I don’t think anything will happen if you go back,” Celestia told him. “I must be going now. Luna can’t run the kingdom by herself in Canterlot of course!”

The ponies all started to bid Celestia farewell as she started to glow white.

“Oh yes, and Ray. I just want you to know my opinion about you is different than when we initially met,” Celestia informed Ray.

“Heh, thank you. As I said before, you’re lucky I came here. I’m one of the ‘better ones’.”

The princess grew brighter until the room flashed with a bright light. Just as quickly as she had entered, she was gone. Silence resounded again as Ray started at the picture he had taken from Celestia. He put it in his pocket before he could shed any more tears. Twilight walked back into the room, levitating a big basket.

“Oh, Princess Celestia left?” Twilight said, a bit disappointed.

“Yeah…” Ray said quietly.

“Ray… are you, uh, okay?” Fluttershy asked with concern.

“I just need a moment and I’ll be fine…” he replied.

“Ray, I’m sure I speak for all of us when I say that we’re truly sorry for you loss…” Twilight said. “If there’s anything we can do for you while you’re here in Equestria, just ask us please. We would be more than willing to help.”

The other five ponies nodded in agreement. Ray then remember he wouldn’t be staying here forever. He would have to return to his own world at some time.

“Thanks for the offer, but I feel I should be the one offering you help. You six have given me the opportunity to show to Celestia that I’m not a violent person; that I’m not like most other humans. Thank you all.”

The six suddenly grouped around him and embraced him in a group hug. Ray tried to return it as much as he could.

“So what do we do now?” Ray asked.

“OH, I KNOW! PICK ME! PICK ME!” Pinkie Pie squeed, jumping up and down, waving her hoof around. Ray couldn’t help but laugh.

“Alright, Pinkie?”

“YAY! Alright, here’s a good one. Let’s all go on a nice picnic together!”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Sure then. It’ll be nice to relax a little bit,” Ray said, but then he was reminded of something in the back of his head. “Actually, you girls go on ahead. I’ll catch up in a little while.”

“You sure ‘bout that hun? We don’t mind waitin’ for ya,” Applejack said.

“I’m sure. Please, go on ahead. I insist.”

“Hey, I can come with you,” Rainbow quickly said.

“No, it’s fine. Go off with your friends. I don’t need to interrupt your plans.”

“It’s not like you’ve gone and done that before,” she teased.

Ray couldn’t help but grin “I’m fine. You go to the picnic. I just need to do a few errands and then I’ll stop by the picnic.”

“Fair enough…”

Ray exited the library and started on towards the Everfree Forest. The first thing he wanted to do was to inform some pony that there were three unconscious unicorns in a clearing in the forest although he probably should’ve done that earlier. He then wanted to retrieve the parachute that was probably still stuck in the tree that he got caught on upon first entering Equestria. He thought he would be up walking around in the clouds sometime in the near future, so he figured he would be able to enjoy himself a lot more if he had the parachute. Lastly, Ray wanted to clean his rifle again. The soldier would have done this first to save time, but he wanted some time to be alone and think.

Ray soon approached the area where the dead unicorn, the one he had killed, still laid. Police ponies were around the scene, but permitted Ray through. He knelt down next to the body and closed its eyes.

“I’m sorry… I had no choice,” he said as if talking to the unicorn. Ray sighed and stood up again. “I need to know who’s in charge of the police force around here.”

An earth pony in the group turned towards Ray. He had a blue coat of fur, a jet black mane, and yellow eyes that matched gold.

“I would be in charge of the police sir,” he responded. “Anything I can do to help?”

“I just need to inform you there are three unicorns in a clearing in the Everfree Forest who were also responsible for kidnapping those ten ponies,” Ray said. He took out a map he borrowed from Twilight and was able to indicate the clear to the police pony. “Are you able to retrieve them?”

“Of course we can. I’ll send two of my colts out. Twirl! Rain!” Two more ponies, pegasi this time, turn towards the two. “There’s a clearing about 15 minutes to the north. Possible suspects have been knocked unconscious. Go check it out.”

The two nodded and quickly flew off towards the forest.

“Thanks a lot.” The police pony nodded and Ray walked back to the forest, walking along the edge until he found the tree he was looking for. Up on a decently high branch was his parachute. At first glance, it looked like it was completely intact, but Ray decided that he would wait until he got a closer look before he could consider it as being in good condition.

Ray started up the tree, climbing up its trunk until he was at the same level as the parachute. He removed the entangled parachute from the tree’s branched, allowing it to float gently to the ground. He started to climb down, but then he thought about jumping off instead. He was able to walk onto a thick branch and steady himself there. He pushed off the branch with his legs, propelling him into the air. He fell towards the ground and as he hit it, the trained soldier rolled his entire body forward, performing a roll.

Happy he was still able to do such a basic roll, he turned towards the fallen parachute and began to inspect it. Thankfully for Ray, the parachute was not damaged, meaning he could reuse it at a later time. Ray folded it up quickly as he had been taught to do so several times. Ray tested it to make sure the release for the main and reserve parachute worked. Satisfied, Ray started back towards the library. On his way back, he was stopped by Lyra and Bon Bon.

“Hello… Stranger… I just wanted to thank you for saving me,” Bon Bon said.

“Oh, it’s fine. It’s just another day at the office,” Ray responded.

“You know, I never caught your name. Do you mind telling us?” Lyra asked.

“My name is Ray. I’m just a soldier from another world.”

“Ray… I like that name,” Lyra commented. “Yes, thank you for saving my friend. If it weren’t for you, she’d be still stuck in that forest.”

“Really, it was no trouble. If you two don’t mind however, I need to get somewhere. We can talk again another time.”

“Oh, I understand. Bye!”

Ray walked past the two ponies towards the library once again. Once he had made it back, he immediately went downstairs and placed his parachute down with the rest of his gear. He took out his rifle from his bag and returned upstairs to clean it. He disassembled the parts to the gun and placed them on the table in the middle of the library. He quickly cleaned it and reassembled it, only then to find his friends coming back from their picnic.

For some odd reason however, the reality of the last few days suddenly caught up to Ray right there. In the forest, Ray only got four total hours of sleep. He was accustomed to getting little sleep while on missions, but when he wasn’t on them, he could barely manage more than a day without sleep. It was odd how he was able to stay awake and alert on missions, but the exact opposite would be true off these missions. He took his rifle and, without saying a word to the ponies, walked down the stairs again. Before he knew it, he passed out on his bed.

Ray was unsure of how long he slept, but he guessed it to be a few hours. He shot up awake when he heard the door to the library being opened violently. Ray grabbed his rifle without thinking, completely alert. Twilight walked down the stairs and froze when she saw Ray with his rifle in hand.

“Uh, Ray…? What are you doing?

“Oh, sorry Twilight. You startled me.” Ray said as he set down the unloaded rifle “Are you okay? You look frustrated.”

Twilight shook her head, realizing again what was on her mind.

“Well, yes. I was just informed my brother, Shining Armor, is getting married!”

“You should be happy for him then! Not getting mad about it!”

“Well, yes I know, and I would be, but it wasn’t my brother who told me he was getting married.”

“Ah, I see.”

“It was an invitation to the wedding. What’s more I have no idea who he’s marrying!”

“When’s the wedding?”

“Two days. I also have to supervise the preparation as requested by him and Princess Celestia. I actually came here to pack up and get ready to go to Canterlot.”

“Well, seeing as I wasn’t invited, I guess I will be seeing you in two or three days,” Ray said, lying back again.

“Oh, sorry Ray. I’m sure you can come. Shining Armor is a reasonable pony.”

“No, no, it’s fine. I don’t want to intrude or cause a scene. I mean I’m sure the ponies in Canterlot haven’t seen a human before.”

“Are you sure? You can even come as my own guest if you’d like!”

“I’m sure.”

Twilight sighed. “Well, I guess I can’t dissuade you. I’ll see you in a few days,” she said, turning to walk back up the stairs.

“If you need anything, just call me over the radio, okay?”

“Oops, I forgot I still had that. Do you want it back?”

“Nah, keep it. You can use it to communicate with me.”

“Alright, see you when I get back then.” Twilight said, walking up the stairs. Ray had the whole library to himself.

Chapter 13:Combat Effective Part 1

Hi all! This was originally going to be a stand-alone mini story, but I got convinced to include it in the main story. Thanks to QQSaturn (YouTube username) for the encouragement and his OC is in this part of the story.
Editor’s note: Hey Kensei here again I also edited chapter 12 (Though I forgot to do any notes. Oh well). I hope you like my revisions on here!
Jd896: It’s funny because I edited this chapter myself.

Ray was lying back on his bed, enjoying a Daring Do book he had picked out from one of Twilight’s many bookshelves. It was pretty interesting, reading about how Daring Do traveled to many places far and wide, always escaping danger that became present. Unfortunately, Ray’s reading came to an abrupt halt when the radio standing next to him on his table crackled to life.

“Ray? Hello? Is this working?” Twilight said through the small device.

“Yep, Ray here. It’s working,” he replied.

“Good. I need you to catch the train over here to Canterlot. My brother is getting married to someone that seems suspicious and I want you here just in case,” Twilight’s voice crackled.

“Rodger that, I’ll be right there soon.”

“Thanks Ray.”

Ray stood up and tossed the book on his bed. He changed his clothing, putting on the straight black combat uniform that had been repaired by Rarity. It was amazing how much precision and craftsmanship went into this one piece. Ray opened the drawer near his bed and withdrew his bag. He placed it on the bed, unzipped it, and removed his weapons from it.

He soon left the library, making his way towards the Ponyville train station. He waved at a group of ponies as he walked along as they had already grown accustomed to him. Upon reaching the station, Ray paid for a round-trip ticket to Canterlot. He then entered the train and took a seat. The conductor, familiar with who Ray was, walked up to him.

“Going to see the wedding Ray?” the conductor asked, taking Ray’s ticket and punching a hole in it.

“Yeah, something like that,” Ray replied with a small smirk.

“Well then enjoy yourself. And don’t be toting those weapons around, scaring my passengers. I don’t need a mass panic on my hooves.” Ray laughed.

“Can do. Do you mind me asking how long it’s going to be until we arrive in Canterlot?”

“Not at all! It will be about two hours.”

Ray thanked the conductor and settled in. He took the time to check his equipment and his ammunition, like any good operator. He still had five magazines for his carbine, each holding 30 rounds a piece. He also had four clips for his sniper rifle, one of which was composed of custom, handmade rounds for “special circumstances”. These rounds had a tendency to be more accurate at further distances. Two of the bullets in the rifle had already been used as well, totaling to eighteen rounds for the rifle. He looked through the remainder of the equipment in his bag: a block of C-4 explosives, three smoke grenades, one of which was purple, a spotting scope with a laser range finder, his combat knife which could be thrown in extreme cases, and most importantly, his head. Last time he checked, it was in fine condition so Ray settled in to sleep for the trip to Canterlot.

Ray awoke to the jolt of the train braking. He rubbed his eyes and took a look outside the window. The train was now inside a purple dome, acting as a shield to the city. The operator took out his radio.

“Twilight, it’s Ray. I’m here in the city now.” Silence responded. “Twilight, do you copy?” Nothing. Ray grew somewhat nervous. Something seemed odd to him, but he shrugged it off. The unicorn was probably too busy with her brother to respond. He sighed and placed the radio into a slot on his tactical vest, easily accessible if needed. The sniper rifle was slung over his back and the carbine hung in front of Ray for quick drawing, but he hoped that he wouldn’t have to use it. However, he would rather be ready to fire and alert than need to fire and not ready.

Before leaving the library, Twilight had told Ray what she and her friends were planning for the wedding, so he already had a general idea of where every pony was staying. Problem was that he needed to find exactly where. Ray got up and walked towards the door, which opened automatically. He stopped as five of the six ponies he was about to go searching for were already in front of him!

“Oh, hey girls,” Ray said in surprise. “Any one of you seen Twilight recently?”

“That’s th’ thing. We haven’t seen her since the rehearsal,” Applejack promptly responded. “An’ ah didn’t know you were comin’ to the wedding.”

“I wasn’t really planning on it.” Ray placed his hand on his carbine and took a few steps forward, exiting the train onto the platform.

“Oh no, what’s happened? Did something bad happen to Twilight?” Fluttershy asked with worry in her voice.

“I’m not sure. She contacted me-“

The train blew it’s whistle and quickly departed.

“… She contacted me on the radio asking me to come down here immediately. She said she was very suspicious of the bride.”

“Oh, goodness. She’s still going on about that?” Rarity cut in, stomping her hoof down. “She can be so persistent at times!”

“Can any of you tell me what exactly is going on here?” Ray asked.

“Well the bride, Princess Cadence, was acting kinda irritated and negative towards us since we’ve been here. We think it’s just the stress of the wedding, but Twilight’s completely convinced she’s evil. She even crashed the wedding rehearsal just to tell us that! I mean, who does that? Crashing a rehearsal like that just to tell us something? I mean, RUUUDE.” Pinkie Pie said, moving her front hooves around in a dramatic fashion. Ray sighed.

“Twilight doesn’t seem like the type to go off on wild accusations without something big to go off of. Perhaps she’s seen something- Ah, no matter. That’s not what I’m here for. I need to know where Twilight is. You haven’t seen her since the dress rehearsal?”

The five ponies all nodded in unison.

“Okay, how long till the wedding starts?”

“It starts in thirty minutes. Oh, thirty minutes?! I have to go!” Rarity suddenly dashed off to the castle.

“Right… Anyways, not much time. I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens. You four can go. I’ll catch up with you later,” Ray said, turning around.

“We’ll see you at the wedding then?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Actually, you won’t,” Ray replied, waving.

Ray walked through the town for some time and made his way to the roof of a building adjacent to that of the palace where the wedding would take place. He was observing the final preparations through his spotting scope, which stated that the range was roughly 350 yards. An easy shot if he had to take it. The soldier, thinking ahead, also set up a rappel line in case he needed to get off the roof quickly. It was always good to be prepared for the worst.

He watched the palace through his spotting scope. There was a large crowd of ponies inside. Ray tried to pick out any ponies that looked suspicious, but the only one who stood out was a grey mare who had a blonde mane, constantly turning towards her friend, also a grey, but a stallion with a black mane and pale purple eyes.

Ray heard buzzing. He pushed the scope away from his eye and looked around. No, it wasn’t radio static, nor was it coming from the wedding as it wasn’t due to start for a few minutes. No, it was coming from above! He looked up and saw multiple black specks flying above the shield protecting the city. No, it wasn’t five or ten or fifty or one hundred of them. There were thousands!

“What is going on here…?” Ray muttered to himself.

He raised the spotting scope to his eye to get a clear view of what was waiting on the outside of the shield. These specks looked like small, black, disfigured alicorns smashing themselves against the shield in an attempt to break it.

Perhaps now was best to try the radio again.

“Twilight, it’s Ray. Do you copy?” he asked again. Silence. She wasn’t there. This made Ray concerned.

“Damn it, Twilight’s gone. These weird black ponies are trying to break in. This can’t be a good sign.”

Ray looked through the spotting scope at the wedding again. By now, the precession was under way with the bride and groom standing near Princess Celestia. Suddenly, the doors burst open on the opposite end of the room. Entering the palace was Twilight and a twin of the bride. Now Ray was completely confused, but all was made clear when the bride near Celestia transformed into a much larger version of the ponies smashing against the shield. It walked around a bit, talking, before Celestia engaged her in a magical duel.

Celestia’s loss wasn’t the only trouble Ray was concerned with. The sound of glass shattering filled the air. Ray quickly looked up, seeing that the purple shield over the city was now gone, having shattered into millions of pieces and allowing the black swarm of ponies in.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Ray yelled to himself. He grabbed his spotting scope and ran for the opposite end of the building he was on. Not bothering to even clip on, Ray grabbed the rappel line and slid down. He slid down and forced himself through a closed window on the side of the building. He crashed through the window and spilled onto the floor.
Purple shards fell to the ground all over the city. The buzzing noise was more prominent now as the black ponies flew through the capital. Ray slowly got to his feet, a bit dizzy.

“This situation...” Ray said to himself. He looked outside another window as the black ponies were flying around, chasing the residents of the city. He caught a glimpse of the six ponies running from the palace. He traced where they were heading towards a large tower.

“That tower looks important enough…” Ray ran down the stairs of the room he was in and went for the front door.

He kicked it open and stormed out. The purple shield had since stopped falling and lied in bits on the ground. Ray’s first step outside resulted in a solid crunch. He started running forward, towards the palace when these invaders caught sight of him. They flew themselves towards Ray, smashing into the ground as they missed. Ray started into a full-on sprint. He ran along the side of the palace until he reached the area where he had seen the ponies. The soldier turned and made his way towards the tower he had indicated in his mind. The six ponies weren’t too far ahead, so Ray tried to catch up with them. He hopped over an unconscious one of these ponies as he soon caught up to the six ponies who were stuck with a large group of these buggers.

“Ray!” Twilight called as he caught up to them. More of these black ponies swarmed in from behind.

“What the hell are these things?!” Ray questioned.

“They’re Changelings! They can shape-shift into other ponies!”

These “Changelings” were blocking the way to the tower.

“Looks like we’re gonna have to do this the hard way!” Rainbow Dash called, smashing her hooves together and flying forward. She stopped dead when she ran into a copy of herself. The soft blue pegasus made several movements with her body, of which the other mimicked completely until it decided to shove the real Rainbow back into the group. She looked up in disbelief.

“How did they…?” she started to say, but stopped as she saw more of them turn into copies of herself and her friends.

“They’re Changelings, remember?” Twilight said.

“They’re Changelings, remember?” Five more copies said in unison.

“Don’t let them distract you,” the real Twilight continued. “We need to get to the Elements of Harmony! They’re our only hope!”

Ray took out his combat knife. The situation was too tight for proper use of his carbine. It wasn’t of much bother to him though. He could hold his own in hand-to-hand combat.

The group charged forward at the battalion-sized group of Changelings. Ray grabbed a copy of Rarity and sunk his knife into its throat. He pulled it out quickly and dropped it, leaking green ooze from the fatal wound. He turned to be met with an “evil-looking” Fluttershy. With no hesitation, he rammed the blade through the fake’s eye, killing it instantly.
Ray was quickly knocked onto his back, being met with a Changeling staring right into his eyes. Before he had a chance to reach, the disfigured alicorn touched its deformed horn onto Ray’s forehead, sending Ray’s mind back into a distant memory.

Ray was lying on the ground in his ghillie suit. He had his eye in the scope of a sniper rifle, aiming at an insurgent who couldn’t have been older than eighteen years of age. He remembered when he got the order to kill him. There was a hesitation to pull the trigger, but he did. The round was sent and met its mark. This was his first kill.
Ray quickly shook the memory off and looked at the Changeling again. Except, it wasn’t a Changeling. It was now the insurgent he had first killed. Ray shoved the insurgent off and crawled backwards in shock. It raised a familiar looking object at Ray. An AK-47. Ray rolled to the side as a green blast of energy shot the ground next to him. He came up from the roll, his sidearm now in hand. He shot the insurgent twice in the head, the hollow point rounds creating large holes in its head.

Ray turned back to see Rainbow Dash attempting to decide if the Ray she was facing was real or not. It raised the carbine at her, but Ray instantly reacted, raising his pistol once more and shooting it in the head. It fell over, spewing more green ooze. He holstered the pistol and turned, just to meet five more of the Changeling insurgents.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” He yelled, diving forward at the closest one he could get to. Ray rolled with it, the insurgent’s back against him. He took control of its rifle and pulled down on the trigger, spraying bolts of green energy at the fake insurgents. As the last one fell, Ray shoved the one on top of him off and shot him as well. Ray then got up himself.

“These things must act as a hive mind.” Ray said to himself looking at how many changed into the insurgent.

Minutes more of rigorous close quarters combat continued between the duplicated of himself and his friends, and the real group. The seven were finally able to take down the last one. The group turned back, just to see another large swarm of Changelings flying towards them.

“Ray!” Twilight shouted. “Come on!”

“Go! I have my Element!” Ray said, indicating his watch. “I’ll buy you time to get your Elements! Go, go, go!”

Twilight hesitated.

“But-“

“You need your Elements to take down these Changelings. You don’t need mine! I’ll buy you all the time I can! Just GO!”

“You better come back,” Rainbow Dash said in a cold, no negotiations tone as she flew off with her friends towards the tower.

“I will… I’ve faced worse…” He’s been saying that a lot lately.

The soldier checked the sights on his M4 Carbine, setting it up for longer range shots. He checked the fore grip and snapped the selector switch from safety to semi-automatic. Ray dropped to one knee and pointed up at the first Changeling he saw and opened fire. He fired ten rounds quickly, resulting in ten dead Changelings. Now that the Changelings full attention was on his, he turned and ran in an attempt to lead them away from the tower holding the Elements of Harmony.

Ray turned down another street where he saw the two ponies he identified earlier struggling against a group of Changelings. Another smaller group of Changelings was flying right towards them. Ray raised the carbine again, each round hitting one Changeling in the charging group with inhumane accuracy. Ray kept running, releasing the carbine so it could bounce off its strap on his neck.
He saw a small alley and turned down it, only to be faced with a seven foot wall, just two feet out of reach. Good thing Ray practiced parkour as both a hobby and something he learned to implement in combat with Spartan. Without breaking his stride and a grin wide on his face, he ran right towards the wall. Just before hitting it, he stepped onto the side of the bricks. His momentum carried him up the wall as he stepped up. He grabbed the top and hauled himself over it. He jumped down and rolled to disperse the momentum.
Ray stood up to continue on, but was only met with the butt of a rifle. He fell backwards, now with a splitting headache and a bloody nose. Ray opened his eyes to be looking down the barrel of another AK-47. His memories flashed inside his head again.

Ray remembered that moment. Ray and Cassandra were on opposite sides of that door. The same one Cassandra moved in front of to open. He relived the moment where she was practically gunned down by the terrorist. The memory quickly faded again and came back to see the same terrorist who killed Cassandra pointing his weapon at Ray.

“No… You’re not killing me too!” Ray yelled, slapping the muzzle of the rifle away in a fit of rage. He grabbed the insurgents other arm and yanked it down. The enraged operator rolled on top of his mortal enemy and struck him three times in the head with his bare fists. He grabbed the knife from its sheath and brought it down on the terrorist. Somehow the terrorist had recovered, and shifted, causing the knife to jam into the dirt. It kicked Ray off, tossing him backwards to the ground. Ray scrambled to get to his feat but the terrorist stepped on his right arm. It knelt down on Ray and pulled his left arm behind his back. Ray was powerless while the terrorist still had a free arm. With a flash of green, the terrorist now had a knife in his free hand, which he lowered to Ray’s neck.

Cliffhanger mwhahahaha! The wedding battle is going to be split into three parts just so you know. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 14: Combat Effective Part 2

Sorry for the short chapter hope you enjoy! Also a quick shout out to Lightning Flicker () for the support he gives me. Thanks man :).

Ray struggled to free his hands, but they were effectively pinned. His legs were free, but he couldn’t do anything with them as the insurgent was kneeling on his back, putting the knife to his neck.

“Say goodbye… Human.”

Ray waited for his impending death, but it never came. He felt the weight of the insurgent on top of him get lifted off, abruptly. The knife was no longer near his neck. Ray looked up and saw a grey pegasus ramming the insurgent into a wall. He fell over unconscious and the pegasus folded its wings. This was Derpy’s friend who had saved Ray.

“Thanks a lot. I’m glad you showed up when you did.” Ray said as he got to his feet and took out his pistol.

“No problem. Help others in need, y’know? ” he replied.

Ray shot the insurgent in the head, causing the pegasus to flinch away momentarily.

“I’m Ray. And you are?”

“Uh… My name’s Saturn.”

“Nice to meet you Saturn,” Ray said courteously. “I assume you know Ms. Derpy?”

“That I do,” the grey pony said as another grey pony, this one cross-eyed, peered from around the corner.

“Okay, well both of you stick close. I’ll try to get you two to the edge of the city so you can get out, but I’m mainly trying to distract that large swarm so that my friends can get the Elements of Harmony.”

“Are you sure? We could try to get out on our own,” Saturn replied.

“Yeah, it’s fine. If something happens to me though I want you two to book it ok? Don’t try to play any heroics.”

“Sure, come on Derpy. We’re getting out of here,” Saturn said after a short pause.

“Okay!” Derpy said a little too loudly as she trotted up to the duo. Ray stepped out of the alley and quickly swept the street with his carbine.

“Clear, but not for long. Let’s go!” Ray whispered as the two stepped out onto the street. “You guys go that way and I’ll be right behind you.” Ray motioned his arm down the street.

Without waiting for confirmation from them, Ray walked the opposite way to check and see if the swarm was still following. Ray would have been relieved on any other occasion if he had lost them, but this time Ray sighed with relief when he saw they were headed in this direction. Next, Ray stormed into a large and structurally unsound like an insane man. Finally, he placed his lone block of C-4 on a wall and made sure it was ready to be detonated.
The buzzing of hundreds of tiny wings began to fill the air. Ray sprinted out of the building while taking the suppressor off of his carbine. He slowed his pace to a slow walk once out of the building and fired the remainder of his magazine towards the swarm to grab the attention of them. The loud reports got their attention more than their dropping comrades and they surged forward with renewed vigor. He turned towards Saturn and Derpy, who were cautiously walking up the street, while exchanging the empty magazine for a fresh one.

“Run! Now!” Ray yelled as he pressed the button that chambered a round.

Ray caught up with the two pegasi and they flew slightly above and ahead of him, headed away from the swarm and
the damaged building.

“In here!” Ray said and the two pegasi dove into the building. Ray let the weight of the carbine fall to the sling and he pulled out his detonater. He checked outside to see the swarm of Changelings near the building that had the C-4 set up in it. He pressed down on the detonator.

Wump!

A section of the building blew out first and then the rest of it toppled over and crushed a large part of the swarm. Shrapnel and debris were blasted out from the collapse, landing in the streets and sides of buildings as nearby windows were blown out.

“What was that?” Derpy asked with the renowned look of hers.

“An explosion. Come on, we gotta get moving again.” Ray replied in a terse manner.

The three stepped back out into the street. When they saw the destruction, Sature and Derpy could only manage a “Wow.”

Ray decided to call Twilight via radio and see if her friends got to the Elements.

“Hey, Twilight? Did you girls get the Elements?”

A short pause.

“Twilight?”

“You’d better come back,” Rainbow Dash said.

“I will… I’ve faced worse,” Ray replied.

“I guess I’ll have to ask about that later too,” Rainbow Dash thought as she turned to meet up with her friends. They faced the door into the tower and opened it. When they did however, they were stunned to find it was filled with even more Changelings. Much more than before and overpowered the six ponies. The Changelings marched them back towards the palace. As they walked, shots and an explosion were heard in the air.

“Ray!”

Rainbow Dash tried to fly away in the direction of the shots, but two changelings grabbed her forelegs.

“Hey! Let me go!”

She kicked a Changeling in the head, making it dizzy, but more came to put her under control. They hissed and
dragged her the rest of the way to the palace.

“It’s okay Dash. I’m sure Ray is fine,” Twilight said in an attempt to reassure her friend.

“Okay, change of plans. I’m getting you two out of here, then going after my friends,” Ray told the two pegasi.

“I’m sure Derpy and I can get out on our own. Don’t worry about us.” Saturn replied.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll get you two out.”

“If you insist…” Saturn sighed.

“Okay, just keep quiet and follow me,” Ray said crouching against a wall.

The trio crept towards the edge of the city where there was the large drop off. Ray figured the two pegasi could just fly away safely, leaving Ray to find his friends. They turned down another alleyway.

“One more Changeling… you two stay back. I’ll take him,” Ray murmured.

He unsheathed his knife and crept forward towards the Changeling searching through some discarded boxes. He was right behind the Changeling when he heard something crash behind him.

“Whoops…” Derpy said apologetically as she knocked down a trash can.

The Changeling turned around and Ray lunged forward for the kill. The Changeling blocked the knife-holding arm and touched its horn to Ray’s head, bringing it into a distant memory.

Ray was standing out in the oppressive sun, quietly melting under his BDU’s balaclava mask and combat gear. He stood up and ignored the heat, keeping an eye open for potential threats. Ray and other members of Task Force Spartan’s best team stood around in a loose perimeter, watching out for anyone who wanted to put a stop to the opening of a new Afghanistan school.

“Boss, mind reminding me why we are here, guarding a school opening? Shouldn’t the army or the marines be doing this?”

“Well, the President thought it was important for American troops to guard the new school opening. I do admit that we do need to put a good face on Americam’s over here in the Middle East,” 2nd Lieutenant Tania Meinke said. Tania was Cassandra’s replacement after she was killed.

“Hey boss, I got a shady character over here.”

“Shady? How so?”

“Well… bulky clothes in hundred degree weather, something in hand. My guess is suicide bomber.”

“Alright then… H-How are we going do this?” Tania asked with a slight worry in her voice.

“You’re the boss…” Ray said roughly, but the softened his voice. “But if you ask me, I can take him down non-lethal, no shots fired. Won’t spook the kids and we can interrogate the bomber for intel.”

“Thanks Ray. I know I won’t ever be half the leader Cassandra was, but I’ll do my best.”

Ray paused for a moment.

“It’s okay. I’ll be there to help when you need me,” Ray replied. He began to approach the potential bomber.

Ray chose a path that would look random and began to close the distance between him and the suspected terrorist. A moment later, he was right behind the middle aged man.

“Show me your hands, slowly.” Ray said in Dari.

“Why mister, I did nothing wrong.” came the reply in English.

“Hands. Now.” Ray said, switching back to English.

“Okay mister, okay.” He started to slowly raise his hands, but suddenly bolted in the direction of the school.

“Oh no you don’t!” Ray snarled and ran after the bomber. He quickly tackled the bomber to the ground.

He confirmed that a detonator was in his opponent’s left hand. For one frightening moment however, Ray saw his opponent’s thumb rise up above the button. Ray shot his hand forward and broke the small appendage. He then snapped his opponent’s wrist and snatched up the detonator. Relieved, Ray severed the cord that connected the button to the suicide vest.

“Clear!” Ray called with a small sigh to himself.

A collective sigh of relief came over the radio after Ray said the best word possible when dealing with explosives. Tania rushed over and put a plastic zip tie around the would-be bomber’s wrists.

“Nice job Ray.” Tania said with a smile.

“All in a day’s work” Ray replied, giving a thumbs up.

Ray now stared into the eyes of that same person with the bulky clothes, detonator, and all. He felt a brief moment of terror, which he quickly suppressed.

“Both of you run!” Ray yelled grabbing the suicide bomber and dropping the knife.

Without hesitation, Saturn and Derpy both bolted for the edge of the city. Ray knew that they would never clear the blast zone unless it was reduced. He hooked his right leg around the bomber’s leg and pulled toward him, while simultaneously pushing him down on the chest. Ray grabbed at his hands, desperately trying to get to the detonator. No sense in dying without trying. At the same time he placed his body over the explosive vest. He clearly saw his opponent press down on the button.
They say that you can’t hear the explosion that kills you and in truth Ray didn’t hear a sound. The only thing he noticed was a harsh green light, followed by a softer and brighter green. Next thing he knew he was smashing through a wall. He came to a rest in another room, wondering why he wasn’t dead. Ray then noticed his watch was glowing a light green.

“What was it the princess said? It protects me when I do a brave act?”

Ray was still shaken up from the impact with the wall, but it beat being dead by a long shot. He tried moving however, but his limbs wouldn’t obey his commands. The last thing Ray noticed before slipping from consciousness was several dark figures warily approaching him from the hole in the wall he had created.

“You won’t get away with this! Ray is still out there! He will stop you!” Rainbow Dash growled towards the Changeling queen.

“Yeah, he’s one of the best fighters from his world!” Applejack added.

“If any pon- Er, anyone can stop you, it’s Ray!” Twilight concluded.

“Oh really?” Chrysalis replied, cheekily smiling.

Just then the door to the hallway opened up. Five Changelings entered, two of them dragged an unconscious Ray between them. The two dragging him had explored Ray’s memories and both were now two different Israeli Special Forces operators armed with CAR 15s.

“Ray…” Rainbow Dash tried to get to Ray, but the two operators aimed their carbines on her and she reluctantly backed away. The three regular Changelings were dragging Rays various equipment with them. One of the Changelings made a hissing noise towards the Changeling queen.

“No, I don’t need it. You can kill it.”

One of the Israeli operators raised their CAR 15 and pointed it at Ray’s head.

“NO!” Rainbow Dash leapt forward, but was swatted away again with the butt of the other operator’s carbine. Rainbow Dash could only watch in horror as the operator squeezed the trigger.

Editor’s note: Hey guys I am JULIE! I am a friend of Akkura and talk to him on a daily basis. The way we are going to do this now is when I FAIL TO edit a chapter, we send it to Jd to fix it properly. We send it through our triangle and work out as many kinks and details as possible for your enjoyment!
-signing out: Kenseirabbit (AKA JULIE)

That was actualy Jd...
-Akkura

Chapter 15: Combat Effective Part 3

Hi all, sorry for the delay, the original for this chapter was terrible so thanks to jd0896 for getting me to rewrite it.

Ray felt himself being dragged across the ground, so kept his eyes shut as to give his captors the illusion that he was still unconscious. He reached out with his other senses to try and assess the situation by finding out where he was or where he was going. The first thing he noticed was he could hear at least five sets of footsteps. It was difficult to tell seeing as ponies had four legs, but Ray had adapted quite well and was confident in his estimate.

“Okay, one on five. Easy enough,” Ray thought to himself.

Besides the hoof steps, the only other things he noticed were the occasional hiss for a Changeling and the smell of smoke in the air. He then realized he was being gripped by hands. The Changelings had probably searched his memories for other people to take the form of. Whom they took the shape of, Ray could only fear. Before he could think any further, he heard large doors opening. Ray remembered that the palace had large doors and assumed that he was there, but he couldn’t be sure until he opened his eyes. He then felt a slight bump as the ground beneath him transformed from the rough blacktop of the street to polished floors.

“You’re still sharp as ever Ray,” He congratulated.

He heard another set of doors open and the hands gripping him released him, tossing Ray to the floor.

“Ray…”

He couldn’t risk a twitch, but he knew that voice. Being a sniper, he had been trained to control his body from making sudden movements, but that didn’t stop his heart rate from increasing. The stakes had just gotten higher. Now it just all came down to waiting for the right time to strike, probably when the Changelings felt they were in control of the situation the most, when they really weren’t.

“Ssss,” one of the Changelings hissed.

“No I don’t need it. You can kill it.”

“Okay, here we go Ray. Time to switch on.”

He heard a slight shuffle to his left and assumed his would-be executioner was there. Ray snapped his eyes open and exploded upward and to the left, shoving the familiar barrel of a CAR 15 to the side and delivered a swift punch to the throat. Ray noticed that the Changeling had decided to take the form of an Israeli operator whom Ray had previously worked with. He turned and wrapped his arms around the other operator’s head and wrenched it to the side. There was a satisfying snap as he finished the rapid movement and the specialist let the operator’s lifeless body slump to the floor.
Ray was still unarmed and noticed the other three sets of footsteps belonged to unchanged changelings that had his equipment. Before they could react Ray drove his boot into the closest one’s face. He then registered two bright flashes of green light and turned to see two more Afghan insurgents, one with an AK-47 and the other with a Dragunov SVD. Ray’s equipment was on the floor.

Ray rolled and came up inside the guard with the AK-47 and delivered a strong blow to his head, rendering him unconscious. Meanwhile, the other guard was having trouble maneuvering the long gun in such a close quarter’s engagement. Ray easily stepped into his guard and swept out the insurgent’s legs. Ray then caught his opponent’s wrist that clutched the Dragunov and tried to remove the weapon. Ray found however that he couldn’t remove it easily and simply broke his opponent’s wrist to do so. The rifle now wretched from the Changeling, Ray aimed it and fired a single shot to his head. Upon death, the rifle fizzled into nothing and the Changeling turned back to its original form.
Without a weapon again, Ray frantically looked around and found his equipment on the floor. He dove for it and found his pistol. He jumped to his feet, pointed his firearm at the misshapen alicorn, and shouted, “Don’t move!”

She did the exact opposite however; she charged him. He squeezed the trigger twice, only to watch two dark green flashes deflect both of the rounds from their path. Ray feathered the trigger until his pistol was depleted of ammo and the sniper had to roll away to dodge his target. The queen turned to charge again, but this time Ray was ready. He flipped the pistol around in his hand and stood in her path, waiting. When Chrysalis was close enough, he sidestepped slightly and smashed the pistol into the side of her head. One of her legs flailed as she lost balance however and kicked Ray in the chest, knocking him down. The pistol was flung away.

The operator got to his feet only to have to brace himself quickly for a third charge by the Changeling queen. The biggest Changeling pinned Ray to a wall and forced her horn down towards him. The specialist was able to grab her horn with a free arm, but the compromised position allowed Chrysalis to overpower him and touch her horn to his head.

This time was different. Instead of rushing to a random memory, this process seemed to have been looking for a specific memory. Immediately, Ray was thinking about all of his friends and teammates. He knew what memories the queen was going after and he tried to think of other things, but to no avail. Chrysalis found Ray’s memories about Cassandra. They returned to reality and Ray found himself staring at the queen, who had a smug look on her face. He braced himself against the wall and shot forward with all of his strength, sending both of them tumbling forward.

At the same time, there was an explosion. The queen collided with Ray as they both began to roll around closer to one of the palace’s balconies. Ray managed to shove Chrysalis off, but still found himself sliding towards the balcony. The railing had apparently been ripped off, so there was nothing stopping the skidding soldier from plummeting to the ground. He somehow managed to grab hold of the edge with one hand, the rest of his body hanging over the six story drop. From the corner of his eye, he caught Chrysalis smashing into a building further into the city. He took hold of the platform with his other hand and pulled his head over it. Ray could see most of the other ponies recovering from the explosion. They were dazed and confused, but were okay. The sniper pulled himself up completely and sat back onto the balcony, taking note of where Chrysalis crashed and inhaled deeply.

Ray heard hoofsteps behind him and snapped his head around to find his friends standing behind.

“You sure showed her Ray!” Applejack cheered.

The operator stood up. He walked towards his equipment and retrieved a new magazine from the pile, slipping it right into the pistol.

“Not yet.” The six gave him a curious look upon that statement being said.

“Ray, what are you going to do?” Twilight asked.

“I’m going after her” Ray replied, cocking the slide of his firearm.

“It’s ok, let the Royal Guard handle it” a male pony off to the side said. He was standing next to another female alicorn.
Ray assumed that was Shining Armor.

“No, I doubt any of them have as much combat experience as me. Besides, I am ready now; it would take time to assemble a group of enough ponies to take her on.”

What Ray didn’t mention was that this was personal now. He knew he shouldn’t because it was personal, but Ray couldn’t stop himself.

“I’m going with you this time Ray,” he heard Rainbow Dash say. Ray quickly spun around to her.

“No, it’s to-“

“I’m not sitting this one out again Ray. I’m going with you.

The look on her face told Ray she wasn’t ready to be dissuaded. She was ready.

“Fine, but stick close and be careful.”

“Of course! I am the best flyer in Equestria. I can take care of myself!” She said with a scent of haughtiness.

“Even the best make mistakes.” Ray said, a bit softer and taking a deep breath.

“Oh yeah… Sorry.” Her cocky attitude vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

“It’s okay,” Ray said as he inspected his M4 carbine and his other equipment. He picked out the rifle and set it against the wall.

“No one touch this,” He said as he set it down.

“Will do Ray,” Twilight responded with a nod.

“You may want to check on Celestia.” Ray indicated the dizzy princess, to whom which Twilight galloped over.

“Come on, let’s go.”

Ray and Rainbow Dash quickly descended from the palace and went for the area where Chrysalis had supposedly fallen. Ray settled into a speedy jog with Rainbow Dash flying easily behind him. It only took a few minutes before the two came up to the road where the operator suspected the queen would be.

“From here on out, we’re going slower. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. We’ll be checking each building until we find her, okay?”

“Got it,” came the reply.

Ray silently approached the first building. He went up to the door and knocked.

“Hello? Any pony in there?” he called.

“Yes,” a quiet voice replied.

“Okay, stay in there. Someone will come by and tell you when it’s safe.”

“Okay!”

Ray proceeded down the street and repeated the process. Eventually, he came across a building where he got no reply.

“Stay close. If I tell you to run and get out, do it,” Ray said in a flat tone.

Before Rainbow Dash could reply, the door was already being kicked in.

“Clear!” he shouted and quickly shot up to the second floor. Rainbow Dash flew through the door and followed him, increasing her speed slightly to keep up with the infiltration The second and third floors resulted the same as the first, but the fourth floor was different. When Ray reached the top the stairs, he paused slightly and quickly fired four times. He had shot four Changelings who had hostages.

“Are you okay?” Ray asked the four former hostages.

“Y-Yes, we are! Thank you!” one replied gratefully.

“Are there any more?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Okay, get downstairs and lock the doors and windows until the Royal Guard arrives. Let’s go Rainbow Dash” he said
and quickly ran back down the stairs.

“If I forget remind me to tell Shining Armor that any changelings inside the buildings are most likely still there.”

“Sure, but what happened to ‘slow is smooth, smooth is fast?’ ” Rainbow Dash inquired.

“By fast, I meant rushed. If you rush you forget-” he began, but suddenly choked on his words as he stepped back
onto the street. He touched his hand to his hand in disbelief. In the street was no pony, but a person. That person was Cassandra.

“Ray? Are you okay?”

“No,” Ray said as he mentally checked himself.

Rainbow Dash turned to see what he was looking at and when she saw it, her mouth dropped open. Standing on the street was Cassandra.

“Ray, who is that?!”

“Cassandra…” Ray replied softly as he walked forward towards her.

“No, get away from her!”

Ray ignored her and kept walking towards Cassandra. Rainbow Dash went up to him and yanked on his arm in an
attempt to stop him, but he just pulled away. A dark green wall spontaneously appeared, separating the soft blue pegasus from Ray and trapping him inside with “Cassandra”. Rainbow Dash bucked at the shield and shouted at Ray, but he heard nothing as he walked on forward.

“Cassandra?” Ray asked.

“It’s nice to see you too Ray,” she replied.

Ray went up and hugged his friend but felt something cold press against his chest.

"My dog tags are around my neck, so then why-“

Ray snapped back to reality, suddenly aware of who the dog tags belonged to. One of Cassandra’s arms left the embrace. .

“Ray, look out!” Rainbow Dash yelled in vain.

Ray saw his friend’s arm raised over him. Almost instinctively, he shoved Cassandra forward and grabbed her arm. In
the hand of the traitor was a knife. A look of shock came across Cassandra’s face, allowing Ray to ram his other elbow into her face and tripping her over. He tried to pull the carbine into play, but Cassandra recovered surprisingly fast and Ray was forced to dodge the knife instead. He attempted to hit her with the stock of his carbine, but she grabbed it and yanked it out of his grip. She then lifted the carbine above Ray, freeing the sling, and tossed it away. Ray shot forward as she tossed it and delivered several quick blows until he heard the sound of glass shattering again. Pieces of the green shield began to fall around the two as Ray drew his sidearm and took aim at the stunned imposter.

“This time, don’t move,” Ray growled and warily approached Cassandra.

“What? Are you going to kill me Ray?” she asked. “I was your friend.”

“You’re right. You were. You’re not Cassandra and I am not going to kill you,” Ray replied and spun her around. He pulled both of Cassandra’s wrists behind her back and pulled her to her feet.

“Nice job Ray,” Rainbow Dash said as she flew up.

“Thanks,” Ray said, searching for a ziptie in his vest.

Cassandra’s hands were lit up by a green fire and Ray recoiled backwards. The fire had been hot, but not hot enough to harm him. It was more of a surprise technique. He looked up and saw Cassandra was pointing something at him, which Ray realized was a pistol. There was a green muzzle flash and Ray jerked backwards, tripping over a small pile of rubble. She pivoted to aim at Rainbow Dash, but she was far quicker than Cassandra and tackled her to the ground. Ray blinked in shock, but quickly recovered and looked around to get a sense of what just happened. He saw Rainbow Dash holding her own against Cassandra, but it probably wouldn’t be long until she got the upper hand. His pistol had also been flung away, out of sight. Ray turned and saw his pack was close by. He jumped up and ran towards it. Sliding down to his knees, he scooped up the bag and opened a small pouch in it. He pulled out an item, the third thing the real Cassandra had given him the day she died.

“Move!” Ray shouted, holding the Five-Seven in a one handed grip.

Rainbow Dash jerked away into the air and Cassandra turned towards him. The report of the pistol filled the street as Cassandra jerked backwards; blood and brain matter sprayed out of her head. Then silence, the only noise Ray heard was his own heavy breathing as he stood there. He knew that who he had just shot wasn’t the real Cassandra, but it still hurt him. Rainbow Dash landed next to him.

“Wow, that’s…” the rainbow maned pony gulped. “Messy… You okay?

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he replied.

“I meant your shoulder.”

Ray had forgotten about the wound somewhat. He was pumped full of adrenaline and couldn’t feel it yet, but he knew that wouldn’t be true for long. He examined his shoulder and found that it was more burned than a regular gunshot wound and it was bleeding a little, but all in all it was not that serious of a wound.

“Yeah, it’s not that bad. See it’s not bleeding that much,” Ray said as he got out his first aid kit from his bag and holstering the pistol.

First, the operator cleaned his shoulder of blood and doused it in water from his canteen. Then, he pulled out a bandage and wrapped it around carefully. Pain began to sting Ray, but the cool water from the canteen soothed the charred skin for a moment.

“See? Nothing to it!” Ray lied. “C’mon, let’s head back to the palace. We’ll need to report we got the queen.”

“Yeah… Let’s get out of here,” Rainbow Dash agreed as Ray put his materials back in his bag. Both took their time back to the palace.

And that’s Chapter 15! Hope you enjoyed, and as I have asked before if you think you can make a picture that would go good as a cover for this story, please contact me. Thanks!

Chapter 16: Free Fall

Sorry for the long delay between these chapters but I have been getting ready to go on vacation so I won’t be updating for sure this upcoming week. Sorry for the bad news…

Ray paused and stood up to stretch his sore shoulder. It had been a week since the wedding and the wound was healing well, but it still hurt.

“Are you okay Ray?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, just my shoulder,” Ray said as he rubbed it.

“Do you want to take a break? I can finish preparing the balloon if you don’t want to,” Twilight responded.

“No, I’ll finish with you,” he replied.

“Suit yourself” she said, shrugging.

As he worked on tying the large balloon to the basket, Ray thought about the wedding. The events after the battle were
relatively boring actually, only consisting of watching the actual wedding and returning to Ponyville.

“Hey Ray, you almost ready?” Rainbow Dash said as she flew in from town.

“Yep, just gotta tie off this rope right here and… there! All done.”

“Awesome! Twilight, you gonna come too?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“No, sorry I have work to do in the library. You two have fun anyway!” she said and trotted back into the library.

“Pffff, egghead,” Rainbow Dash commented as Ray hopped into the basket. “Do you know how to work that thing?”

“Well Twilight said that I just need to say where I want to go and the balloon should go there by itself,” Ray
explained. “I guess it’s enchanted or something so let’s try… ‘Cloudsdale’!”

The balloon suddenly lurched and Ray fell over. Rainbow Dash started cracking up in laughter “Hahaha, nice one Ray!”

“Ow…”

Ray stood up holding his shoulder and moving it around.

“Haha, you okay there?”

“Yeah, it just hurts a bit…” he replied.

He took a deep breath, allowing for the quick spike in pain to die out. Ray inspected his injury, checking to make sure
it hadn’t opened up. Even if it had, it wouldn’t have been a big problem.

“So how long will this flight be captain?” Ray asked as the pegasus flew alongside the balloon.

“Not that long actually. You can see Cloudsdale easily from here” she replied and pointed to a large group of clouds.

Ray looked on with wonder as the large city came closer into view. The first thing that came to his mind however
was, “It’s Greek…”

“What?” Rainbow Dash asked with a quizzical expression

“Never mind… Just reminded me of something. I must say though, this city is just amazing!”

“Cool right?”

“I don’t think cool even starts to describe what I am seeing,” Ray murmured.

Finally, the balloon came to a halt on the edge of Cloudsdale. Ray looked down at the cloud with an unsure look.
Slowly, he began to haul himself over the basket and step onto the cloud. Once over, he actually fell for a very brief moment, but
then the magic of Twilight’s spell kicked in and the operator was now standing on the cloud. He exhaled loudly.

“Scared?” Rainbow Dash teased.

“No, I was terrified.” Ray let out a light chuckle.

“C’mon, let me show you around” Rainbow Dash said, excitement creeping into her voice.

Ray noted that the temperature here was much colder than it was at ground level. He wondered if that is how it was in
Equestria or if the pegasi maintained the temperature that way. He wouldn’t have been surprised at either explanation, but if the
former was true, that would be another way Equestria was like Earth.

“So, where are we going first?” Ray inquired.

“We will be going to see the weather factory,” Rainbow Dash answered.

“Sounds nice! Will we be able to go inside and see how the weather is made?”

“Well duh! I wouldn’t show you the outside of the building and leave, would I?”

Ray opened his mouth to respond, but decided against it. Rainbow Dash let her friend marvel at Cloudsdale as they
walked past the different structures and buildings towards the weather factory. Ray drew more than a few strange glances from other pegasi, but Rainbow Dash glared daggers back at them. Needless to say, Rainbow Dash’s reputation certainly helped cause the other ponies to continue walking as if nothing from another world had set foot in Cloudsdale. The only ponies she was secretly worried about were the three bullies from her childhood: Hoops, Dumb-Bell, and Score. They had stopped ever since she had performed the sonic rainboom however.

“And here we are! The weather factory,” Rainbow Dash said as they arrived at a large cloud building.

“Wow, so we get to go insi-?”

“Rainbow Dash!” A stallion with a lavender coat and lime green mane quickly flew up.

“Oh, hey Lightning Flicker. What’s up?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Three clouds as a cutie mark so weather related talent?” Ray thought to himself, taking note of the new pony’s cutie
mark.

“Today is Wednesday and the sky is supposed to be clear! So why are there so many clouds floating around?”

“Bingo.” Ray suppressed a grin.

“Sorry boss, I’ll get right to it! Ray, I’ll be back in a jiff. Don’t go anywhere!” Rainbow Dash said as she took off.

“Sure, c’ya in a few minutes,” Ray replied.

“No more than two!”

Ray stifled a laugh. He stood there for a little while, taking in more of the beautiful city, when he saw three stallions trot up.

“What the hay are you?” The one with a dumb-bell cutie mark said.

Ray was somewhat baffled at the sudden question. “Well I’m a human so-“

“You look like an ape” The pony with three basket balls as his cutie mark interrupted.

“Yeah, we should take him back to the zoo. Maybe we’ll get un-grounded!” the last one said.

“Un-what?” Ray asked, taking a step back.

“Grounded. We can’t fly cause we broke some rules,” “Triple basketball” said.

“Well I’m not from the zoo so-“

“Get him!” the third one shouted and they all pounced forward. Ray tucked forward and rolled under the three pegasi
and came up running. His hand reflexively went to the pistol strapped to his thigh, but he pulled it away quickly. He was going to
do this without harming the three chasing him. In other words, run.

“Catch ya later guys!” Ray taunted as he turned around the corner of the weather factory. “Ok, where to go?” Ray
thought to himself. “The streets are basically clear, so I can’t out run them for long, so maybe the balloon? No, it’s too slow; they
would get in. I guess I have to use the parachute. Good thing I brought it.”

Ray began to make sure that it was properly strapped on. Up until now he had been wearing it like a backpack with
only the shoulder straps, but now he began to secure all of the clips tightly.

“There it is!”

“Ok, well I’ll send the balloon back to Ponyville so I can come back to this place,” Ray thought to himself as he found
the balloon again. He quickly jumped inside it.

“Ponyville!” Ray shouted and jumped out again before it could take off with him.

Rainbow Dash flew back to where she left Ray.

“Ray, I’m back! Told you two minutes!” she boasted. Then she realized Ray wasn’t present. “Ray? Where are you?
Hey, are you hiding from me?!”

She flew up to get a better look around her. Rainbow Dash turned around and saw Ray some yards away. He was
running… from three pegasi.

“Oh great, they had to show up when I was gone…” she muttered to herself.

Rainbow Dash started to fly towards them and almost stopped in shock. She watched as Ray leapt off of the edge of
Cloudsdale.

Ray enjoyed the feeling of free fall almost more than anything else. If it weren’t for the hectic events leading up to it, he probably would have enjoyed it more. Ray tilted himself forward and pressed his arms to his sides to streamline his body and fall even faster.

Rainbow Dash shot forward and tilted downward and frantically looked for Ray. After what seemed like an eternity to
her, she saw a tiny black dot against the green grass of Ponyville below and aimed for that small speck. Rainbow Dash struggled
for every bit of speed she could muster as a mach cone started to form in around her.

Ray transitioned into a spread eagle position with his arms and legs outstretched to slow his decent as he prepared to
pull the ripcord. He waited thirty more seconds before yanking on the ripcord. The parachute unfolded and Ray’s legs pivoted
forward and then settled down. He reached up to grab the handles of the control line. Ray angled himself towards Ponyville and
quietly drifted down. His relaxing ride ended abruptly as a train plowed into him and being blinded by a very bright light. The
soldier got twisted up in the parachute lines and started to plummet towards the ground at a dangerous speed.

Rainbow Dash completed a one hundred and eighty degree turn and shot back towards Ray again. The parachute
had surprised her and she had shot right by him. Now Ray was in real danger all because of her and she wouldn’t forgive herself
if Ray got hurt because of that mistake. They were much closer to the ground now; Rainbow Dash estimated that this was her
last chance to catch him. She took a deep breath and charged forward, grabbing the struggling Ray. When he felt his
acceleration change out of the blue, Ray’s struggles stopped. He rubbed his eyes in order to regain his vision as Rainbow Dash
descended towards Ponyville at a much safer pace. She landed and let Ray down, who stumbled around for a moment.

“Ray? Ray?! Are you… okay?” she asked, out of breath.

“Oh yeah, I’m great…” Ray responded, refocused now. “That was fun!”

Ray slowly untangled himself from parachute cords and unclipped himself from the pack.

“Rainbow Dash, did you just do a sonic rainboom?” Twilight asked as she quickly galloped up from the library.

“You know it!”

“Was that what you did and I almost missed it?” Ray asked. “Right, I guess technically I didn’t, but I was blinded
because of it. Did you hit me?

“Heh, yeah… Sorry about that! I didn’t know you had that para… thingy,” Rainbow Dash replied with a bit of
embarrassment.

“It’s okay, you did what you thought was best. I can’t really blame you for doing that. Anyways, I think I’ve had
enough excitement for today. Did the balloon return yet Twilight? I told it to come here.”

“Yes, it has. I was quite confused when you weren’t in it…”

“Yeah, things got a bit… complicated and I had to find another way down, but I sent it back because I need to pack
my stuff!”

“Why? You’re not leaving are you?” Twilight responded, tilting her head.

“No, I can’t yet! I’m waiting on you to get that teleportation spell right, remember? By the way how’s that going?”

“It should be ready in a few days, but why do you need to pack?”

Ray saw Rainbow Dash shift slightly when Twilight reported the news to him.

“Well, Rainbow Dash offered to let me stay in her cloud house, now that I can walk on clouds, so I think it’s only fair
to let you have your basement back. And thank you very much for letting me use it! I really am grateful.”

“Oh, it was no trouble at all! I hardly use the thing anyway! Come on, let’s get you packed up!” Twilight said. The
sniper and the pegasus followed the unicorn back to her home at the library.

Thanks to Lightning Flicker for the OC, and hope you have a great time while I’m off on vacation.

Chapter 17: The Past

Ray lifted himself over the side of the basket and felt his feet sink into the cloud before completely stopping. He slowly put his ruck sack down, leaning it against the balloon. Ray assumed that his stuff would stay on clouds, but he wanted to be sure.

“It’s still pretty cold up here…” Ray told Rainbow Dash. He rubbed his arms together for some warmth before asking, “So where will I be staying?”

“Right in here,” Rainbow Dash replied as she led Ray into her respectably large cloud house.

They entered the house and immediately turned right. Inside was a bed, a closet, and a drawer. All were made out of the same white fluffy material used for the pegasus’ home. Ray looked around, wondering how the houses kept their shape so well. He quickly unpacked his gear and looked out from his window. The sun was already setting, giving the sky a soft orange color.

“So what do you want to do, Rainbow Dash?” Ray inquired as he organized his few belongings.

Rainbow Dash thought for a moment before replying, “You know, I do have some questions I want to ask you if that’s okay with you,” she said, shifting her weight slightly.

“Sure, but can we do it outside?” Ray asked as he zipped his rifle bag closed. “I want to watch the sunset.”

With a cock of her head she replied, “Why? You can watch it any day.” Ray sighed.

“When your life is full of terrible things, you tend to start to notice the small pleasures in life. It’s something that keeps my head together. I also have to warn you that you might not like what you hear; I myself don’t like some of the things I’ve had to do, but they were necessary,” Ray replied as he walked outside.

When Rainbow Dash joined Ray, she found him already sitting with his back against her house and staring at the
sunset. She trotted over to Ray and sat down next to him.

“So where do you want to start?” Ray asked, not turning his head away from the view before them.

Rainbow Dash thought for a moment and then found her first question.

“You keep saying that you’ve ‘been through worse.’ What do you mean by that?”

“Heh, I have so many examples of terrible things I’ve been through. What to start with?”

Ray slowly drew in a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the forest. He smiled contently and silently exhaled.

“So, how much longer till the meeting?” Ray asked.

“About three hours,” Janet replied.

“Well, if you don’t mind, I’m going to take a nap. Wake me either in half an hour or if I start snoring.”

“Sure thing, Sergeant,” Janet responded. “Wait, you snore?”

“Nope, but now would be a terrible time to start,” Ray joked with a wry grin on his face while he settled down into the
grass. Just as he was about to drift off to sleep, a high-pitched scream filled the air. A plume of dirt exploded upwards about 100
yards from their hide.

“Radio. Now,” Ray hissed. Janet fumbled with it for a moment before turning the device on and pressing the call
button.

“Spartan Command,” she began quickly, “this is Raptor 1-1. We just got hit with an artillery round, over.”

“Damn it!” A voice crackled over the radio as more rounds started to fall. “We’ve been trying to reach you for half an
hour. Get out of there Raptor!”

“Rodger that, heading towards emergency exfil point.”

“Extraction via Osprey will arrive in fifteen mikes. Don’t be late.”

“Got it,” Janet said as she turned to Ray. “Sergeant, let’s go!”

“What’s wrong?” Ray asked as he crawled out of the hide and followed Janet.

“I don’t know, but it sounds urgent.”

“Okay,” Ray said thoughtfully, “there’s no way we were spotted on our way in, so the only thing I can think of is a
leak.”

“You really think it was a leak, Ray?”

“That’s all I can think of right now, but let’s get to the exfil point before we think about this anymore.”

As the two ran through the forested area, the shelling suddenly stopped. Ray and Janet stopped running, surprised at
how suddenly the explosions around them had died out.

“Get down,” Ray whispered, and both of them slid down onto the ground, becoming near invisible. The two all but held
their breath for a moment while they waited to see what would happen. They didn’t have to wait long.

A mechanical whirring filled the air as a disturbing amount of helicopters filled the skies.

“It’s a leak,” Ray hissed.

“How do you know?” Janet shot back.

“We’re on hit lists for multiple terrorist organizations and governments. They wouldn’t waste this many resources if it were just some snipers. But that’s not what worries me,” Ray replied. “What worries me is, the best way to kill a sniper is with another sniper.”

Janet checked to see if her com set was off before she spoke again.

“Ray, can I be honest with you right now? As a friend, not as your partner?”

Ray checked to see if his com set was off as well before he replied.

“Yep, off the record. No one else is listening.”

“So you two were close?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“You tend to become close to the people that you risk your life for,” Ray replied with a smile.

“I’m scared,” Janet whispered.

“Don’t worry,” Ray replied. “So am I.”

“Really?” Janet asked, not expecting a response like that. “The always calm and collected Ray? Scared?”

“That’s exactly it,” Ray shot back. “I can be calm and collected when I am scared; it’s a great talent that has saved me
more than once.”

Ray scanned the area in front of him for any signs of snipers. He saw nothing moving, so that meant either there were
enemies only behind them or they were good overall.

“We have to be at the LZ in fifteen minutes right?” Ray asked.

“Yeah,” Janet answered.

“We’re gonna have to run.”

Jets shot overhead followed by a sonic boom and the sound of guns filled the air as several helicopters spun around
and smashed into the ground.

“Go! Go! Go!” Ray shouted.

Janet shot forward and Ray turned about, bringing his rifle to bear. He looked through the scope and searched for the
snipers now that things had been shaken up a bit. Movement in the foliage caught his eye, and he fired a round into it. He turned
back and took off running, quickly catching up with Janet.

“What were you doing?” she shouted over the chaos of the battlefield.

“Hopefully slowing the snipers down. If not, then making them angry.”

A bullet whizzed past Ray’s ear. Almost immediately, another round hit a tree next to him. Ray took a split second to
glance where the round struck before taking action.

“Behind the trees now!” Ray ordered.

“You think it’s safe?”

“Just do it!”

Both operators darted behind some suitable trees.

“They are using a smaller caliber round,” Ray explained. “Maybe a .223, so just don’t get shot in the chest or the
head. We gotta move before the other helos zero in on our position. Go!”

Ray lifted his rifle and searched for the other sniper. He looked around the area near where he shot who Ray
assumed was the spotter. The area looked different, so he assumed the sniper had already moved. Ray took off running once
again, the two approaching a clear area.

“How close are we?” Ray shouted.

“300 yards and 5 mikes till it gets here!”

Ray glanced back after two minutes and saw several ATVs in the distance. They were approaching much too quickly
for Ray’s liking.

“Faster, go fast-”

Ray plowed into the ground suddenly as he ran. He tried getting up but his leg wouldn’t support his weight. Ray looked
down and saw a bullet hole about six inches below his knee.

“Ray?” Janet asked as she turned back.

“Go! Just go!” Ray waved her off.

“Oh no Ray, you’ve saved my life too many times for me to leave you.” She grabbed Ray and began dragging him
towards the LZ.

“Fine, I’ll cover us,” Ray replied as he began to shoot the drivers of the ATVs.

Something slammed into his chest and knocked the wind out of him. He let out an involuntary grunt as he struggled to
get his breath back.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, body armor.” Ray gasped.

The Osprey flew overhead as Ray felt another round pierce his right arm. He lowered his head just before another
round deflected off his helmet. Ray’s ears rang at the impact.

“Go… faster…”

“Hold on, we’re almost there,” Janet panted.

Ray felt three more impacts to his chest and could tell by how much it hurt that some of his ribs were broken.
Desperate to at least buy some time, he pulled out his pistol and fired in the general direction of the sniper.

“I think he knows that he is using to small of a round,” Janet commented.

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

A large portion of dirt exploded just to the left of Ray’s leg.

“Ha, idiot forgot to check his variables when he changed to his .50,” Ray snickered after the loud report of the rifle
died down.

“Did you just say .50, as in .50 caliber?”

“Yep,” Ray wheezed.

“Well, we made it anyways.” Janet said as she dragged Ray into the Osprey. A few other United States soldiers
climbed aboard as well.

“Close the ramp, now!” Ray commanded.

The ramp rose agonizingly slowly.

“Get this bird in the air now!” Janet shouted at the pilot.

The Osprey started to lift up, but before it did a large hole was gouged into the closing ramp. A warm and wet liquid
sprayed onto Ray’s face.

“OH GOD SOMEONE HELP ME!!!” someone screamed as something landed in Ray’s lap.

He looked down to see a severed forearm resting on his legs.

“Calm down, calm down,” Ray immediately told the young man who had been shot. “Janet, get the med pack!”

She rushed over with the box and opened it, allowing Ray to rummage through its contents before grabbing a
tourniquet and handing it to her.

“Tourniquet now! Come on let’s go!”

Janet kneeled down to the soldier who was on the floor now and fastened the tourniquet above where the arm was
severed, about half way up the forearm.

“Hey kid, look at me,” Ray said gently. “You’re going to make it, you hear me?”

“Ray,” Janet said, “lemme-”

“Not yet,” Ray interrupted. “How old are you?”

“Eighteen,” came the weak reply.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get to go home after this and show off to all of your civie friends your battle scar,” Ray joked.

The young airman let out a weak laugh.

“You hang in there buddy,” Ray assured him. “Okay Janet, give him some morphine.”

As Janet administered the painkiller, Ray looked at his leg. It was bent in an abnormal angle and for a moment Ray
felt sick to his stomach. He gritted his teeth and repositioned it correctly. Once the stars stopped dancing in front of his eyes,
Ray cleaned and bandaged the bullet hole. Finally, he put on a splint to keep the bone in position. The process took only a few
minutes, but it felt like days to Ray.

“Did the guy make it?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Yeah, we were able to stop the bleeding fast enough and, all in all, it wasn’t the worst place to get shot.”

“Wait, so he was eighteen? That’s way too young of an age for someone to die.”

Ray got a far-off look as the mare said those words. “Yeah….”

“Ray, are you okay?” Rainbow asked worriedly.

“Oh, that’s right,” Ray replied suddenly, “I never told you how old I was…”

“Yeah, so? I’m sure you’re much older than eighteen.” Rainbow Dash commented.

“I’m fourteen,” he said bluntly.

“What?” Rainbow Dash nearly yelled. “That’s not right! How can your race send kids out to die?”

“I’m a teenager,” came the reply. “Anyway, my country doesn’t technically do it. I volunteered for an organization that
is not part of any government. We just fight for what we believe is right, and that often involves taking assignments from various
governments, but we aren’t part of any of them.”

“What about your parents? What did they think of you volunteering?”

“I’m sure they would be proud, if they were alive.”

“Oh…. I’m sorry Ray,” Rainbow said softly.

“No no, it’s fine, you didn’t know. They were part of the same organization,” Ray explained. “I never learned how they
died.”

“So,” Rainbow Dash said, attempting to change the subject, “how did you meet Cassandra?” She winced when she
realized what she had just asked.

Ray leaned back against the house and smiled.

“Heh, you aren’t gonna qualify to join,” Ray heard someone snort.

“Yeah, you’re too young!” another voice teased.

Ray entered the shooting range to figure out what was going on. Three men were gathered around in a group.

“What’s going on in here?” Ray demanded.

“None of your- oh Ray, uh I didn’t know it was you,” one of three adults said.

“Too young huh?” Ray replied with a grin. The three had separated, allowing Ray to see a scared and embarrassed
young girl standing at the firing line with a rifle. “She looks the same age as me, and I joined a year ago. Now look at me: top
physical scores, highest accuracy in sniper training, and at least one hundred confirmed kills already. Now get lost.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever you say, Lance Corporal,” one of them whimpered as they left the range.

“Idiots,” Ray murmured, then turned to the girl the men had been teasing. “Are you okay? What’s your name?”

“I’m fine, and I am Cassandra Ohearn,” she answered shyly. The girl looked at Ray oddly for a moment. “Did I hear
them call you Ray? As in Raymond James?”

“I see my reputation precedes me,” Raymond commented with a smile. “Do you need help? It looks like you’re having
trouble.”

“I’m just a bit unsure...”

“Well, show me what you’ve got first.”

“She wasn’t the best physically,” Ray explained, “but what she lacked in strength, she more than made up with
mentally. She definitely made a good choice when she decided to become an officer. I thought that was the last time I would see
her, but, lo and behold, she was best in her class, just like me.”

“Wait,” Rainbow interrupted, “you were the best in your class?”

“Well, yeah, some people think I’m the best,” Ray said, “but I’m sure someone out there is better…”

“You never told any of us that you were the best.”

“Rainbow Dash, it’s one thing to say that you’re the best flier in Equestria, but it’s another to say that you are the best
killer,” Ray replied tersely.

“Yeah, I guess,” Rainbow Dash said quietly.

Ray noticed he could see his breath and shivered. The sun had set some time ago, and the temperature had dropped
like a rock.

“Cold?” Rainbow teased.

“A little,” Ray admitted with a smile.

“Here.” Rainbow Dash scooted closer to Ray and folded her wing around him. She was surprisingly warm.

“Wow, how are you so warm?” Ray asked.

“Well, pegasi basically live way up here, so I guess we adapted. That and I have a nice fur coat to help!”

“That makes sense.”

Ray looked up at the dark night sky and saw many bright stars, many more than he was used to seeing.

“It’s not often you get a view of the stars like that,” Ray murmured.

“What are you talking about?” Rainbow asked incredulously. “It looks like this every night.”

“Wow, I’m jealous. My planet is so polluted in some places you can’t see any stars.”

“Humans sound terrible,” Rainbow replied with a hint of disgust.

Ray chuckled. “Most are. There are very few good people on Earth, and I’m glad to be able to call some of them my
friends.”

There was a short pause between the two friends.

“I have one more question. Why exactly did you join this group? It sounds really, really dangerous.”

“I had nothing left,” Ray explained. “No parents, no known relatives, nothing. I was just about to be put into a foster
home until I decided to join this group. I wanted to become a better person and help my country... My planet too.”

Rainbow nodded. Being her last question, the two just began to talk about various things until the soft blue pegasus
had fallen asleep on Ray’s shoulder. Ray sat quietly for a while, staring into the starry sky. He wished that he could stay in
Equestria forever and not have to return to the wars of Earth. His brief talk with Twilight, however, had reminded him that this
wasn’t possible.

“God? Is there a real reason I’m here? I just made a wonderful new friend and now I’m going to lose her just like I did with
Cassandra. Worse still, I don’t know how she’ll take it when I tell her I have to leave.”

As Ray thought, he realized he had never really been the same since Cassandra had been killed. Only now did he
really feel like he had a year ago and even though it would hurt to lose Rainbow Dash, he knew that this “vacation” to Equestria
had been the thing he had needed since then.

He pat the top of Rainbow Dash’s head. “Thanks,” he whispered and soon fell asleep.

Thanks for reading everyone! Have any feedback? Feel free to leave it in a comment/review. I’m not quite sure about OC requests, ‘cause I have a feeling that there might not be room as this story begins to draw to a close. Hope you enjoy these final chapters, they should be quite interesting.

Bonus Chapter: Combat

Hey guys, sorry for the loooong delay, but I haven’t been able to write didely squat for some reason so I need to warm myself back up. One way I am doing this is participating in a competition, another is this chapter, it has nothing to do with the story and won’t have any ponies, and it’s just a warm up. Hope you enjoy and hold on tight, this is gonna be high speed combat (hopefully). Javier is the operator that PFC Nelson replaced in Chapter 11.

The advanced stealth Blackhawk, otherwise known to the Special Forces operators as a Ghost Hawk sliced through the air towards the cargo ship.

“Remember guys, this is a quick and clean raid. We get onboard, kill everyone, and then sink it. These guys are terrorists so no mercy or they will kill a lot of civvies.” Cassandra said over the communications system in their helmets.

Corporal Ray checked to ensure that his M7A1 Carbine was loaded and ready. The windy night provided the Ghost Hawk with enough cover to fly over the ship without being detected. The operators fast roped down onto the deck and split into three man teams. Ray, Hughe, and Corey took the far side of the ship while Cassandra, Janet, and Javier stacked up next to the door closest to the insertion point. Ray turned the wheel on the heavy door and opened to let Hughe and Corey take point. The thuds of suppressed weapons were barely audible over the strong wind.

“They’re all dead.” Corey whispered over the comms as they exited the room and moved onward in the ship.

“You could just say clear.” Ray whispered back.

“Where’s the fun in that? That just sounds so boooring.” Corey shot back.

“Noted.” Ray snorted.

Ray was on point as they pushed forward through a maze of cargo crates. He turned a corner and ran into a tango. Ray
dropped the carbine because even though it was short it wasn’t one inch short. He grabbed the handle of his tomahawk and swung it upward into his opponent’s abdomen. At the same time Ray reached forward and held his hand over the terrorist’s mouth. He quickly followed up by raising the small axe and slamming it into the neck of his opponent.

“Nice job.” Hughe said.

“Thanks.” Ray grunted as he dragged the dead body to the side and threw it over, “Can’t do anything about the blood but we should be okay if we keep clearing out whoever is ahead.”

The trio of operators silently glided forwards dispatching any more terrorists with clean headshots. Finally they reached the bridge and started to climb the stairs to the top. Many of the crew was sleeping, and the few that were on guard were not very attentive and half asleep. They cleared every room on their way to the bridge without incident and met up with the other team. The operators quickly stacked up on the door and prepared to breach it. Javier rotated the wheel on the door and opened it quickly to let the team flood into the room. The quiet pops of the suppressed carbines filled the cabin as they gained control of the bridge.

“All clear.” Ray whispered.

Corey stuck his tong out at Ray who was smirking.

“Oh grow up you two.” Janet teased.

“Lock it up. Javier, Corey guard this room and set the new course. The rest of us will go set the explosives and meet you
back here for exfil.”

The team split up to move below deck. Strangely they met no resistance on their way down and after several clear
hallways Ray glanced at Cassandra who silently agreed with Ray that something was off. They stacked up again on the last door to a cargo room where they would leave the charge. Ray turned the wheel quickly after checking their side of the door for traps. The door was blown off its hinges and knocked Ray back into the hallway. He pushed the heavy door off of himself and raised his carbine. Several dead bodies crowded the doorway, none of which belonged to his friends.

“Shit, how did they fit so many people in here?” He heard Hughe shout.

“Ray, get in here we need you!” Cassandra yelled over the comms.

“Moving up.” Ray said and dashed forward through the door and into a whirlwind of bullets.

He quickly dove behind the nearest decent piece of cover and returned fire.

“You okay Ray?” Cassandra asked over the chaos of battle.

“Yeah fine!”

“You sure?” came the reply.

“Just a bloody nose I think. Nothing broken and I can shoot fine so I’m good.” Ray said as he returned fire.

“Flashbang out!” Janet shouted and tossed out the cylindrical device.

The four operators ducked back into cover until the loud crack and flash of the flashbang filled the room.

“Push forward!” Cassandra ordered and the team walked forward, each covering a different area with their carbines until
the room was quickly cleared.

Finally they each paused to check their areas for any survivors and called clear when they found only dead bodies.

“Hughe, set the charge, everyone else lock this area down.”

Hughe quickly set the explosive charge and set it for a remote activation.

“We’re good to go.” He murmured.

“Let’s head back then.” Cassandra lead the team back up to the bridge where they linked back up with Javier and Corey.

“Have fun?” Corey asked.

“Oh yeah, loads.” Ray said as he tried to stop the blood flowing from his nose.

“Let’s radio for exfil and-” Flares launched up from the deck and lit the night in a red hue.

Several cargo containers now stood open as close to fifty terrorist fighters poured out onto the ship.

“Fuck, change of plans get back down to the deck.” Cassandra said as she pulled out the detonator.

“You’re not going to do what I think you’re going to do are you?” Ray asked as they raced down stairs and returning fire to
the large group of tangoes.

Cassandra only looked at him and grinned as she detonated the charge that was placed below deck. The ship listed aft
and cargo containers slid across the deck.

“Go, get over the edge!” Cassandra shouted and pointed towards the railing at the side of the ship.

Several terrorist fighters still fired upon the team but the sinking boat and the chaos of shifting cargo containers threw
their aim off. Ray stopped as a container slid in front of him and blocked him and Cassandra from the rest of the team.

“Keep going, we’ll find another way.” Cassandra said.

“Wow, that was close Cass.” Ray said.

“Don’t call me Cass.” Cassandra replied coldly.

“You’re welcome.” Ray responded.

They turned a corner and again Ray was face to face with another terrorist.

“I wish this would stop happening.” Ray said as he slammed the tomahawk into his opponent’s leg.

He quickly followed up with a blow to the neck that almost severed the terrorist’s head.

“You’re getting good with that.” Cassandra noted.

“Yeah well, it’s easier to learn than kendo.” Ray replied dully.

“I still think you should learn it Ray.” Cassandra said as they ran further up the tilted deck.

“It’s just so difficult and I never have the time.” Ray argued.

“Like that’s stopped you before.” Cassandra shot back, “I think it would really help in CQB if you used a sword.”

They reached the edge of the deck and grabbed onto the rail.

“Well we’ll see.” Ray said as he grabbed Cassandra’s hand and jumped into the ocean.

Five seconds of free fall later and they hit the icy black waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Ray kicked with his legs and pushed
himself and about seventy five pounds of gear to the surface.

“This is Ghost Actual calling for exfil.” Cassandra said over the radio.

“I thought we were picking you up before the ship sank. Did you forget us?” The pilot teased.

“Just pick us up.” Cassandra sighed as she turned on the IR strobe.

The Ghost Hawk flew over and let down a ladder for the operators to climb.

Hope you enjoyed, this wasn’t edited cause I wanted to get it out quick.

Chapter 18: Mistakes

Ray and Rainbow Dash spent the rest of the week in doing their own thing. Rainbow Dash would be adjusting the weather of Ponyville to what the weather factory had assigned her (and then nap) while Ray traveled between Cloudsdale and Ponyville in the balloon, helping other ponies out to the best of his ability. When the sun fell low in the sky, the two would return to Rainbow Dash’s house where one would be waiting for the other outside of the cozy building made of clouds. The two would sit outside and simply talk to each other. They talked about how their day was and something funny they may have encountered, but move on to more personal topics. When the sun dropped below the horizon, the two would head inside the house and usually call it a night..

By the time the end of the week had rolled around, Ray was simply strolling through Ponyville, quietly reviewing some things in his head mentally. He was just passing Twilight’s library, where she was cleaning one of the windows. The purple unicorn had noticed him and greeted the human with a friendly smile..

“Hi Ray! You look busy,.” she said sarcastically and with a laugh. Ray snapped back to the “real” world.

“Oh, uh, hey Twilight. What’s up? And shouldn’t Spike be doing your cleaning of the library for you?”

“I can take care of the library myself too! Studies may be important, but I would like my home to be clean too. Besides, Spike has been worn down from the things occurring as of late. I’ve decided to let him wind down and take a break for a while. And let him eat sapphires and ice cream...”

“Sounds like fun. I wish I could join him,” Ray said, which earned another giggle from Twilight.

“Well, you should know that the spell to send you back to your world is ready for you at any time,” Twilight suddenly remembered. “Just in case you need to go back for anything!” Ray froze up somewhat, but relaxed a moment later.

“That was quicker than I expected,” he said. “I guess I’ll just have to pack and say goodbye to a few ponies before I leave.”

“Wait, you want to leave? My friends and I figured you’d stay for a while longer,” Twilight responded, obviously astonished.

“I can’t stay Twilight! I mean, I wish I could, but I have a job to do,” Ray said, holding back his emotions. “A duty to myself and my home. I can’t leave them.”

“What about Rainbow Dash?”

Ray sighed. “I shouldn’t have gotten close to her. It’s my fault, but she’ll get over it. She may be mad, but she’ll understand and after that, I’ll just be a distant memory.”

“Don’t talk like that Ray!” Twilight shot back. “You saved her life! You saved a lot of ponies while you’ve been here and you’ve become our friend!

“But she will remember me as the guy who left her.” Ray said, miserably.

“Then don’t just leave her! Just say good bye!” Twilight argued, her voice slowly raising in tone.

“I can’t! I don’t know what might happen.” Ray slid his hands into his pockets.

“Over these past months I have seen you face nearly impossible odds without any sign of fear. You charged into the Everfree Forest and took on the Changling Queen for crying out loud, but when faced with this little thing you turn and hide? Why?”

“I should go pack.”

“Ray-!“ Twilight began.

“See you in about half an hour.” Ray said slightly strained.

“Ray, wait!”

“I can’t because I can’t bear seeing my friends suffer!” Ray growled suddenly.

“And I don’t?”

“I’m just trying my best to protect my friends, and it still isn’t enough.”

“Ray, if you would just listen-!”

“No, you listen! You don’t know what it’s like to lose someone you care about. You don’t know what it’s like to try so hard to save someone’s life, but they still die. You haven’t looked into someone’s eyes when they die; when you were talking to them seconds ago and then they are gone.”

“Then don’t go back Ray!” Twilight almost yelled. “If you’d just stay here, then you wouldn’t have to deal with the same amount of death and danger you do in your world! You wouldn’t have to hurt us either, especially Rainbow Dash!

“And spend the rest of my life wondering if my team is out there, dying, while I sit here and do nothing to help.”

“What, you have no trust in your own team to take care of themselves? If they’re as good as you are, then they should be fine. It sounds like your making an excuse just to leave!”

“But I’m-”

“You know what, FINE!” Twilight shouted, her frustration boiling over. “LEAVE! I want you back here in thirty minutes so I can send you away just so I don’t have to see the cowardice in your eyes! It almost sounds like you want to go back to “help your country” by killing others!” Ray was taken aback by that. “The least you could do is just say good bye to the one who’s cared for you the most around here since you’ve come here!”

Twilight walked through the door to the library.

“Twilight...” Ray said softly.

“Thirty minutes,” she said with tears in her eyes. The purple unicorn slammed the door shut.

“Great...” Ray muttered. He turned around and walked away from the library without pressing the problem further. Now he’s hurt one of the friends he was trying to “protect”, but he still had a job to do. Ray would probably kick himself for it later, but he knew it was for the best.

“Hey Ray!” someone said right in Ray’s ear, snapping him quickly from his thoughts.

“Oh, Rainbow Dash... You startled me!”

“Whatcha up to?” the blue pegasus asked with an innocent smile, slowly following Ray.

“Just walking,” Ray lied.

Rainbow Dash gave the human a look.

“Alright, what’s up? Are you okay Ray?”

“Of course Rainbow Dash,” Ray said with a smile.

“No it’s not Ray, what’s wrong?” she asked again.

“It’s fine Rainbow Dash, really.”

“Ray, I think both of us know that isn’t true.” Rainbow Dash placed one hoof on his shoulder reassuringly, “You trust me right? What’s wrong?”

Ray took a shaky breath. “I’m just worried about my team. I can’t help them from here. They’re my family, the ones who I’ve lived with for over two years..”

“I’m sure they’re fine Ray! From what you have told me, they are very capable. Listen, I have to go fix something. Derpy managed to set off a lightning cloud and now it’s floating towards Cloudsdale. I’ve got to round it up safely, so see you tonight,” She said and flew off.

“Yeah, see you…” Ray muttered with a small smile, but he knew the pony didn’t hear him. His smile faded away as he started walking towards the hot air balloon.

“Rainbow Dash’s cloud house,” Ray said to the balloon bluntly.
Ray had no intention of saying goodbye to anypony, he could never bear to be the cause of their pain. That was the reason he was always willing to sacrifice his life for every one of his friends. As soon as the balloon touched down, the young man was sliding over the edge and racing into his close friend’s house. He quickly gathered his belongings and returned to the balloon, ordering it back to the library.

The air rushed through the basket, sending chills down Ray’s spine. It wasn’t so bad on the way up. It was difficult to make out any ponies on the ground below; they looked like little dots on a graph moving about. Ray sighed. This unique place was probably the best place to ever be, but yet he knew that staying here wasn’t meant to be. He had his world and the ponies had theirs. But was Twilight right about him? Did he like killing people?

“...highest accuracy in sniper training, and at least one hundred confirmed kills already...”

Ray shuddered at remembering what he said. That can’t be true. It was all for the good of America, right? He jolted forward as the balloon hit the ground, almost as if sensing Ray’s deep thought and trying to snap him out of it. Recollecting himself and climbing over the basket again with his bags, the soldier walked into Twilight’s library.

“Twilight?” He called. “I’m ready to go!”

From the floor above, the bookworm slowly walked down the stairs, obviously in no hurry. She wasn’t crying, but her eyes were somewhat bloodshot and she wore a facial expression of deep disappointment. This is exactly why he wanted to leave now.

“Fifteen minutes,” she said. “You’ve only been gone fifteen minutes. I guess you didn’t say goodbye to anypony?”

Ray simply shook his head and Twilight sighed.

“Let’s just get this over with. The sooner you’re gone, the sooner I can tell my friends that you’re really just a coward.” That bit Ray right in the ass. He hadn’t thought of it like that, but now that Twilight had said that, perhaps leaving and knowing they would hate him was worse than them being sad, but Ray felt he probably deserved it for thinking as he did.

“I’m going to need to concentrate so please be quiet while I perform the spell.”

Ray nodded. As Twilight prepared herself for the spell, the library door opened again and Rainbow Dash flew in. His heart shrunk to the size of a pea.

“Hey Twilight, can I ask you something?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Oh, hey Ray! What’s going on?

Ray stood still, terrified. Twilight laughed coldly.

“Hi Rainbow Dash! Really want to know what’s going on? Maybe Ray can tell you, or maybe he’s too much of a coward to say anything!”

A sick feeling manifested itself in Ray’s gut as Twilight took the low jab.

“Ray… What is she talking about?” Rainbow Dash slowly asked. Ray’s answer came a loud silence.

“Ray told me he wanted to leave and go back to his world,” Twilight scoffed. “Without
telling any pony.”

A hurt look came across Rainbow Dash’s face, “Ray, why?”

“I…”

“I thought we were friends.” Rainbow Dash’s voice was rising slowly. Ray lost the will to speak. The rainbow-maned pegasus floated in front of Ray, searching for an answer to his silence, but he had put on his best poker face at that point.

“Why Ray?!”

Nothing.

“You know what? Fine! Just leave, okay?” Rainbow Dash yelled on the verge of tears. “I would have understood if you just said goodbye!”

And with that, she raced out of the library. Ray bit his bottom lip hard and turned back to Twilight, who was shaking her head slowly at him.

“Celestia was right about you after all...” Twilight simply said, dumping more salt into Ray’s wound.

“What have I done...?” Ray asked.

“Let’s just do this,” Twilight replied, obviously finished with her slander.

Ray clenched his fists, “Just get it over with.”

Twilight closed her eyes and her horn started to glow. Slowly, the middle of the room began to light up, purple magic swirling around. Ray watched in miserable silence.

“RAY!” a voice called from downstairs. Ray turned his head towards the basement door where Spike came running up holding a photo. “You forgot this!” The baby dragon held the photo up to Ray. It was a picture of the target he was assigned to take down just before he entered Equestria.

“Thank you Spi-”

Ray was blasted forward and smashed into the wall. He fell to the ground, but tried to grasp an understanding of what had just occurred. His ears rang and his vision was only filled with purple smoke, which began to clear quickly. He couldn’t see Twilight and Spike was knocked out next to him, but there was a third figure in the room. This wasn’t a pony however. It was human and holding something. The smoke cleared enough to show it was Ray’s target and he was holding an AK-47.

Abu Shabal.

The target looked around and when he saw Ray, a cruel smile formed on his lips. He grabbed Ray by his neck and hauled him up from the floor until his feet were dangling off the floor.

“Where am I?” the Arab man growled into Ray’s face.

Ray tried to speak but was still dazed from what he could only assume was an explosion. The fact that he was being held at the neck didn’t help either.

“Ehsria,” Ray spat, trying to say Equestria.

“America? Allah akbar! For he has delivered me to the land of my enemy to destroy them!”

“No… wait, I- I didn’t say America! I said-” Ray was dropped onto the ground.

“Sure American.” Abu’s voice was dripping with scorn.

“Wait...” Ray murmured.

His target raised the rifle to Ray’s head. At that moment, his life flashed before his eyes. Missions, his former life, Cassandra, Rainbow Dash. All passed by his eyes as he looked down the barrel of the Russian-built rifle. Ray closed his eyes and heard a loud bang, but nothing else happened. Ray opened his eyes. The Muslim man, his rifle, and the fired bullet were all frozen in a purple glow. Both humans looked over to Twilight, who was standing up, holding Ray’s target with her magic and eyes concealed in a white light.

“Get... Out... OF MY HOUSE!” she yelled. The enraged unicorn pulled the other person through the nearest window in the library with all her might. He was sent through with a crash of glass and skidded across the ground, coming to rest some several hundred feet away from the library.

Ray dropped his bags on the floor and pulled out the first thing that felt like a gun. The Five-Seven. The soldier aimed the pistol towards the window and walked towards Twilight. Her magic had worn away and her eyes had returned to their normal shade of violet. She heaved her chest up and down from the exhausting spell and form that had just occurred. Ray knelt down beside Twilight and the unicorn fell over on her side, but he was there to catch her.

“Aagghh Twilight wake up!” he said.

“Wai- Wha...”

“Twilight! Someone from my world was brought here, what happened?”

“What happened...?” she asked.

“You brought in the target I was sent after before I came to Equestria here! What happened?”

“Oh... I got distracted... I heard Spike and I looked and... This is my fault!”

“Twilight, stay focused. He’s going to be causing a lot of harm now. You need to help me and get as many ponies out of the town as possible! Do you understand?”

Twilight didn’t seem to be on the ball though. “Ray... I’m sorry! Oh, all those mean things I said to you!”

“Twi, it’s okay-”

“No, it’s not okay! I started yelling at you and hurting you all because I got upset that... I didn’t want to see my friends, especially Rainbow Dash, crushed like that!”

The unicorn lost it at this. She curled up and sent herself into a stream of loud crying. Ray took a deep breath, remaining calm.

“Twilight, listen. You need to get a hold of yourself and save the apologies for later. We need to save as many ponies as we can and I can’t do it without you.” At this point, Ray seemed to be breaking through to Twilight. “Wake up Spike and help me, please.”

Twilight slowly regained her ground and nodded. Ray returned the nod and went back to his gear, continuing to be weary of the window his target had been sent out of. He took out the M4 and put the sling around his body. Gunshots began to break out and Twilight and Ray hit the floor although none came through the library. At that same moment, Rainbow Dash came bursting through the door as if trying to avoid any stray bullets.

“Ray?!” she asked. “Are you all okay?”

“Yeah, we’re fine. I just need to deal with my friend. Look, you need to help Twilight out by getting as many ponies to the outside of town as possible, as quickly as possible.”

“Got it, but Ray-”

“No ‘buts’ Rainbow! Just do it!” Ray ordered as he ran out the door.

“Ray, wait...” But he was gone. Rainbow Dash swore to herself and looked over at Twilight and the coming-to Spike.

“You okay?” Twilight asked Spike, who replied with a groggy nod. “Good. Stay in the basement and don’t come out until we come back for you.” The baby dragon, without questioning it, obediently went back down the stairs he came from. Twilight closed the door and locked it.

“Let’s go.”

It wasn’t hard to find him; all Ray had to do was follow the gunshots and screams. He took cover behind a house, ponies dashing and scrambling to get away from the crazed gunman then peeked out from behind it only to almost get hit in the face with a few bullets.. Unfazed, Ray squeezed off two rounds from his pistol, merely to serve as an attention-grabber for his target. He did manage to hit the target, but the small rounds had a minimal effect on the protected target.

“Every pony run! Get out of here!” Ray shouted.

He waited until he heard the AK-47 cease firing and popped out of cover hoping to catch his opponent while he was reloading. Unfortunately, Ray only saw his target dive behind a building. The American then dashed across the street to see if he could go around the building and flank him. When Ray got around the building, however, the target was nowhere to be found. A window shattered and Ray pivoted around, bringing his carbine up, but with some difficulty. He then realized that there was a strange numb feeling in his upper arm, but ignored it. He ran back towards the street, trying to get across again to confuse the target, only to hear another gunshot. Ray fell to the ground, his unsecured sidearm sliding away. He looked at his arm and leg and pieced together what happened.

“Idiot!” Ray mentally scolded himself “He must have broken into a building and waited for you.”

There was a large wound in his right upper arm and his left knee. Ray tried to sit up with the carbine, but a powerful round punched him in the gut and Ray fell right back down, unable to lift the carbine. He recognized a .357 revolver in the hands of his enemy which approached him slowly, laughing. Mentally, Ray was more embarrassed that he had been so easily fooled than he was in pain.

“That was pathetic American!” the target taunted. “I was expecting a bigger challenge from ‘America’s Best’.”

“Please don’t hurt anypony,” Ray pleaded.

“Anypony? Ha! You are weak, already delirious from pain. Sure, I see ponies, but obviously from the nearby farm, no?”

“No… You’re not… In… America…” Ray panted.

“Oh stop it, you already told me what I needed to know. Any last words?” The target grinned.

Ray whispered something inaudible.

“What?” Shabal said as he leaned closer.

“You… Should… Have…”

“I should have what?” He teased, kneeling down near Ray

“Disarmed me,” Ray murmured as he pushed the revolver to the side and plunged his knife into his target’s neck.

The other man recoiled in shock as he desperately struggled to hold the gushing red liquid spilling from the wound in, but to no avail. He fell backwards and squirmed about until enough blood had leaked out to end his life. Ray’s mission was accomplished and allowed himself a weak smile, content.

“I have to go and find Ray,” Rainbow Dash declared to the group of ponies migrating away from Ponyville.

“You’re going to go back there?” Somepony in the crowd said.

“Yes, I need to, I’ll come back and tell you all when it is safe,” she said and shot back into town Rainbow Dash quickly flew over the town, scanning for her friend.

“Ray!” she called several times as she passed by various parts of the town. Finally, she spotted Ray and his “friend” on the ground, both lying in their own blood and their eyes closed. Ray had one arm extended away, clutching something in his hand.

“Ray?” She landed next to him “No…” But Ray stirred.

“Mmm? Oh, Rainbow Dash. I was hoping you’d be here sooner,” Ray said weakly but smiled all the same. Rainbow Dash looked shocked at what he’d just said.

“Don’t scare me like that Ray! Look, about earlier, I’m... I’m sorry.

“It’s… It’s okay. I understand,” Ray responded.

“No really, I shouldn’t have acted like that…”

“Its fine Rainbow Dash, you had every right… to be… angry…” Ray panted.

“But your my friend Ray. I shouldn’t have treated you like that.”

“You’re my friend too and I should have said good bye,” He countered

“But-”

“But nothing. Please, I need you to do something.”

“How can I help?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“You have to go get help,” Ray answered.

“But I can’t just leave you here!”

“Remember Rainbow, I’ve-”

“Been through worse,” Rainbow Dash finished, half smiling, but still very much concerned. “Got it...”

“Exactly,” But what Ray didn’t say was that he had received immediate medical attention those times. “And I need you take this too.” Ray tried to lift his arm but couldn’t. Rainbow Dash trotted over and Ray opened his hand.

“Ray… I can’t.”

“Please, I don’t want it to get dirty.” He let out a tired chuckle.

Rainbow Dash took the picture of Cassandra from him and tucked it under the nearest window sill to hold it there. “Okay, it’s safe there... I’ll be back in a flash!” And off she went.

“And thank you.” He whispered.

Ray waited one minute, which turned to five, and at ten minutes Ray’s eyes grew heavy. The pain had faded away now and all that mattered was if Rainbow Dash was fast enough. At least he had finished his mission and protected his friends. Fifteen minutes and Ray’s eyes closed.

“We have to go back for him! He’s dying,” Rainbow Dash pleaded.

“Oh, I’m not going anywhere near that thing!” a doctor shouted.

“Ray killed it! It’s safe, you have to believe me!” Rainbow Dash begged.

“Do you know for a fact that it’s dead?” a mare said from somewhere in the crowd.

“Please…”

“I’ll go with you miss,” A brown stallion with a thick Trottingham accent said from the crowd.

“Are you a doctor?” Rainbow Dash inquired.

“Yes I am, and I have seen far worse than that human. I’ll be back in a blink of an eye! If I come back and prove that the other human is dead, will you help ‘Ray’ in the hospital? There is only I so much I can do without equipment.”

There was a mumble of agreement from the initial doctor.

“Very well then, come along Miss Dash,” he called and started to rush back into town with the blue pegasus.

“By the way, I never caught your name,” Rainbow Dash said as they sped towards the hospital for some supplies.

“Names are highly overrated these days. But then again, how would we identify each other? I know some species use numbers but that’s boring, and that’s a bit like a name if you ask me…” Rainbow Dash never got her answer as the stallion prattled on.

Chapter 19: Flatline

Rainbow Dash and her friends waited anxiously in the hospital’s lobby while the doctors performed a never-before-done-surgery on Ray.

“Rainbow, stop pacing around and sit down,” Twilight requested.

“Yeah, you won’t be helping Ray if you wear a hole in the floor,” Applejack said in an
attempt to lighten the mood.

“Please don’t,” Rainbow Dash responded bluntly. The room went silent and the blue
pegasus took a deep breath to calm herself. “Sorry, I’m just a bit worried.”

“A bit? Goodness Rainbow, considering how close you two were, I’m surprised you
haven’t broken down yet,” Rarity added.

“Hey! I know Ray is going to make it so I’m not worried,” Rainbow Dash retorted.

“Now let’s be reasonable Rainbow-”

“I am being reasonable,” she growled. “Because you don’t know him like I do; he will
make it.”

Before Twilight could respond, a doctor walked out of the operating room.

“How’s he doing doc?” Rainbow Dash asked immediately.

He sighed. “Good news or bad news?”

Rainbow Dash was slightly taken aback at the mention of bad news. “Uh… The good
news?”

“Well good news is that your friend is stable.” Rainbow Dash began to smile. “But the
bad news is that he is in a coma.” Her expression was quickly shot down

“When is he gonna wake up?” she asked.

She looked behind the doctor and saw several other ponies rolling Ray out on a bed. He
was hooked up to several machines inside.

“That’s the very bad news. We don’t know when, or even if he will wake up. I’m sorry,”
The doctor apologized.

“It’s fine, he’ll wake up,” Rainbow Dash said with stubborn confidence as the ponies
began to gather into Ray’s room. The doctor left them in the room with Ray. The six friends sat
in silence for a while around him. After several hours spent with idle chatter and in sad silence, it

finally came time for the hospital to close and five of the six ponies got up to leave.

“Are ya coming Rainbow?” Applejack asked as she trotted to the door.

“Not yet, I’m gonna stay with Ray a little longer,” Rainbow Dash sighed.

Applejack responded with a nod and closed the door behind her. Rainbow Dash stood up
and trotted over to Ray’s bed.

“I’m so sorry Ray. I should have helped you instead of run away with the others.” Now
that her friends were gone, tears started to flow from her eyes. “I should have seen how hard it
was for you to leave. That’s what you were really worried about when you lied to me about your
team. Well maybe not lied, I know you’re worried about them but that wasn’t it. And now look
where I’ve put you... Stuck on this bed, half-alive and all because I had to throw a small fit over
you leaving. I should’ve... Just accepted it...”

She gently placed a hoof on his arm as she sat down next to the bed. The sky was already
growing dark outside as Luna raised her moon, brighter than ever, and soon, Rainbow Dash’s
eyelids grew heavy. She gently placed her head down next to Ray on the bed and fell asleep.

Ray snapped his eyes open and gasped. Much of his body was aching with pain, but that was to be expected. Where was he though? The only thing he saw was an inky blackness that seemed to stretch on forever. He noticed that his body felt lighter than usual, so it was probably safe to assume that Ray was not wearing any combat gear. It was strange though; wasn’t that what he was wearing before? What had he been doing before he woke up? Ray was faint with fatigue, but he thought he saw a pinprick of light in the distance.

“Nothing. Else. To go to...” Ray panted and he started limping towards the light.

“Come on Ray, you can do this. It doesn’t look too far away. Where’s my team when I need them though? I’m always there for them. Dangit Ray, why can’t you remember where you were before this?” Ray’s heart started hammering in his chest. “Why would they leave me here alone?”

Ray had always been terrified of being alone- Not in the sense that none of his friends were around, but the feeling that he would never see them again. He was feeling that now and was extremely scared, but pushed forward nonetheless. That’s what he did best after all: face his fears. Strange, something important had to do with that skill.

Two weeks. Two antagonizing and long weeks. Every day Rainbow Dash had visited Ray, hoping to find him awake. Each day she had a little bit less hope as she walked in to find that Ray was still unconscious. The crushing feeling of guilt also increased with each time she checked on him.

“Come on Ray, you can make it. I know you can.” Rainbow Dash wondered how much
longer she would believe her own words.

“You know they say that if you talk to them that it helps?” Twilight said from the open
door. It was day fifteen.

“Anything to help him...” Rainbow Dash murmured in reply.

“Stop beating yourself up about it Rainbow! It’s not your fault.”

“Yes it is because I shouldn’t have yelled at him. I know him better than anyone else
here! Even if he wasn’t thinking about it directly during the fight, it slowed him down
subconsciously,” Rainbow Dash said miserably.

“Well then it’s my fault too,” Twilight added. “I said some pretty... harsh things when he
told me he was going to leave. He said he didn’t want to see the hurt on your face if he said good
bye.”

Rainbow Dash now contemplated this new information to herself while Twilight let out a
sigh.

“Just stop blaming yourself. Ray wouldn’t want that,” Twilight said.

She then turned out of the room and left Rainbow Dash alone with Ray. “Just like
Cassandra wouldn’t want you to blame yourself. Not that it stops you… Or me,” Rainbow Dash
whispered.

His leg hurt and felt like it was going to give way any moment now, but he felt the need to reach the light quickly. It was purely instinctual, but Ray’s instincts had never failed him before. Ray still hadn’t gotten used to the overwhelming feeling of loneliness during his pilgrimage.

“Just gotta make it to that light,” Ray repeated over and over.

It was indeed a light because it had gotten larger over the past few hours of travel. At least, he thought it was hours. Ray wasn’t sure how much time had passed since he had regained consciousness. Another thing that disturbed him was the lack of memory before he was knocked out. Ray assumed he was knocked out because of the pain he was feeling, most likely from shock or something.

“Almost there, you got this Ray,” He muttered to himself. “I wonder if I’m going crazy, talking to myself. Might as well try to figure what happened then. Well, let’s see. The first thing I remember… Briefing back at base, right. Eliminate the H.V.T. Then I visited armorer. There was no time for a recon element so we were making a blind HALO jump down. We jumped and…. And… We eliminated the target. I was wounded… But where were we?”

The memory jogger didn’t help answer any questions Ray had.

“I ought to have a talk with those psychologists and therapists; their techniques need improvement.”

The small run through had however brought his mind away from the solemn darkness and
loneliness for a short amount of time.

Rainbow Dash pushed the door open. Day sixteen. Room 316. The numbers had long since been engraved in her memory. Ray’s situation had not improved, but on the positive side his health had not declined either. He looked so calm in his sleep, just like always. That’s one of the things she liked best about him: Never panicking in any situation. The only other pony Rainbow Dash knew who didn’t panic was herself.

“Come on Ray, I’ll hang on if you hang on.”

Rainbow Dash sat in silence and patted Ray’s arm. She sat there for some time, saying an occasional cheer for Ray to wake up or something similar to keep her own spirits up. But suddenly, the beeping of the heart monitor became a long, flat tone. Her purple eyes shot up to the heart monitor to find Ray had gone into cardiac arrest.

“Oh NO!” she yelled.

The door burst open, a few doctors scrambling into the room and shoving Rainbow Dash aside.

“I’ve got no pulse!” one said.

“He isn’t breathing!” another added. This was one of Rainbow’s worst nightmares come true.

“RAY!” she screamed, but it seemed like no one heard her. Not even Ray. The doctors retrieved the defibrillator and began to charge it. Ray’s shirt was pulled clean off and the head doctor took the two electrode pads.

“Clear!” he yelled as he placed the charges on Ray’s chest. He jolted upwards with the shock, but the heart monitor didn’t change. The rainbow-maned pegasus started to sweat.

“Increasing voltage!”

“Clear!”

Again with the same result. Tears swelled into Rainbow’s eyes.

“One more time!”

“Clear!”

Nothing.

“He’s gone...”

Rainbow put her hooves around her face and began to cry. The doctors stood around the bed on which Ray was lying on, all seemingly mourning the loss and obviously distressed, until one by one they filed out until the head doctor was left standing in the room with the wailing Rainbow Dash.

“I’m sorry...” he simply said before pulling the machine parts off Ray and walking out of the room himself. Rainbow Dash, with tears running down her face, pulled herself back to her original position with Ray.

“Ra-a-a-ay!” she wailed. “It-It can’t e-end like this!” The pegasus put her head on Ray’s bed and continued her wailing.

“Finally, took me long enough,” Ray said with a cheer. “Let’s see what you’re hiding.”

He eagerly stepped into the light to find what he had worked so hard to reach. Ray appeared in an airfield with several crates nearby.

“No, please no... Not here.”

“You don’t want to see me?” A feminine voice said from behind him.

“I do, but... does this mean I’m dead?” Ray wasn’t scared of dying, but he didn’t want to come so close to Cassandra again just to have her taken from him.

“Ah, now that’s classified Gunny,” Cassandra teased.

Ray sighed. “Why do you torment me so?”

“I enjoy your suffering,” She joked and hugged him tightly.

Ray half-chuckled as he returned the hug. He felt a bit awkward though, for some reason.

“I’m just kidding, but technically, you ARE dead. You have gone into cardiac arrest and your new friend is crying over you lifeless body.”

“That’s a bit grim don’t ya think? Wait… NEW friends?” Ray stumbled backwards. “How could I forget?!”

“It’s okay Ray, if you had remembered you wouldn’t have found your way here,” Cassandra comforted him.

“Rainbow Dash…”

“Ah yes, my… replacement,” Cassandra said with a small smile.

“No one can replace you Cassandra, but you of all people know I can’t do much alone,”
Ray stated.

“I know, I couldn’t think of a better word. But why couldn’t you open up to anyone
else?” Cassandra asked.

“I don’t know… After you died, I just... broke down. My team- OUR team I mean. They
tried to help me, but I wouldn’t let them.”

Cassandra grabbed Ray’s hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Why?” She asked
softly.

“I don’t know. Maybe because they weren’t there to help? Maybe because they already
have enough of a burden already? Both probably.”

“And you let Rainbow Dash get close to you because she not only saved your life, but
because she lived in a peaceful and innocent land. You also knew she wouldn’t ever leave you.”

“Yeah… I was going to leave her…” Ray said with a faraway look in his eyes.

“It’s okay Ray. You want to protect our team because that’s one of the last connections
you have with me.”

Ray smiled. “See how well you know me?”

“I can read you like a book Ray.”

“Rainbow Dash can too… She knew when I was going to leave that something was
wrong…”

“But now you have to choose again.”

“What? I don’t understand.”

“Between her and our team,” Cassandra clarified.

“But… I’m dead and here with you,” Ray said, slightly shocked.

“Not for long Ray. I’m sorry. It’s gonna be hard but I know you can make the choice.”

Ray let out another sigh as the scenery began to get brighter and blurrier. “Goodbye
Cass.”

“Don’t call me Cass!” Came the response as Ray’s vision was washed out in a bright
light.

He struggled to open his eyes. As Ray fought that battle his ears picked up the sound of crying. Finally he was able to force his eyes open and take in the room. The soldier was in a
hospital bed with a loud, droning buzz in his ears. Next to him, somebody, or somepony, had
their head down next to Ray, crying their eyes out. The six colors of the mane told Ray unmistakably that this was Rainbow Dash. There was no one else in the room. Ray mustered up some strength in his arm to lift it and bring his hand to the top of her head. She lifted her head up with surprise and locked eye contact with Ray. The pony was flabbergasted.

“Ray?” Rainbow Dash croaked, as if she wasn’t believing the sight.

“Right here Rainbow Dash...”

“Oh Celestia, RAY!” She jumped onto the bed and threw her hooves around Ray’s neck
in a tight hug. She started to cry a little more though. “Ray, please don’t do that again...! I would
have never forgiven myself.”

“Shh, shh. It’s okay,” Ray reassured, putting his arms around Rainbow more gently.

Through the door, Rainbow Dash’s friends began to gather into the room, initially with
sad expressions on their faces after hearing the news from the doctor, but once they walked in and released what was occurring, their expressions turned into surprised and happy ones.

“Ray!” they cheered and gather more quickly into the room. When Rainbow Dash realized her friends had arrived, she immediately jumped off of Ray, obviously embarrassed, but it seemed like they hardly noticed. The doctor walked in a moment later to see what the commotion was about, only to be overwhelmed by surprise himself.

“But, but... You died! Your-Your heart-!” he stammered.

“Please, you think three bullets would be enough to stop me?” Ray asked rhetorically as he sat up. “No way!”

“I don’t know, you had me fooled for a few minutes there.” Rainbow Dash grinned, tears still dripping down her face. Ray reached over and brushed them away with tender care, earning a bigger smile from her. He then looked out a window in the room to see a storm having started. It was his favorite weather though because it was easier to hide in.

“You schedule this downpour for me?” Ray asked.

“No, just happened to be a coincidence.”

“The doctor said your heart had stopped.” Twilight stated. “Did you really die?”

“Well... I wouldn’t call it that... Just a flashback, I guess.”

“That’s it? ‘A flashback’? I mean, there has to be something! You died!”

Ray glanced at Rainbow Dash, who said, “He’s been through worse.”

“And there really wasn’t much to it after that,” Ray added. But then he realized two
things. “Where’s my picture?”

“It’s right here Ray.” Rainbow Dash motioned to a stand next to the bed.

“Thanks.” Ray used one hand to ruffle his close friend’s hair while he grabbed and pocketed the precious picture with the other. “Now, what have you done with the body of the other man?”

“We took him over that hill yonder and dumped him there,” Applejack said.

“You what?! Is that how you treat your dead?”

“Well-”

“Well nothing! All beings, no matter their rights or wrongs, deserve a proper burial. Doctor, can I walk?”

“You should be fine, yes, but just take it easy,” He said, more trying to reassure himself than anything else.

“W- what are you going to do Ray?” Fluttershy asked.

“Give a man a proper burial. Somepony get a shovel.”

“You’re not seriously suggesting that you are going to bury him are you?” Rarity inquired.

“I am,” Ray said as he got up.
He winced in pain as he put weight on his injured leg but pushed through it and walked out. Ray walked into the rain, which soaked his body and the rest of his blood stained uniform instantly. The dried blood dripped off of him as he silently walked into the storm. He stopped by Applejack’s barn for a shovel and found the body of his target. It had already started to decompose and the ponies had stayed well away from it, but Ray just walked up to it and closed Shabal’s eyes.

“You were good, if only you had used your skills differently,” Ray murmured.

He got to work digging a hole, performed a short Muslim ceremony he had learned, and quickly buried him. Ray started to walk away, but his leg seized up from the exertion of the walk and lifting the heavily decomposed body. Rainbow Dash was instantly by his side to support him.

“The doctor says he wants to see you tomorrow, just to make sure you’re actually okay. Everyone else is back at the library, waiting!” Rainbow Dash told Ray.

Ray nodded with a smile and the two walked back to Twilight’s library to dry off and relax.

Finally got this out XD. Sorry bout the wait. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Chapter 20: Decision Making

Twilight opened the door to the library to allow Ray to be carried in.

“Really Rainbow Dash, I don’t need to be carried!” Ray protested.

“Are yah sure Ray? You look like you’re banged up pretty bad,” Applejack stated.

“I’m fine girls, really!” Ray attempted to reassure them.

“I really think you shouldn’t get up though,” Fluttershy squeaked.

“I can walk!” Ray argued as he began to push himself off of Rainbow Dash’s back.

“Oh no you don’t Ray!” Rainbow Dash said as she shifted herself back under Ray.

“Alright Rainbow, that’s enough! We’re here now so ya don’t need ta carry him anymore,” Applejack said when she reached the table in the middle of the tree.

“There ya go big guy.” Rainbow Dash let Ray slide off of her back and set him down. “Happy?”

“I guess, thanks,” Ray said with only the slightest hint of gratitude.

He limped over to the table in the middle of the library to sit down.

“Oooh-kay, now that we are here, what are we supposed to do?” Ray asked.

The awkward silence that followed lasted for several moments.

“Okay, I guess we will be talking,” Ray said with a grin.

“Sorry Ray, we just aren’t exactly used to having a friend die, or almost die in your case,” Twilight apologized.

“It’s fine, I understand,” Ray replied still smiling. “So what are we gonna talk about?”

“How can you be joking around right now? You almost died!” Rarity exclaimed.

“Been there, done that,” Came the simple reply.

Rarity gave an exasperated sigh. “You can be such a mystery at times!”

“I can be, can’t I? Speaking of mysteries, where’s Pinkie-”

“SURPRISE!” a high voice yelled suddenly. There was a small explosion from behind and Ray ducked almost instinctively with his hand now on his sidearm. He let his hand slide off of the pistol and relinquished his breath.

“Thanks for the heart attack Pinkie,” Ray gasped and collapsed to the floor.

The ponies laughed until they realized Ray wasn’t moving.

“Ray?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Are you okay?” Fluttershy whispered.

“Ha, that’s really funny!” Pinkie added.

“Ray?!” Rainbow Dash rushed to his side. “Get up!”

Ray snickered suddenly and sat up. “You should have seen the look on your face!” Ray laughed. With his laugh, the other ponies released a collective sigh of relief, aside from Pinkie who was hysterical laughing.

“Good one Ray!” she laughed as she fell to the floor giggling.

Rainbow Dash huffed angrily and dragged Ray back to the table, which now was covered in Pinkie’s party supplies and treats.

“Ow! My leg wasn’t the only thing that was shot!” Ray gasped as he was dragged by his bad arm.

“Suck it up,” Rainbow Dash spat through her teeth.

Ray said nothing more until he was propped back up on the table.

“I guess I’ll cut the cake,” Ray said and unsheathed his knife. He showed it off a little by twirling it around a few times. “So remind me what this party is for?”

“It’s a Ray Didn’t Die Party!”

“Oh… Okay… That’s... Interesting?”

The rest of this night was filled with laughter as ponies told jokes and Ray told funny stories. However, Ray noticed that his close friend wasn’t exactly enjoying the party as much as the rest of them. He knew something was bugging her considering she had zoned out more than once.

“Okay, what’s wrong Rainbow Dash?” Ray asked abruptly.

“What? Nothing!” She replied with a fake smile.

Ray sighed. “We’re all your friends Rainbow Dash. You can trust us.”

“I’m fine Ray,” She replied stubbornly.

“Rainbow Dash, I know- Oh, I get it. So you still know what I’m going to do.”

“Yeah, I know you can’t leave them after all you’ve said about them. I can tell that they mean a lot to you, but what about me- Us?” Rainbow Dash hastily corrected herself. Ray didn’t seem to notice.

“Rainbow Dash, it’s not that simple…”

“Oh what, choosing them over us isn’t simple?” Rainbow Dash retorted.

The five other ponies nervously watched the argument.

“See why I wanted to leave without telling you?” Ray replied quietly and suddenly as he looked away from her, “My team is one of the last connections I have with Cassandra. If you expect me to give that up easily, then maybe you don’t know me that well.”

Rainbow Dash saw her mistake and immediately regretted what she had said.

“And if you think it’s easy to leave you all, it’s not. Why would you think it would be easy to leave you after all we have been through?”

“Ray… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to...” Rainbow trailed off as it was obvious she wouldn’t be getting another reply in regard to it. Rainbow Dash walked around to look at Ray’s face. She did a double take when she saw tears flowing from her friend’s eyes. Seeing this conjured both a feeling of regret and relief. The pegasus recounted that he hadn’t shed a single tear when he had told her about what happened to Cassandra. She nervously glanced at her friends, who were shocked at Ray’s sudden outbreak. Rainbow Dash also saw Twilight nervously pawing at the ground and averting her gaze from Ray. Swallowing her pride, Rainbow Dash wrapped her forelegs around Ray’s neck.

“I’m sorry Ray,” She repeated as she too began to cry. “I just don’t want to lose you.”

“I’m sorry too for putting you through this.” Ray sniffed. “But hey, look at the bright side! I still have to recover so I will be here for a little bit longer,” He continued while returning the hug with a small smile.

“Awwww that’s so cute!” Pinkie exclaimed suddenly.

Rainbow Dash shot her the nastiest look she could conjure, but that didn’t stop her friends from giggling.

“Hey, just ignore them, okay?” Ray whispered and let her go. “Hey, Pinkie, can you balance a cupcake on your head?”

“Sure, why?”

“Just do it Pinkie.”

“Okie Dokie Lokie!” The pink pony took a cupcake off the table and, as an added bonus, balanced it on her nose. “Like this?”

“Perfect! Rainbow, ready to see this?” Ray asked.

Ray quickly unsheathed his knife and threw it in one motion, hitting the cupcake dead center. The knife continued and impaled itself next to one of the bookshelves. Ray grinned, stood up and retrieved his knife. Rainbow Dash snickered at the shock and fear on the other ponies faces.

“Oh good, I can still throw a knife accurately!” Ray commented cheerfully.

“You mean you could have missed?!” Twilight asked, clearly shocked.

“I did take a large caliber round to the arm you know. Even if you repaired my broken arm, there could be muscle and possibly even nerve damage. That made it harder to throw the knife accurately.”

“You could have hit Pinkie?” Twilight concluded.

Ray turned and winked at Rainbow Dash, “Something like that. What’s life without a little risk? I’m sorta tired right now so I think I’ll be going.”

Before Twilight, or any pony for that matter could get another word in, Ray was holding the library door open for Rainbow Dash and they both walked out of the tree together. The rain had eased up since earlier and it was just a light drizzle at this point.

“You couldn’t have missed if you tried right?” Rainbow Dash asked when they were out of earshot.

“Oh yeah, sure,” Ray replied nervously.

“Ray…”

“Of course! You doubt my skill?”

“Well you did sorta get shot three times and almost died on us,” She shot back.

Ray blushed clearly embarrassed.

“Are you blushing? Haven’t seen you do that before!” Rainbow Dash continued to tease.

“Hey, maybe next time I won’t try to save your pride,” Ray suggested.

“Maybe next time I won’t wait by your bed!”

“Oh, you would if there was a next time...” Ray responded.

“And you would be there to save my life if that were to happen again, which it won’t!”

They both laughed at their joking as they arrived at Twilight’s balloon.

The next few weeks after Ray had “returned” rushed by quickly for both the pegasus and human. Rainbow Dash spent as much time as she possibly could with Ray, even with the preparations for the start of winter. Luckily, Ray had been interested in the creation and dispersion of the weather throughout Equestria, so it didn’t take much convincing to bring him to the weather factory in Cloudsdale again. Ray had decided that the colder temperatures required him to wear a ghillie suit in the elevated town for the added clothe to stay warm for extended visits, although at the cost of Rainbow Dash making fun of him and constantly reminding him that he looked absolutely ridiculous in it. In the factory, he was helping make the snow because his hands were more nimble than hooves. His patience and ability to stay quiet for long periods of time definitely helped also. Ray was quietly working on a small table with all sorts of peculiar tools and magical materials needed to make a snowflake.

“Ray?” Rainbow Dash whispered, wandering in to this different part of the factory.

Ray held up a finger to tell his friend to wait a few seconds as he finished another snowflake.

“Yes?” he quietly responded afterward.

“Break time for me and I’m headin’ out for a bite to eat. How ‘bout you?”

“I’m not hungry, but I’ll join you.”

Ray got up from his work and waved goodbye to the other pegasi making snow. They briefly stopped their work to wave back at him, but immediately returned to their work afterwards. As the two stepped outside, Ray slipped on a pair of sunglasses and gloves.

“Lead the way.” Ray said and followed Rainbow Dash, who was stifling herself from laughing at how ridiculous she thought Ray looked, to a café close to the weather factory. The two entered the café and took a seat at a small table. When the waiter arrived, Ray only asked for a glass water before he leaned back into deep thought again.

“Gotta make up your mind Ray: Stay or go?” This thought plagued Ray whenever he had a spare moment to think.

“Ray?” Rainbow Dash asked, noticing her friend’s trance.

He sighed. “Well, I’m not gonna lie now. I’m trying to make up my mind on whether or not I’m going to be staying here or going back home.”

“Well then, I won’t lie either. I would like you to stay and I’m pretty sure everyone else does too. I almost completely lost you two weeks ago and I don’t want to go through that again. Plus I don’t see how you could leave somepony as incredibly awesome or cool as me.” With her last sentence, she tried to make it seem like it really wasn’t bothering her. Ray just chuckled.

“Well the doctor says I have to stay here past up until the first day of winter, so that’s about three weeks. And I get to watch the first ‘Winter Moon Festival’ which sounds pretty interesting. After that…”

“Well, what can we do to convince you to stay?”

“Honestly, the best thing you could do is just act as if I weren’t going to leave. It’s hard enough deciding between both options now. I don’t want the decision to be more difficult.”

Rainbow Dash contemplated this for a moment, “Okay, if that’s what you want, I’ll do it.”

“Thank you.”

Ray snapped his eyes open and checked his watch. 0015 hours, or 12:15 in the morning. He swung his legs over the bed and eagerly went to wake up Rainbow Dash.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash get up! I don’t want to be late for helping start winter!” Ray started with a whisper.

After no response he increased his volume. “Rainbow Dash, get up!”

Finally Ray decided to sound off. “RAINBOW DASH GET UP NOW!”

“Five more minutes?” asked the drowsy Rainbow Dash.

“You are quite a heavy sleeper,” Ray murmured to himself, “Now, use a gun or a bucket of water? If I use a gun I risk waking Ponyville, if I use water, I risk death…”

Ray glanced at his watch, “Well I guess you’ll protect me. Making Rainbow Dash angry sure does require lots of courage.”

He pulled out a section of the cloud wall, sculpted a bucket out of it and then filled it with water from the kitchen before returning to the pegasus’ room. “Here goes nothing.”

Ray dumped the water on his friend and dove away.

“Whatthehaywhosthere?!” Rainbow Dash gasped.

“Relax it’s just me. We have thirteen minutes till we need to start winter,” Ray exclaimed, clearly excited.

Rainbow Dash groaned in response and tried to rub the sleep from her wet eyes as Ray walked outside to Twilight’s balloon.

“Geez Ray, it’s just the beginning of winter. It’s more work than anything,” Rainbow Dash said as she groggily followed Ray out the door.

“Are you kidding me? I love the cold crisp air, the snow, Christmas.”

“Christmas?” Rainbow Dash inquired.

“Oh, it’s a holiday back where I’m from. It’s basically a celebration of an important person’s birthday. We celebrate and give each other presents,” Ray answered.

“Hmm, sounds like Hearths Warming Eve.”

“Oh yeah, I read about that in one of Twilight’s books. Interesting story indeed. I never thought of you ponies as a violent race.”

Outside, the moon still glowed in the black sky, so Ray retrieved his night vision goggles and pulled them over his eyes, coating the dark world in a sickly, digital green color.

“So how will things go about today?” Ray asked.

“Well today is usually just when we put all the clouds in place, so you probably won’t be doing much today,” Rainbow Dash replied.

“Okay, I’ll see if I can start prepping for the celebration tonight then.”

“Well, I’ll see you in a few hours,” Rainbow Dash yawned.

“And Rainbow Dash, try not to fall asleep on the job,” Ray continued with a smirk.

Rainbow Dash took a swipe at Ray but he easily stepped backwards, out of the way. “Got to be a bit quicker!”

“Just get going,” Rainbow Dash replied, slightly annoyed, but grinning all the same.

Ray patiently waited for the balloon to hit ground level after he had climbed in and told it to head for Ponyville. He wondered how he was going to start preparing for the festival by himself. He figured that Twilight would probably have stayed up planning for the day’s events. As he hit the ground, Ray could already tell that the temperature was colder than when he had first come to Ponyville.

“Hey Twilight, you up?” Ray whispered as he knocked on the door to the library, which was still lit up inside.

“One second Ray,” Twilight said from somewhere inside. “There we go!”

Twilight opened the door and Ray stepped inside. “Thanks, it’s getting cold out there. I assume you were up planning for tonight?”

“Yeah, I think I have it all planned out!” Twilight said proudly, indicating her papers on her desk. Ray sat down in her chair and checked over the plans for the night’s festivities. It took him about thirty minutes to pour through all of her notes, diagrams, and schedules.

“Pretty big op you have planned Twilight. I think it will be quite a celebration.” Ray observed after he had finished. Twilight had stayed to work on something else for the festival, but Ray couldn’t tell what.

“Do you think Princess Luna will like it?” Twilight asked anxiously.

“I’m sure she will enjoy what you have planned Twilight. Also, I look forward to meeting her highness. Anyway, let’s go see if we can get any preparations started ASAP.”

“I agree. We can start by checking to see if we have the correct amount of materials.”

Ray knew for a fact that she had checked that yesterday and also knew he was in for a long haul. Stepping outside again he flipped down the night vision goggles as Twilight followed him with a blue striped scarf wrapped around her neck. Ray lead the way to various piles of wood and let Twilight borrow the high tech goggles to check, measure, count, and recheck each plank of wood for the various stands that would be set up. Next, they checked the stage on which Luna would publicly raise the moon. Twilight worked quietly, making sure each item was perfectly in place, but it was an unusual quiet, even for her. Ray thought something may be on her mind or she was simply dead tired. While she worked, Ray watched the pegasi pile clouds high over the small town admiring the speed and stealth with which they worked. Suddenly, little white specks of snow started to drift and dance through the quiet early morning sky.

“Hey, Twilight?”

“What is it Ray?”

“It’s snowing.”

Twilight stopped and looked around. The snow was already starting to form a thin blanket over every exposed surface. She sighed.

“I’ll get this fixed later,” she stated, turning back to what she was doing. She tugged on a few decorations before turning back around to Ray

“Ray, I never fully apologized for about how I acted before you got hurt,” the unicorn said suddenly. Ray hadn’t expected that sort of reply, but remained calm about it.

“It’s fine. I understand why you did what you did. Heck, I probably would have done the same thing in your position.”

“I was just so angry... I just wanted to protect Rainbow Dash,” Twilight stammered with guilt.

“I know Twilight, I’ve felt the same way.”

“Really? You? Never once have I seen you panic or get angry. The closest thing is when you threw that knife at Pinkie when we were laughing at Rainbow Dash, and that wasn’t really anger either.”

“That’s because none of you were ever in danger or hurt. There have been times… Where I’ve sort of lost it for a few moments. I have done things I have regretted and things I will never forget. Terrible things. Don’t ever do that Twilight; never compromise your beliefs because you will regret it.

“I’ll do that,” Twilight responded simply.

She turned around and resumed her work, failing to notice Ray sneak off into the night.

“Okay Ray, I think that’s the last thing we need to check on for now. Ray?” Twilight had turned to find he had vanished.

Suddenly something cold smacked the pony in the face. She flipped the goggles back over her eyes and levitated a pile of snow, ready to retaliate. However, Ray was nowhere in sight. Twilight started walking slowly around the town, carefully scanning every corner, closed market stand, and roof in search of him. Another snowball hit her from behind and she whipped around, ready to throw the pile of snow at him, but found nothing.

“Okay then Ray. Come on out, I won’t hurt you,” She said in an innocent voice.

Another snowball hit her from where she had just been looking.

“That’s it, no mercy then,” Twilight said with an evil grin.

Again she was hit in the back of the head with a snowball.

“Okay, how are you even doing that Ray?” She blurted out. Curiosity getting the better of her.

Even with the night vision goggles, she couldn’t seem to spot him.

“Okay I surrender,” Ray said with his hands raised.

Twilight once again whipped around to see Ray stepping out from behind a building. She wiped the grin off his face by easily smashing the pile of snow into him. Yet again a snowball hit her.

“What the hay?” Twilight said turning again.

Rainbow Dash quietly laughed to herself, but was also smashed with a pile of snow. Ray had managed to dig his way out of the snow pile and stretched out his sore limbs. He definitely felt better than when had first awoken in the hospital, but from time to time he did start hurting again.

“Nice shot Twilight,” Ray said with a grin.

“Thanks,” Twilight said, quietly laughing herself.

The trio quietly snickered to themselves until Ray had suggested they head back to the library.

“Sun will be up soon so that’s when we will be setting up for the festival tonight,” Ray pointed out on the walk back.

The rest of the day was a scramble to set up stalls for activities or selling various things or preparing food and preparing crafts for the younger ponies. Finally, it came time for Princess Luna to arrive. The Elements of Harmony greeted her as she arrived via chariot pulled by her Royal Guards. Ray snapped to attention and saluted as the ponies bowed to the Princess.

“Pleasure to finally meet you your highness,” Ray said after he finished the salute.

“The pleasure is mine, and please call me Luna.”

“Of course Luna!”

“Twilight, how are the preparations for tonight’s festival?” The Princess asked.

“Very well Princess Luna! We should be done within the hour!” Twilight answered with excitement.

“Excellent then! I shall go and prepare for tonight’s ceremony. I’ll see you all in a little while then!” With that Luna trotted away and her guards followed.

Ray watched her leave and picked up the nervous twitch of her tail.

“I needa go check on something so I will see you around girls.”

There was a mumble of agreement as they went their separate ways and Ray walked in the same direction as Luna. The snow made it easy to track her. All he had to do was follow the three sets of steps.

“Halt!” A voice hissed as two spears crossed in front of Ray.

“Good afternoon gents,” Ray said unfazed. “Sloppy, downright sloppy. You should be disappointed in yourselves. At least cover your tracks! Don’t make it so easy to track the principle, that being the pony you’re trying to protect, which in this case is Princess Luna. Also, find a better place to ambush from. Both of you were just relying on the shadows of these buildings, but you should try to find actual concealment or, better yet, cover. Now can I see Luna?”

The two guards were dumbfounded at the short lecture they had received. “She’s just further up the road, uh, sir,” one of them responded.

“Don’t call me sir. I don’t like being called that. Simply Ray or Gunny will do!

“Erm, sure thing Ray,” the other replied, rather awkwardly.

Ray passed the two guards, who found better places to wait for any suspicious ponies to walk by, and found Luna staring idly into the distance

“A bit for your thoughts?” Ray said and flipped a coin in the air.

“I heard your little scolding that you gave my guards. I’m glad you didn’t do something drastic.”

“They weren’t a threat. If I had wanted them dead, it would have been too easy. I would suggest you have them teach your other guards what I told them.”

Luna cringed a bit at the thought of her guards being killed, but shook it off.

“I shall try to bear that in mind.” she laughed. “Twilight is right, you are fairly intelligent.”

“I would like to think so. Anyways, how are you feeling about tonight’s performance?”

“I am not so sure about doing this in front of a crowd.”

“But you have done it thousands of times before ,right?”

“Yes, of course!” Luna responded.

“Well back where I’m from, there is a saying: Amateurs train until they get it right, professionals train until they can’t get it wrong. Now you have done this so many times, I’m sure you would have to try to mess up. Don’t be nervous. What I’m trying to say is that it’s basically impossible for you to mess up. I’m sure you can figure out the rest,” Ray finished with a grin.

“Thank you Ray. You are as good as they say,” the princess replied with a soft smile.

“If only I was…” Ray murmured as he walked away.

He checked his watch and saw it was ten minutes until Luna was going to raise the moon. Ray joined the crowd of anxious ponies, wading his way towards his friends.

“Hey girls, what have I missed?” Ray asked.

“Absolutely nothing,” Rainbow Dash said, “We have been standing here forever.”

“Oh hush now Rainbow Dash! It has only been five minutes!” Rarity added.

“Well, it felt like forever...” Rainbow Dash yawned.

“Shh Luna is coming on,” A voice said from below.

“Oh hey Pipsqueak. Oh hi Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo,” Ray said as he noticed the small ponies, “How can you tell she is coming on?”

“He can’t. He just keeps saying that every five minutes, hoping he can hear her,” Scootaloo pointed out.

“Here, let me help with that.” He scooped Pipsqueak and Scootaloo up in his arms.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle went to their sisters for a boost so they could see. Soon enough, Luna took the stage and made a fairly simple show of flying up and raising the moon with her alicorn magic. The ponies went ballistic from the performance, but Ray was left disappointed.

“That’s it?” Ray asked, rather confused.

“What do you mean Ray? That was super fantastic!” Pinkie said.

“Uh, okay...”

“Well at least she did confidently,” Ray thought to himself.

Suddenly Ray felt somepony lean up against his leg. Looking down, he saw Rainbow Dash, who had fallen asleep. Ray gently put Pipsqueak and Scootaloo down.

“Sorry everypony, but I gotta get Rainbow Dash home. I woke her up really early this morning and, by the looks of it, she didn’t get any of her naps in during the day.”

“Okay Ray, see you tomorrow.” Twilight said as he left the group.

He knelt down and scooped up the blue pegasus, carrying her out of the crowd and towards the parked hot air balloon. Twilight Sparkle couldn’t help but watch as Ray cradled Rainbow Dash in his arms while walking, bringing a smile to her face. Rarity also noticed this.

“What are you thinking Twilight?” the white unicorn asked.

“I’m not sure Rarity. Looking at these two is just... Cute! I feel like that Ray and Rainbow Dash have really bonded these past few months, even if it has been... violent. Sometimes I think that they’re becoming something more than just friends.”

“Oh, please Twilight! Don’t get such a funny idea! You know it would never work out! A human and a pegasus! Goodness, I can’t even fathom how that would work!”

Twilight paused for a moment before laughing to herself.

“Yeah, you’re right! Silly me and my crazy idea, ha! Well, come on! I think Pinkie made some special treats over at Sugarcube Corner to celebrate!”

Chapter 21: An Empty Promise

Ray woke up the next morning, feeling somewhat better than the previous day. He disliked the fact that he was recovering from his injuries at such a quick rate, or rather a rate that was too rapid for him, because he had made up his mind about leaving Equestria and knew that Rainbow Dash would hate the decision. Ray rolled out of bed and stretched, feeling a dull pain in his gut, arm and leg. He wandered into Rainbow Dash’s bedroom, finding her still soundly asleep on her bed. Although the ponies took after beds just like humans did, the blue pegasus was curled up on her bed similar to how a cat would. Ray chuckled lightly to himself, in amusement and relief. His doctor at the Ponyville hospital wanted to see him for a checkup that morning, so Ray took this opportunity to quietly escape the house and take the balloon down to the medical facility.

“Well, you’re definitely making substantial progress!” the doctor told Ray, giving him the good news. “Progress faster than we initially expected! Looking at how your recovery has gone, you should be fully healed in about one more week!

“Seven days?” Ray asked without thought.

“Yes, seven days. That is the length of one week after all!”

“Okay.” Ray said with no indication of truly thinking “I’ll see you later.”

Ray stood up from the examination bed and walked towards the door.

“Wish there were more like him...” Ray overheard the doctor speak to himself as he left. the room. A jabbing pain shot through his body upon hearing that. He slowly made his way down to the lobby, leaving himself to his thoughts. The injuries had reminded him of so much; how many times had he been in a hospital, hoping his friend would pull through, but so many times they wouldn’t. It was so quick. A drawn out beep, a final breath, their last words. It all came rushing back to him suddenly. Ray froze as he entered the lobby. If he had caused those things to occur on his planet, how long would it be until that happened in Equestria? Despite his best efforts, he could feel his heart racing as he tried to fight all the memories that were trying to overwhelm him. It took Rainbow Dash shaking him roughly to snap him out of his stupor.

“Ray? Ray? Are you okay?” Rainbow Dash asked worriedly.

“Agh, uh, Rainbow! Right... The doctor said I would be fully recovered in a week,” Ray replied weakly. “When did you get here?”

“I didn’t find you in my house and I remember you had said something about a check up yesterday, so I came here,” Rainbow Dash said, slightly annoyed that he was trying to change the subject. “Now, tell me what the hay is wrong with you!”

“It’s the hospital… I just remembered some… Things.”

“What is it Ray? What about the hospital?”

“So many times. I lost them. I failed,” Ray murmured.

“Who?” Rainbow Dash pushed, trying to remain calm.

“My friends.

“So Cassandra wasn’t the only one?”

“No! Of course not! War is war! You lose friends in war! It’s always my fault too! I couldn’t save any of them!”

“Alright, calm down Ray! You can’t go blaming yourself for everything. Come on, let’s go outside.” Rainbow Dash took notice of the ponies staring at them, hoping that Ray going out would ease the tension a bit.

“Goodness after all this you would think I would learn that,” Ray said bleakly as the two walked out of the facility. “It’s not so easy Rainbow Dash. I just don’t belong here.”

“What? What do you mean?”

Ray took a deep breath. “I’m going to leave after I’m cleared by the doctor.”

Ray had taken a few more steps forward before he realized Rainbow Dash had stopped, frozen. He turned and saw the sad smile on her face.

“Well I can’t say I’m surprised,” She replied in a strained voice.

“Rainbow Dash, look at everything that happened since I got here. Ponies got kidnapped, Canterlot was invaded, and innocent ponies were killed. I don’t belong here! All I do is kill and bring destruction while here you all barely know what war is. I don’t belong.”

“That’s not all you’ve done Ray! Have you really forgotten running into a burning forest to save me? Even after all I did was show you hostility?” Rainbow Dash pointed out.

“And for what? I lose everyone anyways…”

“Yes, but I’m still alive right? Isn’t that better than leaving me dead?”

“Yeah…”

“Besides, I understand why you need to leave. If I were in your position I would probably do the same thing.”

“Thank you for trying to understand at least...” Ray replied. “And still, I have about a week left to stay here, so I suppose I can still hang out with the coolest pegasus in town.”

Ray grinned when he saw Rainbow Dash’s cheeks start to turn red.

“Let’s see what type of trouble we can get into.” Ray said as he walked down the street with Rainbow Dash in tow, laughing.

The week passed by too quickly for Ray’s liking. He woke up as he always did: quietly and without movement, but something was different this time. He had his eyes open for no more than five seconds and almost had a heart attack when his brain processed his visuals.Rainbow Dash had apparently snuck into his room during the night and fallen asleep with her head resting on his arm.

“Today’s gonna suck,” Ray thought.

He figured she would want go with him to the hospital for the last check up so he woke her up. Rainbow Dash let out a long yawn as Ray gently shook her awake.

“Today’s the day isn’t it?” Rainbow Dash asked groggily.

“Yes… Yes it is,” Ray said simply.

Rainbow Dash sighed. Ray swung his legs off of the bed and reached for the camouflaged blouse which he slid over his olive drab shirt and buttoned it up. He went through the depressing task of packing his gear up from the room Rainbow had so generously let him use and carried his bags out to the balloon.

“I’m really going to miss this place,” Ray said as he boarded Twilight’s balloon for the last time.

The short walk to the hospital took place in silence as the two friends struggled to find words to comfort each other. The checkup was a speedy process for Ray and, as he suspected, he received a clean bill of health. The two friends exited out of the hospital and slowly made their way to the library, trying to prolong the inevitable. It didn’t take long, however, until they arrived at the large tree that Twilight Sparkle called home.

“Well, I guess this is it,” Ray murmured.

“I’m gonna miss you Ray,” Rainbow Dash said as she hugged Ray tightly.

“Right back at you,” Ray said as he returned the hug.

Reluctantly, Ray opened the door to the library and stepped inside.

“Twilight, you here?” he called out.

“Yeah, all of us are here,” Twilight said. Before him stood the five other ponies that he had grown close to over the past several weeks. Ray looked solemnly at his six new friends.

“Are you ready Ray?” Twilight asked.

“No,” He replied simply, half-joking.

“I don’t think any of us are,” Twilight said with a sad grin.

“Any last words before I depart?” Ray asked.

“Of course Ray. I’d just like to say that we were wrong about you when you first arrived in Equestria. You are a really nice guy,” Twilight started.

“Yeah, we’re really going to miss you because you’re a super duper awesome almost-as-cool-as-Rainbow Dash guy!” Pinkie added.

“Yes, it’s been an honor to meet you!” Rarity said with a small bow.

“I’m glad we got the chance to know you,” Fluttershy continued.

“Thanks you fer all the help you’ve done since you came here,” Applejack said.

“Please don’t go,” Rainbow Dash suddenly pleaded and burst out crying. She shot towards Ray and wrapped him up in a big hug. Ray was shocked from his friend’s instant break down.

“Hey, shh... C’mon, it’ll be okay Rainbow Dash,” Ray said as he hugged her back.

“How? I’ll never see you again,” Rainbow Dash managed in between her sobbing.

“You don’t know that. I’ll try to see if there is a way I can get back from my end. Besides, I have a hunch this won’t be the last time I see you,” Ray reassured her.

Rainbow Dash knew that he was lying- there was no way he could ever come back- but his attempt at reassuring her had been a nice gesture. He wiped the tears from her face and stepped away. Two bright lights appeared behind Ray momentarily, catching the ponies’ attention. He turned to see what they were gazing at to find the two princesses of Equestria silently regarding him.

“I guess both of you came to see me off?” Ray asked.

“Yes we did,” Celestia answered for the both of them.

“We wanted to thank you for the things you have done for us,” Luna added.

“Nonsense, I’m sure you could have handled things on your own,” Ray replied.

“Humble, courageous, and kind. Three words I never thought I would use to describe a human,” Celestia summed up with a small smile.

“Thanks, but really I’m none of those,” Ray murmured.

“You shouldn’t sell yourself short Ray,” Luna said, remembering the time he had encouraged her.

“Sure… Well, okay Twilight, let’s get this over with.”

Twilight merely nodded and closed her eyes to focus on the magical task at hand. Her horn started to glow purple and tiny motes of light swirled around the room. They gathered into a faint oval that quickly solidified, forming the picture of a desert in the dead of night.

“Really Twilight? This is probably one of the worst places to have put me in,” Ray sighed.

“Sorry Ray, with a little more practice I could-”

“Don’t worry about it Twilight, I’m sure that it’s safe enough for me.” Ray stepped up to the portal, “I’ll see you all later,” The soldier said with a rather serious demeanor behind his tone. Yet, he himself wasn’t sure if he’d ever return to the land that had helped fill a small hole in his life. With that, he stepped through. A brief moment of disorientation rushed through his head and then the feeling of sand underneath his boots.

“I guess it worked,” Ray said. It was dead quiet.

“Was there any doubt?” Twilight asked from the other side of the open portal, content with her handiwork.

“I guess not,” Ray said without looking back.

Suddenly Rainbow Dash leapt for the portal, but was stopped by Applejack’s quick reflexes, yanking the distraught pegasus back by the tail.

“Hey, let me go!” Rainbow Dash demanded as tears continued streaming down her face.

“Sorry, but ah can’t do that.”

“Thanks AJ,” Ray whispered to no one in particular.

“Ray, please come back,” Rainbow Dash whimpered.

“No!” Ray answered in a strained voice.

He didn’t dare look back to the portal, which cast a faint glow for a few feet around the immediate area. Ray sat down on
the hill of sand and pulled out his radio. Thankfully, it had maintained its charge while Ray was stuck in Equestria after not being in use, so Ray could make a call to any nearby radios.

“Sierra Base, this is Viper One. Do you copy?” Ray asked. There was a long pause. Ray was about to ask again, when a reply finally came in.

“Sierra Base here! Holy shit Ray is that you?” An amazed operator asked.

“The one and only. I’m going to need some evac, so do you mind arranging that for me at my current coordinates?”

“Got it Gunny! We got two stealth Ospreys running an op nearby. I can reroute them to pick you up. They’ve just completed their exfil.”

“The tech boys finally got those working?” Ray inquired.

“They sure did and from what I hear they work beautifully.”

“Well, thanks buddy, I owe you one.” Ray said.

“No problem Gunny. Here’s the team I am rerouting to you.”

“Holy fucking shit, Ray you’re alive?” a voice crackled over the radio.

“I sure am Connor. Glad to see you’re still up and kicking.”

“I’m still kicking? Look at you! We all thought you died after skydiving in to your last mission! No emergency beacon, no
visible chute, nothing! Thought you were a goner!”

“Well, I’m still here! Got an ETA for me?”

“Yeah, we’ll be at your location in about fifteen mikes,” Connor replied.

“Who’s Connor?” Twilight asked in a strained voice through the portal.

“Connor is Ray’s oldest friend. They went through training together,” Rainbow Dash replied weakly after finally giving up on trying to get through the cross-universe.

Ray continued to sit silently, facing away from the portal while waiting for the two Ospreys to arrive. He only noticed the Ospreys were there because of the sand storm they kicked up. Several operators exited the Ospreys and fanned out to ensure the area was secure.

“Nice to see you’re in relatively good shape,” Connor said as he extended his hand out towards Ray.

“You too brother,” Ray replied as he grasped his friend’s hand.

They both gave each other a hard slap on the back before they released their grip.

“Okay, everyone back on the Ospreys. I want to be back at base in-”

Connor never got to finish his order; next to him, an operator’s neck was blown out and an RPG sailed over their heads. The two Ospreys immediately took off and managed to avoid the next three RPGs that, most likely, would have hit them. Someone ran over to the fatally wounded soldier and grabbed their hand.

“Fuck no no no! Come on man, hold on! Hang on Anthony! Not here, not like this!” he cried, gripping his friend’s hand tightly as if it would prevent the inevitable from occurring, but the dying soldier finally let out his death rattle and shut his eyes for the last time.

While that had occurred, Connor had started to issue orders to his team. “Shit ambush! Hunter, West, get up that sand dune and start returning fire back at them!” Connor barked, referring to the operators’ call signs, or their nicknames. “I want the rest of you to move north and try to get a better angle on the baddies! Ray, you stay here though. I don’t want you disappearing again. That Osprey gets back, I want you to be the first on it,” Connor continued.

“Connor I can-” Ray started.

“Don’t worry, I don’t know what has happened to you these past few months, but we can take it from here,” Connor said with assurance and followed the operators running parallel to the sand dune.

Ray walked over to the operator who had been shot in the neck and knelt down.

“I’m sorry…” he whispered and gently pulled the operator’s dog tag off of what remained of his neck.

Ray glanced back and saw the portal to Equestria was still open, and eight astonished ponies were staring at him. Applejack had ceased holding onto Rainbow Dash, but the pegasus was too stunned to move anyways. He could go back, he still had a chance. The portal had begun to dim, but Ray still could run back- back to Equestria, back to Rainbow Dash. His gaze then drifted down to the dead operator and his blood soaking into Ray’s gloves. He couldn’t bring that back to Equestria. They didn’t need someone like him. Dust began to swirl around Ray and the dead operator as the Ospreys quickly lowered themselves onto the ground, now closer to where he squatted. Ray hauled the dead body up into the belly of the VTOL, distraught by his own thoughts.

“Hey Connor! Ospreys are back!” Ray shouted into his radio when the soldier was down.

“Got it, all of you get back inside those birds now!” Connor ordered.

A flurry of acknowledgments momentarily filled Ray’s earpiece and quickly, every deployed infantrymen started retreating back to the vehicle. But before the operators rushed inside, he got one last glance at the portal to Equestria. All he could see now was Rainbow Dash’s head, still in disbelief at what she had seen occur before her innocent, teary eyes.

“Goodbye Rainbow Dash,” Ray thought to himself.

Connor watched as his team boarded the Osprey and swore when he saw it was full, leaving him and one other operator outside. It was Anya, his girlfriend. Ray also noticed who it was and silently cursed as well

“Pilot lift off, we’ll get on the other bird!” Connor shouted into his headset. “Click, come on let’s go!”

The first heavy bird, packed with passengers, slowly lifted off and began to cover the last two operators as they boarded the other Osprey.

“We’re good, take off now!” Anya yelled as she helped Connor on board.

The pilot quickly made the air vehicle gain altitude and followed the other heavier bird as their engines rotated ninety degrees so they could fly faster in the vehicle’s “airplane” mode.

“We made it,” Ray heard an operator mutter and instantly knew it was a rookie.

“Hey, don’t talk like that until we get back to base,” Ray scolded. “Anything could go wrong on a mission.”

“Guys, RPGs inbound!” the co-pilot to Ray’s Osprey called out.

“Fuck, Raven 2-2 hit!” Ray heard one of the pilots of the second Osprey shout.

“Hold on to something!” Connor shouted as that Osprey spiraled down into the sandy landscape..

“Go back for them!” Ray shouted and tried to work his way to the pilots.

“We can’t! If we go back for them, we will get shot down too. We don’t have the capacity to extract them anyway.” The pilot responded in a tone that seemed too calm for Ray at this point. Ray always admired that aspect about pilots: their calm voices even when their bird was on a one way trip courtesy of gravity, but the situation didn’t call for it, in his opinion.

“No, we can’t just leave them!” Ray shouted, quickly becoming angry with the pilots.

Ray looked out the back of the vehicle and watched the crashed Osprey that held one of his good friends quickly fade into the distance. The ramp at the back of the Osprey closed, shutting off the vision of the flames, sand, and pitch black sky. Ray felt weak and hollow.

“You know what Ray, I think it is mighty convenient that there were terrorists near your location the exact moment you make a call for exfil,” someone said.

“Don’t you dare suggest that I had something to do with that ambush,” Ray said and approached the operator.

“Oh, you know it’s true and even if you aren’t a traitor, then you’re still responsible for Connor’s death,” the man jeered.

“You disrespectful little-!” Ray shouted and rushed the older man, sizing him up in the seconds before the fight. He was older than him, but about the same height and same build. Physically, they were evenly matched, but hopefully Ray was better trained and had the element of surprise. The adolescent started with an open handed strike to the chest and quickly followed it up with an uppercut. Ray kicked his tormentor in the knee, resulting in a satisfying crack as his knee bent backwards. Before he could do more damage, two other operators grabbed Ray and dragged him back.

“Calm the hell down Ray!” West shouted.

“God damn it man! He was our leader and our friend and you don’t see us freaking out about it!” Hunter yelled.

“Don’t you fucking dare call me a traitor you bastard!” Ray snarled and thrashed against his two captors.

“Someone grab some morphine; we need to sedate him!”

A fourth operator grabbed a syringe and jabbed it into Ray’s arm. His world began to dim and all he could think about was that he had killed one of his friends and left another one behind. Ray’s thrashing began to slow down, which allowed West and Hunter to drag him to a seat and strap him in. They also put a zip tie around his wrists to help better restrain him. His thoughts began run freely together as the drug dulled his mind, thinking of everyone he had ever failed or hurt: Three more friends to add to the list of wreckage he always left in his wake.

“I’m sorry Connor, Anya, Rainbow Dash… I didn’t want to hurt any of you… I didn’t mean to do it. I’m sorry, all of you. I’m so, so sorry.”

“Jesus Hotel Christ, what in the hell is he talking about?” a voice asked just as the drug finally knocked Ray out.

Authors Note: This story will still be incomplete until I finish the epilogue, thank you for your patience.
Akkura

Epilogue

Rainbow Dash sobbed into Applejack’s shoulder.

“Shhh it’s okay Rainbow, he didn’t belong here anyhow,” Applejack tried to console her friend.

“H-how will it be okay? Ray l-left me here…” Rainbow Dash sobbed.

“Just cause he left you doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about you Rainbow. ‘Sides, you belong here, in Equestria with your friends!” Applejack replied.

“Ray is my friend too...”

A strange noise suddenly filled the air; one which that none of the ponies had ever heard before. It was a loud screeching that was emanating from directly above the library. Fluttershy let out a small yelp and all the other ponies looked up at the ceiling.

“Girls, outside!” Twilight shouted over the noise, bolting for the door.

Rainbow Dash wiped the tears from her eyes and followed four of her friends outside as Fluttershy had taken refuge under a table, trembling with fear. The blue pegasus looked up in the sky to see what seemed to be a small, black airship with two cylindrical objects sticking out of the side. Both of them were engulfed in flames as the aircraft spun out of control, plummeting towards the ground. Stunned, the ponies watched as the machine danced over Ponyville before narrowly missing a building on the edge of the town. The explosion jolted the ponies out of their stupor and they rushed over to the crash site as fast as their hooves would let them. Rainbow Dash arrived first to find the fire was quickly spreading throughout the machine. The large belly of the metal object was open, which allowed Rainbow Dash to see something moving inside. She quickly jumped into the fiery wreckage to see if anyone was inside.

“Click, come on, wake up! Anya! Come on, wake UP!…” Rainbow Dash heard someone say in desperation as she flew inside. She landed near a man holding an unconscious woman in his arms. He had his sidearm out. “Stop and don’t come any closer!”

Rainbow Dash froze knowing a gun was pointed at her.

“Don’t shoot! I want to help you!” Rainbow Dash replied, trying not to let fear creep into her voice.

“How? How can I trust you?” The voice replied bitterly, though he probably asked it out of sheer shock at who stood before him.

“Because Ray trusts me.”

“How the fuck do you know Ray?” he coughed. Rainbow Dash bit her tongue at his language.

“He was here this whole time he was gone. Look, clearly this isn’t the time or place to be talking about this, so at least let me get you two out of this thing.”

The male thought for a few seconds before lowering his weapon. “Okay, take Anya first then.”

Rainbow Dash nodded with a reassuring smile and pulled the girl onto her back. She quickly moved away from the burning vehicle and set Anya down once safely out of harm’s way. The pony then re-entered the Osprey to grab the male human.

“Your turn Connor,” she said. Connor looked relatively surprised as Dash pulled him onto her back.

“Ray told you about me?”

“Oh yeah, he’s told me a lot about you!” Rainbow Dash replied.

“What does he think of me?”

“He thinks you are a great leader and an even better friend. He’s told me more than a few stories about what the both of you have done. Some fascinating and others scar- Uh, I mean, interesting?”

“Oh God, did he tell you about the bomb incident?”

Rainbow Dash snickered with delight. “Yeah, he did.”

“What about the time he dragged me through an event in basic?”

“Nope, haven’t heard of that one yet!” Rainbow Dash stated as she exited the Osprey.

“I should have figured; he doesn’t like to brag. What about all the times he has saved lives by risking his own? Not because he was on the end of a rifle putting a .338 into someone trying to kill his friend, but because he risked his life and sometimes even disobeyed orders to save someone.”

“No...” Rainbow Dash replied, somewhat in awe.

“In truth, I kinda look up to him. He is extremely talented, brave, kind, and humble. The world needs more people like him. I’ll tell you some stories about him sometime, but right now you have to get the two pilots out from the cockpit.”

“On it,” Rainbow Dash said and flew over the Osprey because the fire had spread inside and made it impossible to pass.

Rainbow Dash recalled the time when Ray had described the strange machine. She felt as sorry for humans as she did for unicorns and earth ponies who needed machines to fly. Rainbow Dash pushed the thought back to get to the more serious task at hand.

It was easy to find the pilots behind the glass, but when she tried stomping on the glass, it didn’t even crack. However it did catch the attention of the two pilots, one of which had tears streaming down his face and the other reaching out, looking grim, but unwilling to show fear. They both turned to the source of the noise and upon seeing Rainbow Dash their eyes widened, though most likely also in surprise at the pegasus’ appearance. They talked excitedly to each other while Rainbow Dash continued to attempt to break the window. After a few seconds, the pilot that hadn’t panicked turned to Rainbow Dash and shook his head grimly. He then pointed his pistol, which he had been holding and pointed it towards a portion of the window next to him. Rainbow Dash watched as the pilot shot the window twice with little damage. Despite this, Rainbow Dash continued to pound the stubborn window as the two pilots balled their hands into a first and touched them together.
The other pilot whose tears had not dried yet looked back to see the fire was nearly in the cockpit and tried to move away from the flames. Rainbow Dash could only watch in horror as the other pilot shot the crying one in the head. He then looked the rainbow-maned pony in the eye, where she could read the guilt and sadness in his eye. Then, the pilot took the gun to himself and pressed it up to his temple. He seemed to hesitate for just a moment, but then the trigger was pulled and a second bang rang in Rainbow Dash’s ears.

Rainbow Dash recoiled in shock. She could feel her heart beating madly and her eyes were unable to remove their sight of the two humans she had failed to save. Taking a shaky breath, Dash forced herself to fly away from the scene and back to where she had left Connor and Anya. By this time the rest of her friends had arrived and Connor had been talking talking to them until they had heard the gunshots, though Anya was not anywhere to be seen.

“What happened?” he asked when Rainbow Dash returned. She looked numbly at Connor.

“They… They shot themselves.” Rainbow Dash was all she could manage. Her face had become a much paler shade of blue than its original color.

Connor sighed. “At least they didn’t burn…”

“Is that a normal thing in your world?” Twilight asked, shocked at the news.

“Well yes. If someone is about to face an either extremely painful death or a fate worse than death, they either kill themselves or ask someone to do it for them.”

“That’s terrible!” Rarity said.

“Yes, but it’s better than some things,” Connor responded. Applejack stepped forward next to him.

“I think now would be a good time to get ya on to the hospital with yer friend Anya,” the farmer suggested. Connor agreed and was hauled onto the orange pony’s back to make the trip to the medical facility.

“Um Twilight, do you know how this thing got here anyway?” Rarity asked Twilight.

“Yes as a matter of fact, I do.” Twilight answered. “I pulled it into Equestria after I saw it begin to lose control..”

“Thank you Twilight.” Rainbow Dash sprung forward and hugged her unicorn friend. “You at least saved two people Ray cares about.”

“Well, we had to find some way to pay him back for all the good things he has done while here, right?”

“Yep.” Rainbow Dash replied, but it was very clear to Twilight that Dash was still very much distraught. The purple unicorn felt she needed to distract her flying friend a little bit.

“Did he do it to you too?” Twilight asked.

“Do what?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Called you by name.”

Rainbow Dash nodded slowly. “How did he know our names?”

“I asked him before and, well, it’s kind of ridiculous,” Twilight replied. “He said, well, first of all, there is this thing he called a television, which is apparently like a small movie theater that you put in your house, but it's smaller and is like a box, but anyways he said that we are on a show where he is from.”

"A show? Like a movie kind of show you said?" Rainbow Dash thought for a moment before continuing. “Is it any good?”

“Well, he said despite it originally being for a younger demographic, it is still enjoyable.”

“A younger demographic?! Oh please, I’m sure we we are much more classy than that.” Rarity commented.

“Uh, English please?” Rainbow Dash asked

“Demographic means audience!” Pinkie chimed in.

“Yes, exactly- Wait, how did you know that anyway?" Twilight asked suspiciously.

“Oh you know...” Came the reply.

“No I don’t.”

Pinkie Pie just expressed her tooth grin at Twilight, so the unicorn just shook her head and shrugged it off.

“Well anyway, we should probably go see if we can talk to Connor some more and see what else he has to say,” Twilight suggested, to which all of her friends agreed unanimously.

Connor sat in a chair next to the bed his girlfriend was lying in. He ignored the pain in his left leg, which was in a cast, and gently held Anya’s hand. Applejack stood off to the side quietly, waiting for the rest of her friends to arrive before striking up a conversation. After a few minutes, her five friends entered the room, but then following them was Princess Celestia herself. The ponies and Connor all greeted her graciously, but the princess wasted no time.

“I understand you know Ray?” Princess Celestia asked, getting straight to the point.

Connor, though slightly startled by the question, snapped to attention despite the cast and answered, “Yes ma’am.”

“At ease soldier,” Celestia said. “And you also know who we are.”

“Yes,” Connor replied.

“I trust you will behave yourself during your stay here in Equestria?”

“Ah yes, but what do you mean by stay?”

Before Celestia could respond, Anya groaned and began to stir.

“Anya! Hey honey, how you doing?” Connor asked quickly, bringing all attention to her.

“Uuuugghhh...” Anya blinked several times, rubbed her eyes and stared at the ponies before her. “Uhh, are we where I think we are?”

“Yes we are,” Connor replied, excitedly.

“So we finally got killed and went to heaven?”

“Actually, Twilight pulled us in here when the Osprey got shot down.” >

“Woah, really? You're a lifesaver Twilight! Thanks Twilight!”

“You’re welcome!” Twilight responded.

“So uh, do you think we COULD stay?” Connor asked

“I don’t see why not! I mean Ray stayed for a while, right?” Rarity said.

"And left..." Rainbow Dash muttered bitterly, but no one noticed.

“No, I meant do you think we could stay here?” Connor asked, specifically towards the alicorn in the room.

“Oh, I don’t see why not.” Celestia said.

“Fantastic!” Connor said gleefully.

“But Ray-” Rainbow Dash started before she could stop herself.

Rarity cleared her throat and nudged her. “Perhaps that’s a good idea! I mean if Ray was a good example, they could be of tremendous help should something arise.

“Oh yeah, I guess, but what has Ray helped with?” Connor asked.

“Well during a wedding in Equestria, he helped with the Changeling invasion and > there was a group of unicorns kidnapping ponies he dealt with, and when Twilight accidentally teleported another human here that tried to kill us, all he took care it.” Rarity summed up.

“Oh, helped you like that... I guess if something happens, we will be able to help.” Anya replied.

“Yeah, if those supply crates we keep in the Ospreys are as strong as they say, we may be able to stay supplied for quite awhile,” Connor added.

“Do you want us to start unloading them?” Applejack asked.

“No not yet, they are rigged to, well, explode if you don’t have the key.”

“I think we can wait then!” Twilight said quickly.

“For now though, could you please excuse us so we can talk about what has happened?” Connor requested.

“Of course! You will probably be in here for a while, so please take your time.” Princess Celestia said. “The group will check on you tomorrow.”

The ponies all began to file out, but Connor noticed a certain pegasus wasn't looking too good.

"Rainbow Dash, are you alright?" Connor asked.

Rainbow stopped in the doorway, but didn't look back at the humans.

"No..." she choked out.

"Hey, is it about what happened before?"

"Look, I just don't want to talk about it, okay?!" Then the mare dashed out of the room, fighting her emotions.

"What happened?" Anya asked when she was gone. Connor sighed.

"It's nothing to worry about. I'll take care of it later."

There was a short pause before Anya decided to change the subject.

“So, we are actually here?!”

“Yeah, we are! This is no dream!" Anya and Connor changed from acting like adults that killed people for a living to six year old children.

“I can’t wait to get out of this hospital bed start looking around.” Anya said.

“On my way here, it looks even better than what it shows in the show,” Connor replied excitedly.

“I wonder what it will be like to live here for the rest of our lives,” Anya wondered.

“Well, I won’t have to compete with other guys to date with you now.” Connor joked.

Connor waited for his girlfriend to stop laughing until he continued. “I guess we will have trouble eating meat though, so we will probably be just limited to fish.”

“Yeah, but even that might still freak out some ponies.”

“I wonder if that was one of the reasons Ray chose to leave,”

“I don’t think Ray would leave just because of that.”

“True, I’m sure one of the ponies will tell us.” Connor said. "Rainbow Dash seems to have been the closest one to him. Maybe she'll know something."

Anya nodded while letting out a yawn.

“I’ll stop talking and let you fall asleep now.”

As he said this, he gently grabbed her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She yawned again and her eyes fluttered closed. Connor, while still holding her hand, leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on her forehead.

Rainbow Dash lay sobbing in the exact spot they watched the sunset at night, already missing her friend greatly. “Why Ray?” She kept asking herself. She also couldn’t stop herself from thinking about when the pilots had killed themselves. The sad look in their eyes and the moment when a red-pink mist exited their head signaling not only the end of their lives, but the prevention of excruciating pain. Why couldn’t she have saved them? She had learned from Ray that there is always a solution, so why hadn’t she found one? As she buried her muzzle into the clouds, she felt something dry and rough buried in the cloud. She half heartedly used her hooves to uncover the object, which turned out to be a simple piece of paper. Rainbow Dash almost tossed it away until she noticed the uniquely small writing on it. Generally, when ponies wrote with their mouths, the writing was larger than when unicorns used their magic to hold onto the quill. She suddenly realised that Ray also had smaller writing because he used his hand to write.

Upon closer inspection, Rainbow Dash realised it was indeed a handwritten note from Ray! Eagerly, she began to read the letter. As she read, the sun had begun to set, casting an orange glow across all of Equestria as Luna began to raise the moon. Rainbow Dash didn’t notice the drop in temperature or the dimming light. She stopped once when a drop of water had landed on the paper and tried to figure out where it had come from because there was no rain scheduled for the day. But then the pegasus realised she had begun to cry again while reading the letter. She wiped away some of the tears and continued reading.

Dear Rainbow Dash,

Hey, I guess this is it. I really hope you receive this letter, but I’m sure you can find it. I would like to say that you were a great friend and I will miss you. I wish I could spend more time with you, but I am needed elsewhere. I’m sure you understand... Well I hope you understand and hope you don’t hold this against me. I’m sorry I chose this, but I want you to know that this decision was very difficult for me and again, I am so sorry. I hope you have a good life after I leave and I know you will make a great Wonderbolt. Just keep training and I am know they will notice you eventually. Also, I want to thank you for listening to me when I talked. It may not seem like much, but it helped more than you think. I can’t really explain it to you and you’d have to experience it yourself to understand it, which I hope you don't have to. Thank you, and goodbye.

Your Friend,

Ray.

After she finished reading the letter, she turned it over and saw a picture taped to the letter, which was from the wedding in Canterlot. Rainbow Dash was standing in her dress forcing herself to smile while Ray was grinning at the fact she was in a dress. She couldn’t resist laughing at the memory. As tears still fell from her eyes, she trotted back to her bed and placed the letter and the picture on the nightstand next to her bed. Rainbow Dash crawled into bed, tucked herself in, and with memories of Ray flooding her mind, she quickly fell asleep.

Chapter 11: Cassandra

Hi everyone! Excited for Chapter 11 of The Lost Soldier? No? Well I’ll still write it, sheesh, you guys are so mean. :’(. Also I changed the rating to mature for the upcoming content so that should give you a hint at what’s coming. (Editor (jd896): It’s not sex. Don’t get your hopes up.) Author’s after edit note: Hey guys, jd896 edited chapter 10 and made it much better, I would suggest you go read the revisions, then read this chapter.

Before Ray could respond to Celestia, Rainbow Dash flew in front of him, putting herself between him and Celestia.

“What are you gonna do to him?” she demanded.

Everypony in the room was as shocked as Ray from this sudden outburst.

“It’s ok Rainbow Dash, I’m sure it’ll be fine” Ray said, trying to calm his friend. He put a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look back at him with a concerned.

“But-"

“Rainbow Dash, please. Just trust me.”

Rainbow Dash obliged hesitantly, landing on the floor and folding her wings.

“What is it Princess Celestia?” Ray asked.

“Did I not specifically say that you were to hurt no pony during your stay here in Equestria?” Princess Celestia began.

“Yes,” Ray responded tersely.

The ponies shifted around nervously.

“So why is there a dead unicorn in my town of Ponyville?” she continued.

“I see word travels fast around here,” Ray murmured to himself. “Well you see-”

“It’s not Ray’s fault that unicorn grabbed me!” Rainbow Dash snapped impulsively.

“Rainbow Dash, please. I know what I’m getting myself into,” Ray said and she backed away towards her group of friends.

“I’m curious Ray, why do you keep saving Rainbow Dash even if it means risking your own life?” Celestia asked, beginning to pace around.

“Like I said previously Princess, I lost a good friend that was young and I don’t want that to happen to anyone, or pony.”

“You’re going to have to be a little more specific,” Celestia said, coldly.

Ray tried to think of anything he could do to avoid telling them what happened, to avoid horrible memories that had plagued him for half of a year, but there was no getting out of this one. He had to tell them about her.

“This is Cassandra Ohearn,” Ray started as he pulled out the small photograph in his pocket. “She was thirteen when she died.”

At this, a slight look of guilt came across Celestia’s face.

“It happened almost a year ago.”

One year earlier

“Well ma’am, what are we here to do?” PFC Nelson Cosey said.

“We are here to eliminate a high ranking Al-Qaeda terrorist,” Cassandra said.

The stealth variant of the MH-60 Blackhawk helicopter shot over the desert landscape as it carried a team of six young operators. PFC Nelson was the team’s medic and while all of the operators were trained to treat wounds, Nelson had specialized medical supplies to deal with more serious injuries and was the team’s newest member. Lieutenant Cassandra Ohearn was the team leader for the best team of operators in the world. Corporal Hugh Steppe was the machine gunner and armorer for the team, so he was tasked with making sure the operators were well equipped and that the opposition was cowering behind cover. Corporal Corey Fuston was the explosives expert and was tasked with carrying and setting more advanced explosives. Corporal Janet Elise, aside from being Ray’s spotter, was the squads CQB specialist. And even though Ray was the team’s sniper, he was also one of the best all-around operators on the team, so he was selected as the sixth member of the assault team. The rest of the usual squad was back at base because this mission only required six operators.

“First of all, new guy, you will probably be told all the information you will need to know either at the briefing or en route,” Hugh said “Only after the at base briefing and en route briefing can you ask questions.”

“Oh ok…” Nelson said, still unsure of the process.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it after a few missions,” Janet said.

“If everything has been covered, I would like to start telling you all about the mission we are on,” Cassandra started.

“Yes ma’am,” the five other operators said in unison.

“We will be assaulting a one story building. It has three entrances, one on the north side, one on the south side, and one on the west side. This means that we are going to split into teams of two. Nelson, you’re with Hugh, Janet, you are with Corey, and Ray, you’re with me.”

“Understood,” came the reply, again in unison.

“We will be arriving in half an hour so get you gear ready.”

The operators sat in their seats, checking their weapons and gear. They were all armed with M4A1 and SOPMOD kits, MK23 MOD0 silenced pistols, along with flashbangs, M67 fragmentation grenades, and breaching charges. Cassandra was the only one whose load out varied slightly, instead of a MK23, she carried a Five-Seven pistol.

Cassandra noticed Ray had a far off look. She tapped his helmet and flashed two fingers at him, signaling to switch to another radio channel.

“Ray, you ok?” she asked.

“Yes ma’am, just have a bad feeling about this mission,” Ray replied ominously.

Besides being highly skilled with the sniper rifle, Ray was also known how for having premonitions about missions that were usually correct.

“Okay, just make sure you do your job and we’ll make it,” Cassandra tried to reassure her friend.

“Yeah, I know. How much longer?”

“3 mikes.”

Ray took a deep breath and calmed himself. He needed to be in total focus for what was about to happen and pushed his concerns into the back of his conscious, checking his weapon.

“Get ready, we’re here,” Cassandra said over the radio.

The doors opened and the operators pushed ropes out those doors. Before they even hit the ground, two operators were already sliding down the ropes. They spread out into a loose circle as they landed and checked to ensure they had not been spotted. Cassandra motioned forward with her hand. The young group of soldiers split into three different groups and proceeded towards the target building.

Ray and Cassandra spotted a guard leaning against the wall, asleep, next to the door they were to enter. Cassandra motioned Ray forward. He crept up silently on the guard and unsheathed his knife. He then shot his hand forward over the guard’s mouth and plunged the knife deep into his throat. The guard struggled for a moment, but was too surprised to put up a fight. Ray removed the knife, letting the river of blood pour from the wound as the guard’s eyes rolled upwards and letting him fall sideways. Ray then cleaned the knife and relieved the guard of his keys. He gave Cassandra the all clear signal and she moved up with him. They both stood on opposite sides of the door and Cassandra tried the door. Finding it unlocked, she opened it carefully and they both crept inside.

It was fairly well lit inside so the two operators did not need to use their night vision goggles as they swept towards the center of the house. They carefully checked each door they came to so they wouldn’t have to worry about any targets on their way out. The first hallway contained five doors, the first two had no one inside, but in the third, a guard was cleaning his AK-47 assault rifle. Ray quickly stormed the room and double tapped the guard with his silenced pistol, due to it being quieter than the carbine. He fell over, dead. The remaining rooms were clear, but in the last one, they found what they assumed to be an armory. However, they had no need for the supplies kept inside and continued onward.

The two were in the second of three hallways. They proceeded to check the five doors that were spread across this hallway as well. All of them were empty so they proceeded onward to the third hallway. As Cassandra was reaching to open the first door, a shiver suddenly ran down Ray’s spine. Cassandra opened it slightly, but then was forcefully yanked open. Cassandra stumbled backwards, surprised and came face-to-face with an armed Al Qaeda fighter. The tango had his AK-47 leveled at Cassandra from inside the room and pressed down on the trigger.

The first three rounds smashed through Cassandra’s carbine, breaking it apart. More rounds then pierced through her vest, knocking her to the floor. Ray quickly raised his carbine and ran towards the room. He entered, but as he tried to get a shot off at the terorists, he was thrown into an opposite wall, crashing against it and dropping his carbine. The enemy fired his last round at Ray, but it got stopped by his body armor. It was enough to stun Ray for the moment as the terrorist charged him. He latched his hands around Ray’s throat and pinned the operator against the wall. Ray quickly drew his knife and rammed it into his opponent’s abdomen, followed by yanking it left, then out. Ray gratefully sucked in air as the man fell over, clutching the stab wound. Ray then proceeded to stomp on the terrorist’s head, knocking him unconscious. Looking up towards the doorway, Ray quickly rushed towards Cassandra, lying against another wall. Sixteen rounds had connected with her chest armor, which held, but the next eight rounds punched through the armor.

“Cassandra…”

Her vest was littered with bullet holes. Most didn’t get through, but others were stained red with blood.

“Ray, you have to hurry. They know we are here now,” Cassandra wheezed.

“I’m not leaving you.”

“You have to Ray. That’s an order. Finish the mission.”

She took off her dog tags and retrieved a picture from one of her pockets.

“Take these. Please…”

He stared at them for a moment before taking them with a shaky hand, then putting it in his chest pocket.

“I’ll come back,” Ray said as he gave her his carbine.

“If they try to come this way I’ll stall them, but you need another weapon too. Take this,” she said, giving him her Five Seven.

“Ok, see you soon,” Ray said as he left. He didn’t want to leave her, but he also didn’t want her to die unhappy.

The next few rooms were clear. Ray approached the door to the central room that the target was supposed to be in. He placed a breaching charge on the door.

“Team one is in position,” Ray called over the radio.

“Rodger, teams Two and Three ready. Wait, where’s Cassandra?” Janet asked.

“Team. One. In. Position” Ray growled.

“… Roger that gunny.”

Ray took a shaky breath. “5…4…3…2…1… EXECUTE, EXECUTE, EXECUTE.”

The three breaching charges detonated simultaneously and Ray rushed into the room with the pistol. He shot one tango in the head, who immediately fell over, then turned and shot the next one in the throat. The second one clutched his throat and slumped to the floor. The other two teams cleared their sectors as Ray rushed toward the target. Ray shot out both of his knees as he tried to flee and tackled him to the ground. He drew his knife and plunged it into his targets chest and punched a hole into one of his lungs. Ray stood up and watched the struggling man slowly die.

“Damn. That was… Gruesome,” Fuston commented.

“Ray, there’s a group of tangos over here, trying to get through. I need some help,” Cassandra coughed over the radio.

“On my way!” Ray responded back to her.

“Gunny, is that Cassandra?” Janet asked.

“Yes, I need- Just finish up in here, please!”

“Gunny, what happ-“

Janet’s question came too late as Ray was already running out the door. He huffed down the hallway quickly, hoping to get to Cassandra before-

But it was too late. There was only a pool of crimson blood left where he had left her.

“No…” was the only thing he was able to manage.

"C’mon Ray"he thought to himself. “Stay strong. Now’s not the time for mourning. Get the others out like Cassandra would have wanted, then you can mourn all you want.”

He took several calming breathes before slowly getting to his feet. Looking up, it was evident that Cassandra shot down the tangos as there were more dead bodies at the end of the hallway. She probubly bled out then those damn terrorist took her body. Ray shivered at the thought of what the would do with his friends body. He took another long sigh before walking down the same hallway a third time, returning to the central room where the team was waiting to leave.

“Okay guys, we gotta head to the LZ for pickup,” Ray said to them, tears still apparent in his eyes.

“Ray are you- What happened?! Where’s Cassandra?” Janet asked.

“Now’s not the time. We have to move. This place will be crawling with tangos soon if we don’t. Besides… She would’ve wanted us to,” Ray replied in a more quiet tone.

The four other operators all looked at each other, but obeyed and exited the building carefully moving towards the designated area for pickup. When they arrived, they signaled for extraction via radio and the stealth Blackhawk touched down to pick up the weary operators.

One year later

Ray was struggling to hold back tears as he relived the event of that one fateful night When he finished, a deathly silence hung over the library.

“Stay strong Ray” he thought to himself.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know…” Celestia said.

Ray took a few deep breaths before speaking.

“How could you have known… What I’ve been through…”

“You told me you had lost someone. I should have known better than to push” she replied.

“It’s all my fault,” Ray said in a shaky voice. “It’s my fault she DIED.”

“No it ain’t Ray!” Applejack said.

“Yeah, how could you have known that guy was waiting?” Rainbow Dash said trying to comfort him.

“I should have been faster, I could have saved her. She could still be alive if I had done something! If I had patched her up!” Ray nearly shouted.

Ray impulsively bolted towards the door and out of the library, leaving the ponies completely stunned.

“Why does everyone say that?” Ray thought as he ran. “Why do they always say it’s not your fault when it is?!”

He ran in no particular direction besides away from the library. He unconsciously went for the burnt-out area of the Everfree Forest where he had rescued Rainbow Dash a few days earlier. It was perfect place to be alone so he could collect his thoughts. Ray stumbled over burned logs and charred ashes until he came to a tiny clearing in the forest where he then sat down.

“Come on Ray, get a hold of yourself,” he mumbled to himself “You gotta stay strong for everyone. You can’t let them down like Cassandra.”

His vision blurred as he continued to try to fight the tears that were threatening to start again. He thought about what Cassandra said when he was unconscious.

“Why? It’s not your fault I’m dead.”

“Are you ok?” A voice suddenly said, piercing through Ray’s thoughts. Ray turned to see Rainbow Dash standing in the clearing with him.

“I’ve been better,” he replied, somewhat jokingly. “So how did you find me?”

“Find you? I never lost you!” Rainbow Dash boasted. “I am the fastest flyer in all of Equestria you know!”

Despite the circumstances, Ray couldn’t help but grin at the pegasus’ cockiness.

“You know there is no way that it’s your fault your friend died,” Rainbow Dash said, trying to comfort Ray again.

“That’s what I keep hearing, but no one else was there to see it. They don’t know what it was like to see your friend get shot when you couldn’t do anything. I could have been quicker to react though… If I had she could be alive right now.”

“But you weren’t and you can’t change that. She’s gone, but she wouldn’t want to see you like this. It was a surprise attack. Please Ray, don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re a good guy and want to help everypony, despite being from a “violent” species. Come back to the library. You’re making your friends worried.”

Ray sighed and slowly rose to his feet. “Fine, let’s go back.”

They began to walk out of the charred forest, but Ray spoke again.

“And Rainbow Dash?” the pegasus turned towards the operator. “Thank you…”

She smiled at him. “Anything for a friend.”

Hi all, hope you enjoyed this chapter, cause there won’t be any more!

...

I’m just kidding, I couldn’t do that to you guys! Also if anyone wants to do some cover art or has found better cover art PM me. Thanks again to jd896 for editing this story and making it generaly better. This chapter is quite a bit better than the "raw" version.

Author's Note

Hello all you readers, I would like to take a moment to thank a few people in this final author's note. First, I would like to thank Jd, my editor, who without him this would be a fairly bad story. Next, I would like to thank anyone who has ever served in any armed forces for making such a great sacrifice for other people who take them for granted. Third, I would like to thank all of my English teachers because without them, I would not be able to write this. Next I would like to thank you, the reader, who stuck with this story to the end. Finally will say that I will be uploading at least one alternate ending so some of you might be interested in that.

Task Force Spartan Priority Message

Encryption Code: Black

From: Doctor Tihomir Cvetkov Lead Psychologist of Task Forcce Spartan

To: General Richard English Commanding Officer of North American Task Force Spartan Units

Subject: Gunnery Sergeant Raymond D. James Psychological State

Classification: Confidential Eyes Only

Sir after several weeks with the subject in question I have reason to believe psychological instability, and signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Depression, and dishonesty. I would suggest demotion and minimum two years removal from active combat teams.
Regards,
Cvetkov

General Richard took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. He hated that the document referred to Ray as a “subject”. He had personally known his parents and watched as Ray had grown into a skilled operator. Unfortunately he saw no faults with the confidential document he had received and began writing up papers related to demotions and duty rosters.

“Well shit Ray, I hope you can get over whatever happened to you downrange because Lord knows we need people like you.”

A lone unicorn wandered up a hill a little outside the boundaries of Ponyville, found a recently buried patch of land. Eventually a glow enveloped a long object and pulled it out of the grave. The unicorn used their magic to explore all the functions of the firearm except the trigger. The unicorn stowed it in a long bag, reburied the body of a human and left making sure they removed their hoofprints.

To Be Continued...

Alternate Ending 1: All's Well That Ends Well

Ray sat on a sand dune trying to ignore Rainbow Dash’s pleads for him to return. His extraction team was still a little while away. He had been sitting in the sand for several minutes, simply trying to deflect the cries to return off his ears. It never occurred to him to move away from the portal, or perhaps it did, but he just didn’t want to.

“Ignore it Ray, you don’t belong there,” he thought to himself.

“Ray...” Rainbow Dash squeaked.

“Don’t look back Ray.” He felt the muscles in his neck tense against the instinct to go back and comfort his friend, “Don’t do it.”

Rainbow had been reduced to simple whimpers, giving up on persuasion. Pinkie Pie was sitting next to her friend, combing through her lush, hexa-colored mane, and Applejack was standing on the pegasus’ tail, to ensure she didn’t bolt away. Ray’s body finally betrayed him and he turned his head to look at his miserable friend. As if sensing being looked at, Dash looked up and made eye contact with the human. That’s when it all hit him- The laughing and the crying, saving and sleeping, fun and boredom- all those memories collided together instantly. Then, something clicked in Ray’s mind and he knew what he had to do. He jerked his head back in the opposite direction from the portal, looking out to the miles of sand and darkness before him.

“Dammit,” Ray muttered, getting to his feet. holding the AK 47 that was brought into Equestria.

“Ray, what are you doing?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Twilight, I want you to start shooting this thing when I tell you to. Make sure you point it away from me before you start,” Ray commanded.

“What are you planning Ray?” Twilight asked.

“I’m going to die,” He simply replied and walked a distance away.

“What? Ray!” Rainbow Dash protested, but Applejack stood firm.

“Just trust me!” Ray called.

He pulled out his radio and yelled to Twilight to start shooting. “Contact, contact! I am under fire!” Ray said into the radio, but Twilight hadn’t started firing. He looked back at her, panicked.

“Confound little-!” Twilight swore to herself, trying to figure out how the contraption worked. She found the bolt on the side with her magic and pulled the bolt back on the Russian rifle, attempting to fire it again. Several shots were fired in the air, well away from Ray.

“I’m engaged with an unknown amount of enemy combatants and, AARRGH!” Ray yelled.

“Wait, what? What’s happening Ray?” The operator on the other radio asked.

“Agh, I’m hit! Cancel exfil, I’m not going to make it out of here!” Ray said, rather hastily. “Just do me a favor and tell my team I said goodbye. Fire in the hole, Ray out.”

“Ray, talk to m-” Ray shut the radio off and tucked it away. He turned back towards the portal and started running towards it. Up the hill he ran, grabbing the floating rifle in the process and jumped back through the portal. Rainbow Dash managed to pull herself away from Applejack-mostly due to the farmer’s shock-and flung herself into the human’s open arms, where she started bawling in his chest.

“I’m here. I came back. I’m right here and I am not going anywhere,” Ray said, trying to coax the hysterical pony. In turn, she hugged him tightly as the magical portal finally shrank and disappeared.

“Ray...” Rainbow Dash murmured as she pushed her head into Ray’s chest..

Rainbow Dash nuzzled him both in an attempt to show him affection and to dry her tears, “Thank you...” She whispered.

Ray merely patted her on the back as a response as he looked at where the portal had just been. He closed his eyes and thought about his team for they had been his family after he had lost it all. And now he had decided to put them behind him and continue living in this colorful playground with little crimes, violence, or anger. Ray pushed the thought of his team behind and hugged Rainbow Dash tighter and felt tears begin to slide down his face.

“Ray? Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked quietly.

“Yeah, of course I am,” Ray lied as he let go of Rainbow Dash.

“No you’re not,” Twilight added, obviously.

Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and hovered eye to eye with Ray, “C’mon Ray, you can tell me, right?” she said with a comforting smile.

Ray opened his mouth to speak, but found he couldn’t get the words out. He had failed his team, left them behind. Ray felt like a failure suddenly. Everything he had been taught and everything he believed was being disobeying.

“They trusted me Rainbow Dash. They trust me to protect them. I just chose not to. What’s wrong with me?” He finally managed to choke out.

Rainbow Dash suddenly realized the magnitude of the decision Ray had made just for her. She thought about how it would feel to leave all her friends for Ray. Could she have done it? Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure. She felt overwhelmingly bad about making Ray choose her over his team at that moment. She tried to think of something to say to comfort him, to say thank you.

“Ray…”

The stricken human looked up at the pegasus. Then, she moved her head forward and pressed her lips against Ray’s for a brief moment.

“Thank you...” she whispered shyly.

Everyone else in the room was shocked and more than one of them was blushing.

“D’aww, that’s so cute Dashie!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“Ha, see Rarity! I told you!” Twilight bragged.

“Not now Twilight.” Rarity quickly hushed.

Meanwhile, Ray had stopped crying and was attempting to put together a coherent thought. Rainbow Dash laughed at both the shade of red Ray’s cheeks had turned and his momentary inability to speak.

“Don’t worry about it Ray, I’ll let you have some time to think before I force you to make a decision,” Rainbow Dash light heartedly teased, eating up her insecurity.

“Don’t antagonize him Rainbow Dash!” Rarity exclaimed.

“Don’t worry Rarity, it’s all in good fun. Right Ray?”

“Uh-huh,” he replied dumbly.

“Oh come on, I know this isn’t the most shocking thing that has happened to you Ray!”

“Yeah, but something like… I’ve never done that before... I never really had that much of a normal social life to begin with.”

“Oh, I see…” she said in an understanding manner. “Like I said, I will let you think before you make a decision. It’s the least I can do.”

“Well, I appreciate that Rainbow Dash, but I have already made my decision,” Ray said before swiftly wrapping his arms around Rainbow Dash and kissing her.

Now it was Rainbow Dash’s turn to blush. The whole room resounded with an “Ooo!”

“Ha see!” Twilight cheered.

“Yes, yes, I see.” Rarity muttered slightly annoyed that Twilight had both noticed the bond between the two before she had and for rubbing it in. After a few seconds Ray, broke the kiss and gave Rainbow Dash a cheeky smirk.

“Not so nice on the other side, eh?” Ray teased.

“Heh, I guess not.” Rainbow Dash replied embarrassed and a bit dizzy.

“Well, sorry, but I couldn’t resist. How I about I make it up to you by buying you an ice cream?”

“Ray... Are you asking me out on a date?” Rainbow Dash said with a little shock, but smiling nonetheless.

“Yes, why am I doing it wrong?” Ray asked, genuinely unsure.

All the ponies in the room broke down laughing while Ray stood in the middle of the room confused.

“You girls are mean,” Ray said flatly while frowning.

“Ya may be talented at a lot a things Ray, but you are kinda socially awkward,” Applejack commented, still giggling.

“Hey! I’ll have you know I have acted like a teenage boy before while I was working some espionage jobs!”

“I have no idea what that means, but you haven’t actually acted like a teenager before, have you?” Rarity asked.

“Well… no… As I said before I didn’t really have that much of a social life,” Ray replied.

“Okay girls, time to stop picking on Ray. How about we go now?” Rainbow Dash asked Ray.

“Thank you Rainbow Dash! I think that is a good idea.”

Ray quickly got up and headed for the door. He held it open for Rainbow Dash and they both went on to enjoy their afternoon, leaving the other five to gossip about the two in the library.

Author's Note

Finally published this, however this is only half edited. Sorry about that guys but I have been busy with school and so has jd. Hope to have more out soon!

~Akkura