The Lost Soldier

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.