Rainbow Dash couldn't believe her bad luck. Six months of grueling training - six months - and she ends up being posted to a hospital on the boring side of Manehattan. When she joined the Royal Guard, she was promised adventure! Excitement! Glory and heroism on par with that of the Wonderbolts! How she was supposed to get any of that working as a guard in a hospital, she had no clue. Now she was wishing she had followed Applejack and Bic Macintosh and joined the Ponyville Militia. At least then she could've stayed home and waited for the fight to come to her.

"Are you listening, private?"

Rainbow Dash was so busy wallowing in self-pity that she had accidentally tuned out the sergeant leading her around the hospital. At his question, she shook her head violently to clear her mind and apologized. Her sergeant sighed in exasperation and shook his head before continuing.

"Look, I know this is a pretty boring assignment," the sergeant said, "But it's important. You will be guarding a high-value military prisoner while he completes his recovery. He hasn't caused any trouble yet, but the captain wants him under constant surveillance. You brought your weapon, right private?"

"Yes, sergeant," Rainbow Dash replied, patting the pistol at her side. Her rifle was in her duffel bag, which was slung across her back. The sergeant had told her she wouldn't be carrying her rifle while on duty; the close proximity to the prisoner made it far too difficult to use the full-sized AK-47 effectively. She would only need her Makarov pistol, which she had become quite adept at using. Apart from her pistol, her belt was mostly bare; the only other things attached to it was a small pouch containing her pistol's suppressor and a pouch containing two spare magazines.

"You probably won't need it," the sergeant continued, "But just to inform you, you are authorized to use lethal force if he attempts to escape or attack you or any hospital staff. Again, he hasn't done anything yet, but the captain wants every outcome covered."

"Don't worry, sergeant," Rainbow Dash beamed, a cocky smile crossing her face, "If he even looks at me funny, I'll drop him."

"Good to hear you're confident, private," he said, "But try not to kill him for something stupid. We still need him alive; captain's not through interrogating him."

"Whatever you say, sergeant."

The sergeant took her to the guard barracks, showed her to her assigned cot, and gave her three minutes to unpack her things and don her armor. There were a few other guards at their cots, both mares and stallions. There were so few guards and not a lot of available room, so the sleeping area was shared, operating solely on the honor system and a few night guards that patrolled around the barracks. Some mare guards had a problem with this, but not Rainbow Dash. She knew how to protect herself, and didn't plan on willingly bedding any of her coworkers. None of them looked too attractive to her. She saw it as a blessing; she didn't need any distractions. She reasoned that if she did her job well, she might be able to transfer out soon and go somewhere with a bit of action.

Rainbow Dash dropped her duffel onto her cot and opened it up. She took out her gilded steel armor, which was the standard issue armor for Royal Guards in combat-ready posts. Her ceremonial gold armor was back in Ponyville, safely inside a closet in her cloud house. She was told she wouldn't need it while the war was still being fought. Rainbow Dash laid all of the pieces of her armor on her cot before closing the duffel and sliding it under the cot. She could unpack fully after her first shift.

She quickly slipped into her armor, simply placing it over her tight blue jeans and white tank-top shirt. The armor was form-fitting, but not uncomfortably tight, despite it barely being adjusted since she was issued it. It was situations like this that made her somewhat glad her chest was pretty flat. She could still remember some of the more well-endowed mares in her training unit constantly complaining about how tightly the armor pressed onto their breasts. A few even had to have special chest-plates made for them, specifically molded for their body type. Even then, one or two still needed to adjust the fit themselves afterwards.

Yeah, flat chests were kind of awesome sometimes.

Once her armor was fastened securely around her thin, athletic body, she returned to the sergeant, who was waiting by the exit. He then led her through the hospital, up a couple of flights of stairs, and down a few hallways before finally stopping in front of a room. The door was closed. The sergeant knocked, and a moment later, a brown earth pony in a lab coat opened the door.

"Ah, sergeant, welcome back," the doctor said. He then looked at Rainbow Dash, "You must be the new guard. A pleasure to meet you, my dear."

He extended his jet-black hand, which the mare shook immediately. The three ponies then entered the room.

Time to start the most boring assignment in Equestria, Rainbow Dash thought.

Just as I was being placed back into my hospital bed, there was a sudden knock at the door. Greyhound and the doctor went to the door, and the doctor opened it and peeked outside. I heard muffled conversation for a moment before he returned, followed by two Royal Guard ponies. The one with sergeant markings was a well-built earth stallion, and had a light brown coat with a dark brown mane and tail. The other was a cerulean mare with... a rainbow-striped mane and tail? How the fuck does that work? On her back, I saw a set of long wings. She was a pegasus.

The doctor walked up to the foot of my bed, his usual warm smile on his muzzle, "Sergeant Blackburn, meet your new guard."

"Hi there," I nodded in the mare's direction, trying my best to be civil. It shouldn't be too hard, so long as she didn't have an ego or an attitude.

"Sup?" she waved her hand a bit, barely moving it from its resting place at her hip. The movement brought my gaze downward, and I noticed how thinly built she was. Not really skinny, just very toned. It was actually my preferred body type. The only problem being that now it was on a pony, one who would probably kill me if I so much as complimented her.

"Well, I'll leave you to it, then, doc," the sergeant said. He turned to my day guard, "Come on then, corporal. You're shift is over."

"Goodnight, Greyhound!" I called as the two exited the room. He threw up his hand and gave a half-assed wave in reply before the door closed, leaving just the doctor and my new night guard in the room.

"Well, I'm afraid I must take my leave as well," the doctor said, walking towards the door, "I have a few other patients to check on tonight. You two get to know each other while I'm gone, okay?"

"Can do, doc," I said.

"Oh, and James?" he stopped and looked over his shoulder, "Remember, try and be civil, please?" At that, he exited the room, leaving me alone with the blue pegasus who was still standing near the door.

"What did he mean by that?" she asked me, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't worry about it," I replied.

An awkward silence fell on the small room after that. I was getting a bit tired, and didn't feel like starting the conversation. She just seemed bored. She moved over to the wall near the door and leaned back against it, her arms crossed and her left foot raised to brace against the wall. Following her lead, I laid back down on my bed, putting my hands behind my head. The silence persisted for a bit. Eventually, I got tired of it.

"So..." I began cautiously, "Your name is Rainbow Dash, right?"

"How... how did you know that?" she gave me a curious look.

"The doctor told me," I said, "Who was told by Captain Armor, who was told by... fuck knows." I threw up a hand to emphasize the last part.

"What else did the doctor say about me?" she asked.

"Everything he knew, which wasn't much," I replied, "Just that you're from Ponyville, and that you just recently finished basic training. Which is kind of surprising."

"Surprising? How so?"

I looked over at her. She was still leaning against the wall, "You're way too laid-back for a greenhorn. Most fresh recruits are all about protocol and impressing their commanders. You're... just kinda here for the ride."

"Maybe it's just a human thing," she shrugged.

"Or..." I paused for dramatic effect, "You don't want to be here. You signed up for exciting adventures and glorious combat, and ended up playing security guard for an enemy soldier. So, you don't care. You just want to stand there getting paid until my transfer, and then get moved to somewhere you can actually feel useful."

The shocked look on her face told me I had hit the nail on the head.

"Y-you don't know me!" she snapped, "I can do this job in my sleep! You might not be able to tell from how young and hot I am, but I've saved Equestria twice! This is nothing compared to the foes I've battled!"

Holy fuck, did she have an ego. This was going to be fun.

But, I was getting tired, and didn't have the energy to prod her too much, so I let it go, "Sure, whatever you say, Skittles."

"Who... what? What's a 'Skittles?'"

"Skittles is you, now," I stifled a laugh at her confused face. Hey, I didn't say I wasn't going to fuck with her, "You know how nicknames work, right?"

"Y-yes!" I could tell I was aggravating her. Sorry doc, she made it too easy, "But where did you get 'Skittles' from?"

"Your mane," I said.

"My... mane?" she echoed, moving a hand up to play with her hair a bit.

"Back home, there's this type of candy..." I explained to her exactly where her nickname came from, how I associated her rainbow-colored mane with the candy that was colored like a rainbow.

After a moment of stunned silence, a small grin grew on her muzzle, "Kinda weak nickname, if you ask me."

"I didn't ask you, though," I smirked, "But yeah, I'll admit, not one of my best. I might come up with a new one as I get to know you. If I get to know you."

The mare shrugged at that, "Whatever, dude."

The room fell silent yet again. It seemed to be becoming a trend for the day; awkward silence after awkward silence. This time, though, I let it stay. I was getting really tired, and just laid back in my bed. I tried staying awake for a bit, in case Rainbow Dash decided to say anything else, but she never did. Eventually, I managed to drift off to sleep.

A few minutes after he stopped talking, Rainbow Dash noticed that Sergeant Blackburn had fallen asleep. Thank Celestia, I thought he'd never go to sleep, she thought. She left the wall she was leaning against to sit at the table. She could feel herself getting tired as well. Normally, she'd be home at this time, nestled in her bed, sleeping the night away. This graveyard shift would take some getting used to.

She didn't know what to think about the human. He didn't seem hostile, just... annoying. How could anypony deal with an attitude like his? Maybe they just get used to it? Hopefully she wouldn't be guarding him long enough for that to happen. Still, she was curious how he had figured out her motivations - or lack thereof - so quickly and so accurately. And what the hell was with the nicknames? Do all humans do that?

After a moment, she suddenly got bored. With nothing else to do, she somehow decided to get a closer look at the human while he wasn't conscious. She had never seen one up close before, and why waste a good opportunity? Besides, it was better than passing out on the job. She walked over to the side of his bed and looked down at him. In his sleep, he looked a bit.. distressed? That was the only word she could come up with. Barring his facial expression, she noticed the various small scars that dotted his exposed arms and legs. There was also a fairly long scar across his right cheek, barely visible under his scruffy black beard. She wasn't sure why - maybe it was her drowsiness making her mind loopier that usual - but she had a sudden urge to touch the scar. She reached out a hand and lightly slid a finger along the line, brushing his scruff as well. He moaned a bit at the contact, making Rainbow Dash yelp and pull her hand away. But he didn't wake up. She sighed quietly and mentally kicked herself. What was she even doing, anyway? Was she really this desperate for something to do? Maybe she could do some push-ups or something to wake herself up.

She was about to walk away from the bed when Blackburn groaned a bit in his sleep. She stopped, and turned to look at him. He still had that distressed expression. What was he dreaming about?

"Sarah..." he muttered in his sleep.

Dash's ears perked up at this. Who was Sarah? Why was he saying her name in his sleep?

"Sarah..." he repeated, "I'm sorry..."

Sorry? What was he sorry for? What exactly did this guy do?

Dash suddenly felt a pang of guilt shoot through her. She shouldn't be hearing this. It sounded very personal. But she couldn't help but be curious. Who was this "Sarah?" Why did Blackburn feel like he had to apologize to her?

Just... what did this guy do?

I was standing in an open field, the breeze lightly blowing the tall grass that surrounded me. It was a field I recognized, and knew well. It was a field from my past, from my childhood. Sarah and I would play in this field for hours at a time. We played all sorts of games. We would explore the field and the nearby forest. We would spend entire afternoons out here, until the sun began to set and we had to run back home. If we didn't make it back before dark, the "monsters" would get us. That's what we told ourselves, anyway.

Speaking of home, was it... It was! As I turned my head, I noticed the small white farmhouse at the top of a small hill. I began making the long trek towards and then up the hill. Eventually, I reached the house. All of the windows glowed with warm light, like it always did. The house looked altogether inviting. I did it. I was finally home.

I continued walking, up to the front door. I grabbed the doorknob and, finding it unlocked, turned it and pushed the door open. I could see the inside hallway, lit up by the wall-mounted electric lights. I smiled lightly as I began to step inside. If all of this was here, then maybe... "Sarah?" I called out.

As soon as my foot touched the hall rug, the entire house went completely dark. The sudden change of light left me completely blind, and I stumbled forward. I reached out a hand, trying to navigate in the darkness as I took a few steps forward, "Sarah?!" I called again, with no response. I took a few more blind steps before I felt the ground cave in at my feet, and I started to fall. For a few moments, I couldn't see anything. I just kept falling through the darkness, unsure of where I was, or where I was going.

Eventually, I felt myself slam into something. It was then I realized my eyes were closed. I slowly opened one eye to find myself splayed onto the ground, on my stomach. I picked myself up slowly and surveyed my new surroundings. I was in a... forest? Almost like the forest near the farmhouse, but... different. Otherworldly. I also couldn't see that far into the forest. Maybe ten feet past the tiny circular clearing I was standing in.

Crack! I turned at the sound. It had come from the forest behind me. I couldn't see anything, but I... felt something there. A presence. An entity of some kind. My soldier's instincts kicked in, and I reached to my hip. Somehow, I had the luck of having my service pistol with me. I drew it and aimed it towards the sound. I took a cautious step forward, keeping my gun up. Crack! Another sound, again from behind me. I whirled around to face it, and again saw nothing. This time, I didn't even feel it there. it was just... gone.

"H-hello?" I shouted into the dark forest. I noticed my breathing get a bit irregular, and the adrenaline start pumping.

"James?" I heard a voice. It was very ethereal, and seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. But it was a voice I recognized.

"Sarah?!"

"James!" she called. She sounded fearful, like she was in danger.

"Sarah, where are you?!"

Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of light. When it died down, I found myself in... Manehattan. The bombed out housing project. I looked around. The smoldering wreckage was still there, still burning. I saw Dixon sprawled on the road a few feet away, his skull emptied out from a bullet. I could feel my legs go weak, but I toughed it out long enough to walk to him. Once I reached him, my legs finally gave out, and I dropped to my knees. I couldn't help him. I wanted to. It was too late, though.

"James?" I heard Sarah's voice behind me. I turned my head, but found she wasn't there. She still was nowhere in sight. Was it all in my head? "James!" her voice called again, seemingly from everywhere at once.

"Sarah? Where are you?"

"Why didn't you help them, James?"

"I... I-I tried... I wanted to... But I..."

"Why didn't you save them, James? They trusted you!"

My hands were shaking. I couldn't move. I was stuck there, staring at Dixon's corpse. I couldn't help him. Couldn't save him. All I could do was sit there and watch.

"They trusted you, James! You let them down. You left them! Why did you leave them?"

"I-I didn't have a choice!"

"You left them! You left me! Why did you leave?"

"Sarah, I... I-I'm sorry!"

"Why did you leave, James?" Why?"

"I... I-I didn't..."

"You left us, James! Why did you leave?"

My shaking was uncontrollable now. It covered my entire body. I was frozen in place. At some point, my surroundings had melted away, leaving me stranded in another black void. My only company was Sarah's voice as she continued to torment me. Accusing me of leaving them. Leaving her. I tried to argue, but I couldn't. Because she was right. I left them to burn in the rubble. I left her when I joined the army. I left them. I left them all.

"I'm sorry..."

I jumped up from the bed, my entire body tensing up. It only got worse when I felt my leg twist against something and erupt in pain, "Ow, fuck!" I grunted through gritted teeth. I had to force myself to relax. As my muscles went lax, the pain in my leg dulled to a low throb. Apart from the pain, I noticed my entire body covered in a cold sweat. It completely soaked through my white undershirt, and dripped from my forehead onto the mattress below me. I jumped again when I felt a hand touch my shoulder. I turned to see a pair of cerise-colored eyes staring at me with a worried look. It took me a second to realize it was my night guard, Rainbow Dash.

"You okay, dude?" she asked me, "You kinda freaked out a bit, there."

I just now noticed how hard I was breathing. I took a second to regulate it, and asked Dash to help me sit up. Once I had brought it down to just "irregular," I wiped some of the sweat off of my brow and turned to Dash.

"What time is it?" I asked.

She checked a watch on her wrist, "Like, one in the morning. Now, are you okay?"

"Y-yeah..." I lied, "I-I'm fine."

"You sure, dude?" she asked, unconvinced, "You had a major freak out just then."

"I'm fine," I huffed, "I just... ow... fucked my leg up a bit."

Dash moved out of my sight for a moment, and came back with a medicine bottle that sounded half-full. She opened it and shook out two pills. She held them out to me, "Here. The doctor came by while you were asleep. He said to give you these if you woke up in any pain."

Without question, I took them and forced them down my throat. With how dry my mouth was, it was difficult, but I suffered through it. Dash must have noticed this, because she again moved out of sight and came back with a bottle of water. Again, I took it without question, and downed half of the bottle without stopping. Finally sated, I gave out one last huff of air before my breathing went back to normal. The painkillers kicked in immediately, and I felt the throbbing in my leg die down. I thanked Dash, and she returned to her wall, taking up the same posture she had been in when I fell asleep. Had she really stayed like that all night? I didn't think it would have been possible for her, given her personality.

We just sat there in silence for a few minutes. I slowly finished the water bottle, and let it lay at my side when it was empty. I stayed sitting up, not wanting to lie down and risk falling asleep. I didn't want to go back to... that. I usually forgot my dreams before I even woke up, but I always remembered a nightmare vividly, sometimes for hours afterward. I could still replay every scene in my head.

"You talk in your sleep, you know," I heard Rainbow Dash say, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Really?" this was news to me. What did I say?

"Yeah, you do," she said. After a moment of silence, she added, "Who's Sarah?"

Shit. That's what I said.

"Well?" Dash pressed at my silence, "Who is she?"

"She's..." I fought to get the words out. Despite the painkillers, my head began to throb a bit, "She's... somebody from back home. Someone I care about."

"Wife?" Dash guessed.

"No... sister," I said. Once I said it, my headache went away. I couldn't help but wonder why.

"What happened to her?" Dash asked me.

"Nothing. At least, I hope nothing," I sighed a bit before continuing, "She was just... less than thrilled when I joined the army. She was supportive while I was over there, but..." I trailed off.

Dash suddenly moved away from the wall. She walked over to the table, grabbed one of the chairs, and brought it beside my bed before sitting down. She still leaned back in it, bringing one leg up to rest on the other, "Were you two close?"

"Yeah, as close as two siblings could be," I smiled a bit, but it was short-lived, "Though, we've grown apart as of late. Her husband was... killed. He was a police officer in Boston, he got shot while working a case. Now, she's raising two daughters on her own while I'm off getting shot at for a living."

Dash nodded, listening to every word, "Do you think she blames you?"

"No, no, God no," I said, shaking my head, "But... I still feel guilty. I left her alone with two children. The only support I give her is part of my paycheck."

"You're a soldier, Jay," she said. Did she just give me a nickname? "You have a job to do. I'm sure she understands. I mean, you can't exactly leave, right?"

"Well... I could have," I revealed, which brought a shocked expression across the cyan mare's face, "When the war started, I had a choice. Either stay in the army and come here with my company, or go home. I chose to stay. Barely even thought about it before saying 'yes.'"

This gave the mare pause. I wondered what was going on in her head. She stayed silent for a full minute.

"Do you regret it?" she finally asked.

Now it was my turn to stop and think. Did I regret staying? That was a surprisingly hard question to answer. On the one hand, I felt guilty about leaving Sarah alone only to get myself captured - God, did she even know I was alive at this point? On the other hand, I thought about all of the battles I had fought in since I was deployed here. Dodge City, Baltimare, Manehattan... Our last skirmish notwithstanding, my company fought well, in part because I and the other sergeants were there to lead them through it. The war might not have even made it this far without the Rangers.

Then again, was that something I should be proud of? That my Unit helped prolong this war so much? A war that - at this point - I had no idea why we were fighting in the first place? Then I realized. If I had left, I wouldn't even have these conflicted feelings. I would be like any other wartime civilian, just soaking up what the media wanted to show me about it. I wouldn't have learned how compassionate some of them could be. I wouldn't have met the doctor, or Greyhound, or even the blue pegasus that was by my side now, listening to my sob story and actually seeming to care. Most professional psychologists don't listen as well as she has.

So, with all of that in mind, did I regret staying?

"No," I told her, after what must have seemed like forever.

Surprisingly, she just smiled and patted my shoulder, "Then don't sweat it too much," she said, "There's nothing you can do about it now, anyway. All you can do is get out of here, wait this thing out, and then go back. You can make it up to her then."

He contagious smile brought one to my own lips, "Thanks, Dash," I said.

"Oh, so it's 'Dash,' now?" she asked teasingly, "What happened to 'Skittles?'"

"Like I said, not my best work," I laughed a bit, "I'll just have to come up with a new one."

She scoffed a bit, and got up from her chair, "Whatever, dude."

As she put the chair back and returned to her wall, I started to feel tired again. This time, though, I wasn't afraid to fall asleep. I guess my mother was right; talking through your issues helped. No longer worried about my nightmare making a repeat appearance, I laid back and drifted off to sleep.

Author's Note

What? Two chapters within 24 hours of each other?! WHO AM I, AND WHAT HAVE I DONE WITH JACK?!

But seriously, though, don't expect this too much. I was just really inspired after I finished Chapter 4, and couldn't shut my mind off. I gotta say, i think this is the best chapter I've written so far. It's also the longest, though, so there's that. I'm going to try making future chapters about this long as well. The only reason I didn't make the last few this long was because I couldn't find a way of extending it without being annoyingly descriptive or shoehorning in pointless dialogue. The story already has enough McGuffins in it, I don't need any more.

The good news is, I think I finally have a solid direction of where this is going and how to get it there. Chapter 6 should be up soon. Not sure when, but it'll be soon.

Until then, as always, constructive criticism is always welcome and appreciated. Thanks for reading!