(Cancelled) Rangers Never Sleep

Author's Notes: Sorry I haven't been writing, I've been very busy lately, and with school starting soon I will probably only be able to put out a chapter once a week. Also, am I the only one who is a little freaked by the semi-erotic RarityxAppleJack cover pages that admin has been putting up?

I started on my hike back down the road from where I came from. I really didn’t know what the hell I was going to do now that I was here, go set off into the woods and try to survive? Try to negotiate with the boss and get discharged from this eccentric land?

For that matter, how the actual fuck did I get here? I mean, last thing I remember I was in…I was in Mogadishu after those downed birds and …Did I… No… No that’s impossible…I couldn’t of, I just went back after Daniel and…

"Heh...No...Couldn't of..."

I forced that thought out of my head and carried on down the road.

It was night already and although the moon was brilliantly luminous, it wasn't enough for sufficient visibility. I knelt down on the side of the road and opened up my ruck. I figured it would be best to don my equipment now. I secured my vest to my torso and helmet to my head. I clipped the NVG set onto my helmet and swung it down over my eye. My left eye was met with a brilliant, green hued light as I regained my visibility. I raised myself back to my feet and continued back on down the road. I checked my watch, 0800, obviously there was a time difference. Whatever, I was sheltered by the night; I didn't need to rush or stick to the shadows, that is unless they send out another patrol to look for me. Wonderful fucking choice on my part there, not the smartest decision to make myself wanted by the fucking government within the first 5 minutes of being here. If being here in the first place wasn't bad enough, now I have a high price on my head, no where to go, no friends, no family, no nothing. Just me and my conscience; but it's quite apparent that I can't trust that after my last intelligent decisions.

I left the cart about 3 hours back been walking for about another 2 hours now, only thing audible is the excessive chirping of the crickets and the thumping of my boots connecting with the rough dirt road. If it wasn't for the relentless conditioning that I underwent in the form of ruck marches at Sand Hill, I would of passed out from shear exhaustion by now. Sure as hell must suck for the automatic riflemen, luggin' those 30 pound M-60's around with them. God I miss that sound, the notorious chugging of the M-60: the sound of freedom. I was in an almost trance-like state, just thinking about the fond memories of home. I got snapped back to reality by the sound of voices and the faint glow of torches. I halted all movement as my mind was switched to warrior mode. I hunched over in a crouching position as I swiftly ran into some brush off of the roadside. I realized that I needed to blend better with the environment, desert pattern wasn't gonna cut it for woodland areas. In the behavior of a sniper, I rolled into a puddle of muck, making sure to get everything covered in the dark and earthy viscous substance. I felt like a pig. I stealthily crawled over to some brush that had a vantage point on the road and lie prone. The hunters came into sight, it was just like the last group, except more. Their ringleader, the sergeant from before.

"Spread out, he has to be around here somewhere..."

I lie my hand over my sheathed blade, if this was about to get ugly, I was ready. There was a rather official looking soldier among them, he wore armor with purple plates and an extravagant gold trim. It was decorated with a shield on the chest plate, the iridescence of the armor was completely inappropriate for combat. His voice however did not sound intimidating at all, it sounded as though he just got back from a surfing competition in Cali.

"How in the hell did you manage to lose a 6 foot, bi-pedal, hairless ape, sergeant? You had one damn job. One Job."

"My greatest apologies, Sir. He overpowered us, we were defenseless against his seething rage."

"If basic taught you one thing, it's that Guardsmen don't give up. If it wasn't for your cowardly actions, I would still be enjoying a beautiful dinner with my wife and sister, who I rarely get to see. If you were sent home in a body bag then I would understand. Are we clear, Private?"

He wore a look of shear horror.

"B-but Sir...Is a demotion...Truly necessary?"

"My decision is final."

"Yes Sir..."

I smirked

"Heh...You lying little shit..."

While the squad and I were enjoying the performance, neither of us had an idea that one of the soldiers needed to relieve himself. It just so happened that he chose a spot directly over my head.

Fuck...

The warm stream of putrid liquid impacted my head with force, he was pissing like a...Well, like a racehorse. I tried to keep completely still despite the circumstances, though it's really hard to keep a straight face whilst receiving a golden shower. About 4 seconds into the strange, non-sexual act, it broke me. I reached my breaking point. I jumped up from the birm and grabbed the soldier by the neck. He was scared shitless; a look of pure terror in his eyes. I pulled him down into the ravine and put him in a choke hold. He struggled for air as I was tightly compressing his trachea, I wasn't trying to kill him, I just wanted him out of the equation. After a bit of futile struggling, he passed out in my arms. I dropped him to the floor. I looked back up over the berm, just in time to see the eyes of another soldier looking back at me.

"SHIT! THERE HE IS-"

*Smack*

Before he could finish his SitRep, I gave him a right hook to the jaw. The punch was strong enough the knock him out, and as it did I grabbed him and brought him down with the other soldier. I had the feeling that shit was about to hit the fan. I hesitantly looked back up over the berm to see 6 other pairs of eyes looking back at me. I could see it in their eyes, I knew because it's happens to me often. They're minds switched into warrior mode, their training kicks in they certainly won't go down without one hell of a fight. I vaulted up to the road and retrieved my colt from it's holster. I raised it to eye level. The soldier closest to me, a unicorn with a white coat, charged me. As he got close to me, he reared up as to confront me with his forehooves. I grabbed his right arm and used his momentum to throw him to the ground. As he lay on his back I brought all of my weight on one knee into his chest. With an audible *CRACK* and a scream, I lifted myself back to my feet and readied once more, leaving the incapacitated pony to writhe in pain. As soon as I was back, there was another one, this time a Pegasus, charging me from a flying assault. He was using his body as a flying battering ram. There was nothing I could do except anticipate the impact. The force of the impact sent me back a few feet with the pony on top of me. I was now lying on my back as my assailant was impacting me with a barrage of punches connecting with my face. I threw my right fist at his jaw and it connected with a sickening crack. While dazed from the hook I threw my left arm over the right side of his neck and opened his entire side for attack, a classic Hand-to-Hand move. From this position, I could easily cause severe internal damage if I got a knife in there. Sever the intestines that would leak fecal matter, hemorrhaging, lung deflation, ect. I didn't really want to kill anymore of them though, I stuck to non-lethal. I pounded my fist into his gut, the resulting effect was yells of pain. Lastly, I brought my knee up and drove it into his gut, hard. With another pony out of commission, I was starting to get pissed. I looked to the 3 remaining soldiers. The Officer spoke.

"You don't know who you're fucking with."

"Likewise..."

He wasn't a fan of my attitude.

"Surrender, or die. The Equestrian Guard is the most elite fighting force in the known world. You stand no chance."

"Neither did those guys." I pointed to the writing soldiers. "Now if you don't stand down, I'm gonna put a bullet in all three of your heads, and as much as that would break my fucking heart, I will do what's necessary to survive."

They weren't buying it. I opened up a pouch on my vest and pulled out a black cylinder.

"Seize him!"

I pulled the pin and threw it to their feet. The stepped back a small bit, but their curiosity got the best of them as they moved closer. Right in time for it to detonate. With a blinding flash and a deafening boom, they were completely disoriented. Perfect time for me to slip away into the night.