Aleksandr

Chapter One: I am alive! But... Where am I?

My eyes fluttered open, and I was blinded by sunlight. Sitting up, I noticed something was off... Very off... I clearly wasn't in Berlin anymore, as it was relatively warm, and there was no snow or sounds of gunfire. Cautiously, I surveyed my surroundings, and found that I was in the middle of a forest. Only everything was so... Colorful. The trees and grass were a lively shade of green, and the plants many different colors. It was beautiful. Never had I seen such a place. Snapping out of my trance, I gathered my gear, only to find that all of my ammunition pouches were filled, which were only at about 1/2 capacity. This was strange, and slightly unnerving.

Wait... I should be dead! I'M ALIVE! But... How? I was shot, and bled out. This is probably the strangest thing that has ever happened to me... I thought.

I stripped off my winter camouflage, and stuffed it into my bag. My earth-tone clothes would blend in better, for obvious reasons. Doing a final check of my gear, I looked under my shirt only to find a scar and dried blood where the gunshot wound would've been. I shouldered my assault rifle, which was still with me. I began to trek through the woods, keeping a close watch for trouble. My stomach began to rumble, and I rummaged through my bag to find that I had eaten my last ration. Cursing silently to myself, I resumed my journey through this unknown territory.

//\

About an hour later, I heard distant howls. This was extremely bad news, because this meant wolves. Opting to use my pistol and knife, I slung my assault rifle to my back, and dropped to a half crouched-half standing position. I continued walking, only to be stopped by growling. My blood ran cold, and I whipped around, to be faced with 6 wolves. Only something was wrong. They were made of wood. One lunged at me, which I stabbed through the head with my knife. It shattered into a pile of twigs. Two more lunged at me, and I shot one, and stabbed the other. Apparently, they didn't learn from their comrades' mistakes, and used the same tactics of lunging directly at me. I proceeded to shoot both, and watched them shatter into a thousand pieces. Seeing its' friends were dead, the last which I assumed was the alpha, due to it being larger, went for a different plan of attack. It dodged my knife, and latched onto my knife arm. Screaming in pain, I shot it through the eye, and watched it detach itself, and suffer the same fate as it's friends, being reduced to a pile of splinters. I released the clip on my now empty pistol, put the empty mag into my belt, grabbed a new one, slid it into the receiver, and released the slide, emitting a satisfying *CLACK*. Searching through my bag, I found the half empty bottle of vodka I found in a destroyed bar. I opened it, and poured it over the wound.

"Gah! Блядь, That hurts!" I swore rather loudly. I heard distant voices, and quickly ran into the bushes, and behind a tree.

"Rainbow, there's nothing here. Are you sure you heard these 'popping' noises?" My heart nearly stopped when I saw what the voices were coming from. It was a pair of brightly colored horses. One of them was purple, it had a lavender colored coat, a purple mane with a magenta stripe through it and a horn on its head. The other one was a light blue, and had a rainbow colored mane.

"I swear I heard it! There were loud pops, about seven or eight of them! I even heard some screams!" The rainbow one defended.

"Rainbow, there's nothing here. Just a couple of twigs... And... Blood." The purple one looked like she was going to be sick. The other one wore a similar expression.

"See? I told you there was something here! Whatever it is, I don't think it's good." The rainbow one overcame the amount of blood, and was back to normal, only a bit disturbed.

"We're going to have to keep a sharp eye out for whatever did this. Let's get back home, and notify the guards." The two horses began to leave, and I breathed a sigh of relief. They hadn't found me. Yet. The burning question in my mind was 'What were they? Where am I? Why am I here?' One of the few pluses was they spoke a language I could understand. I was one of the few in my platoon who could speak and write in English. When I was little, before the war, I had a neighbor who immigrated from America. We went to the same school, but he had difficulty speaking our language. He could get by, but spoke mostly in broken Russian. One day, I offered to teach him, and we became friends soon after. After school, I would help him with speaking Russian, and in return, he taught me English. Our friendship lasted until shortly before the war. He left for America, soon before the war broke out. Afterward, I reinforced what knowledge he passed on to me with multiple English textbooks I found in the local library. I wonder what happened to him. Did he join the American military? Did he just live a normal life? I never found out, as he never sent any letters from America. Snapping out of my daydream, I remembered two very important things. I was bleeding, and in possible enemy territory. Digging through my bag, I found what I was looking for: Painkillers and sutures. Gritting my teeth, I brought the needle down into the bite in my arm. Holding back screams, I continued to stitch up the wound. After a few minutes of self-induced agony, I was done.  I cut a strip of cloth from my useless winter camouflage, and wrapped my injured arm in it. I fixed my olive-drab and brown clothing, I surveyed my surroundings. I was in a forest, obviously. Where, I didn't know. Popping a few painkillers into my mouth, I gathered up my equipment. I moved to the edge of the forest. I searched for a vantage point, and found one. It was a cliff overlooking the little hamlet. I had a perfect view of the entire town.

I hope this town isn't filled with those weird horse-things. I thought. I unslung my rifle, and peered through the scope. I was wrong. Various small horses were walking about in the town. It hurt my eyes just looking at them. Too many bright colors. I observed some of said ponies, and noticed some wore armor, and carried pikes or halberds. They had armor which appeared to be made of gold. Why?! That would be useless in combat! Either way, they were threats. I saw the two horses I encountered earlier. The blue one waved to the purple one, and left, leaving the purple one to walk to a large tree. Said tree had windows... And a door. It was obviously her home. A Molotov would make quick work of that... I thought. I began thinking of ways to make first contact. I could turn myself in to the local law enforcement. And risk execution. Bad idea. I could just waltz right in... And risk execution. Damn. I'll just have to wait.

"Scream, and you die." I threatened, pointing my assault rifle at her. She backed into the corner, and shook with fear.

"P-please don't hurt me!" She pleaded.

"I won't, just keep quiet. I wanted to introduce myself, and show that I mean no harm." I slung my rifle to my back, and held up my hands.

"What are you?" She asked, her fear replaced with awe.

"Human."

"Hooman?"

"Close enough."

"What is your name?"

"Aleksandr. What about yours?"

"Twilight Sparkle. It's a pleasure to meet you, Aleksandr."

"Likewise."

"Why are you here?"

"I am not entirely sure."

"What is that thing in your claws?"

"Hands, not claws. And to answer your question, these are weapons, but I will leave it at that."

"Okay, seeing that you are friendly, I will allow you to stay here, but under close watch. I will have to inform the princess of you."

"Fine by me. Leave me alone, I'll leave you alone. But... Where do I sleep?" She led me to the basement.

"I'm sorry, but you'll have to sleep here tonight. I'll bring you some food and water, but before I do, what do you eat?"

I replied, "Grain, fruits, vegetables, meat, we're omnivorous."

She looked scared, and began to back away at the mention of 'meat'.

"If you think I will eat you, I won't," I chuckled. "I won't eat anything I can hold steady conversation with."

Looking relieved, she said, "Anyway, I'm sorry for not having a proper room for you. There's an old bed down there, and the bathroom is upstairs, last room."

"I am thankful, very thankful. But why? Why are you helping me? I'm alien soldier, yet you welcome me with open arms! I have never been shown such kindness before!" I replied.

"We show kindness to all creatures, no matter who they are. You are no different."

"But I do have an open wound, you know. Could I get some bandages please?" I replied, showing her my wound, wrapped in cloth cut from my camouflage clothing.

"Oh, my! I'll be right back!" Dashing up the stairs to the bathroom, I slowly unwrapped my arm, which has now stopped bleeding. Taking a closer look, I noticed the bite wasn't too deep, for some odd reason. Returning, Twilight had a roll of bandages and a bottle of disinfectant floating in a purple aura.

Jumping back, I yelled. "What the hell is that?" Pointing to the strange aura.

"What?" She asked confused. "You mean my magic?"

"Magic isn't real!"

"Umm, yes it is..." She replied.

"Whatever! I'm too tired to argue. Let's get this over with."

She motioned me over to the sink, and I put my arm over the basin. She poured the alcohol over my arm, earning a pained grunt from me. I bandaged up the wound, ate the meal she had prepared for me, which consisted of an apple, a roll, and a glass of water. I heard her mention something about writing a letter to a 'Princess Celestia', but I was too tired to ask about it.  I thanked her, and went to my temporary bed. Stripping my gear, I placed it under the bed, and fell into a deep, much needed sleep.