Forget About Freeman

I laid awake in Fluttershy's guest room. The mare was kind enough to let me have a dinner, which I was very grateful for (Even if it was just a salad.). My mind was racing with thoughts.

Celestia knows something I don't...

I'm on a new planet, and quite possibly a new world...

Earth is a mere memory...

I'll never see another human again.

My mind was interrupted by a sudden burst of life from my radio. I could hear a thick wall of static, but a very faint, garbled voice could be heard beneath the blanket of clicks and buzzing. I could barely make out any words, so in the end I only got "Breaching", "Close range", and "spotted". Military lingo. How was I getting any access to coms on a different world?! I was excited, but also confused.

My excitement changed to paranoia when I realized this could be a broadcast from an Equestrian radio. Then again, if they didn't have guns, why would close range matter? Another valid point to think of was the fact that from what I had gathered from my chat with Celestia, Equestria was at a long-lasting peace. A peace that could quite possibly be shattered in the upcoming days. Perhaps the period of peace in question already ended?

After what was most likely an hour of thinking a variety of both comforting and fearful thoughts alike, sleep eventually took hold.

I sat up suddenly. Something had awoken me, considering it was far from day. (I had determined this by the fact no light had been seeping through the window across the room.

I listened carefully, until I heard a quiet but noticeable noise; a thump of sorts. Jumping a bit, I went into action, silently leaping out of the bed and into a roll, grabbing my sidearm holster off the bedside table and unsheathing my handgun. A break in? I thought, raising an eyebrow. Better grab my gogs. I grabbed my NV goggles off the table as well, and slipped them over my face, illuminating the room in a green light.

Ever so quietly, I crept out of the room, sweeping it with the barrel of my pistol. Nothing so far.

Once I had reached the door, I carefully pushed it open, my eyes scanning the hallway. Suddenly, I heard it again, this time a bit louder. It seemed the thump was coming from downstairs, so I very carefully creeped down the staircase, my eyes wide with alertness... or fear.

Hey, in my defense, I didn't know what to expect after the whole manticore encounter! (Fluttershy had explained that they were in fact called manticores, not demon-lions.)

Once I had gotten downstairs, another thump was heard. What scared me was that this sounded a hell of a lot closer than I expected. I jumped a bit. My eyes darting around wildly, I swerved around in the direction of the noise. Come on, Henry, I thought. You've got a gun, for god's sake!

I felt relieved when I realized it was just Fluttershy. I hesitated before holstering my sidearm. She "eeped" when she noticed I was standing there, but quickly calmed down.

"Hey Flutters!" I said, stifling a yawn and taking off my goggles. "What's all the noise?" I asked, a bit concerned.

"Just trying to get Angel out from under the sofa." she said, a hint of disappointment in her tone. "He complained that he was hungry, but now he won't eat." Fluttershy explained. I frowned a bit.

"I'll handle this." I said, stepping softly up to the shelf before kneeling down and looking underneath it. Picking him up wouldn't be a good idea, because I didn't feel like getting bitten right now. I felt like sleeping. I continued to give the rodent a piercing glare.

"You'll eat what she gives you. Otherwise, don't eat." i said coldly. That seemed to do the trick. I stood back up, and turned to Fluttershy. "His fearful expression tells me he will trouble you no more, ma'am." I said, saluting. She smiled a bit, though it seemed a little forced. Guess I shouldn't treat her pets like that... I thought, hiding a grimace. I couldn't understand for the life of me why getting a bunny out from under the sofa involved so much thumping, but I wasn't about to ask. We said "goodnight", and I went back upstairs, slid back into bed, and fell asleep once again.

12 Hours Later

I had realized something strange was afoot by the time I had awoken. Fluttershy was nowhere to be seen, and her bedroom door was wide open. Confused, I grabbed my gear and carefully stepped downstairs. It was then that I had determined that Fluttershy was indeed gone. Angel was still there, but I didn't try getting any answers out of him.

"Ugh, WHAT?!" I half-yelled at him, confused as to why he kept pulling on my pant leg. He glared at me, and pointed out the window at the forest. After a few seconds, I caught on. "Fine, I'll go look in the goddamned woods!" I growled, snatching my rifle off the couch. I left the house without a word, leaving Angel to do what I assumed he always did when there was nobody to pout at; not a goddamned thing.

Time for some search and rescue, I thought. A flash of nostalgia hit me. A hostage rescue at an abandoned uranium processing plant outside of Seattle. The op was a wild goose chase, though; from what we had gathered after the mission was determined a failure, the hostages were moved all the way to Montana.

My memories distracted me so much, it took my a while to realize I had been standing in the same patch of sunlight for god knows how long. I snapped back into the world, and looked around me, scanning for any disturbed foliage. After a moment, I noticed a very faint trail of hoof prints leading deeper into the thick of the woods. I cautiously crept up to it, scanning the area around me. So far, so good. Hesitating for a moment, I followed the tracks.

As the trail went on, the hoof prints seemed to grow farther apart. It didn't take me long to figure out that this meant that Fluttershy - Or whoever's trail this was - was indeed running at this point. Was she in some sort of danger? I thought, my stomach turning. A sudden realization calmed me down a bit. These tracks are fresh, meaning she might still be safe...

I flicked my rifle from safety to auto, and looked around me worriedly. Ah, what the hell!

I started sprinting down the trail of hoof prints, breathing quite heavily. The goggles on my mask started to fog up, so I stopped for a very short instance to pull them off and tuck them away in my pouch. It didn't take long to start up the rush again.  A sudden screech - A quite alarming one, at that - rang out in the distance, causing me to stop dead in my tracks. Anger had begun to build up in me, and I took off in the direction from which the sound had come, my eyes wide with alertness.

Or fear.

Or maybe both, I don't know.

Sliding on my gasmask, I slowed my pace a bit. I don't know why I'm even wearing this right now...

I tripped into a huge clearing, but quickly recovered, my rifle's sights lined up with my eye.

I scanned the area, my heart pounding, My eyes rested on Fluttershy, her back against a tree. Turning to where she was staring, I saw something I cannot completely describe. It was a wolf, seemingly made out of, well, wood. I stared on in shock, before snapping into action.

I slowly started advancing on the... thing, my rifle firing in short controlled bursts. It flinched in surprise at the first burst, and instantly spun around to face me. I clenched my teeth, and went from bursts to a stream of lead, making quick work of one of its legs. I flashed a glance at Fluttershy, confirming she was in the same spot.

Realizing that I had finished the job, a lowered my gun, reloaded, and just stood there panting. I only woke up not even two hours ago, and I'm already weirded out of my mind, I thought.

Once I had caught my breath, I slung my rifle over my shoulder and walked over to Fluttershy, who seemed very much shocked.

"Are you ok?" I asked once I had gotten to her. She was shaking a bit.

"Y-y-y-you killed it." she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. Good fuckin' job, Dutch, I scolded myself. You made the most lovable creature in the universe cry.

"I'm sorry, Fluttershy." I said, trying not to cry myself. Man up, Henry. "Being in the army does things to you and your instincts." I said after a moment of hesitation. I had to be careful not to hit any nerves. Sadly, she wasn't in the mood for excuses.

"I-I don't c-care!" she stammered between sobs. "It didn't deserve it!" Before she could run, a raspy feminine voice growled out from behind us.

"NOBODY picks on Fluttershy!" I turned around in hopes to figure out who my challenger was, but instead was impacted with bone shattering force. This time when I passed out, it was in a much more painful manner.