Ascension

Cold.

It was the kind of cold that could be produced in no other place. You couldn't sit in one place too long or your coat would freeze to the ground. Unfortunately, you also couldn't stand up unless you were willing to risk getting your dome shot off by an enemy sniper.

Worse still than the risk of death though, was the cold. The soldiers of the the 12th airborne were huddled in groups of three and four in their foxholes and covered in so many layers of clothing that they could barely move even if they wanted to.

Small fires burned for the sole purpose of melting ice from people's canteens to drinkable water. The lack of pots and pans meant that soldiers had to use their steel pot helmets for the task.(not that they were good for much more anyways) But, such was the life of anyone who was assigned to the task of protecting this Celestia forsaken mountain at the edge of the gryphon kingdom.

Why the Changelings had chosen to occupy the frozen north, and use it as a foothold, the soldiers on that mountain would never know. Fortunately, for their mental states, they would never need to. All they were was "a bunch of dumb grunts following orders" as the more experienced soldiers liked to say.

It was honestly a "glory" assignment. Some general in a comfy office decided that the side of this mountain was the perfect spot to hold off a changeling invasion due to its position in overlooking a valley that may or may not be used for troop movement. If the operation was successful, he could look back and say to his buddy's "Hey, remember that one operation? I came up with that." If it failed, what did he care? He was still a general making the big bits.

The sound of weapons going through functions checks woke up one Caduceus "Cad" Guardian. He sat up, looked around, and quickly began his own functions checks while shaking the ice and snow off his coat. This had become a routine for him now. Every two hours everyone would perform weapons checks to ensure the internal components hadn't frozen. Afterwards, Cad would move around the camp and check on everyone to make sure no one had trenchfoot or frostbite, and then mosey on back to his foxhole and wait again.

'At least it's only cold weather injuries instead of gunshot wounds' Cad thought to himself as he checked his three weapons. Enfield-check. Webley-check. bayonet-rusty, but check. With all his weapons accounted for and functioning, mostly, he moved on to an equipment check. As the combat medic of his platoon, It was his job to keep his men healthy and fit to fight, and that meant his equipment had to function. Unfortunately, one look inside his bag, confirmed his fears. A bag full of frozen gauze and crevats was about as useful as a block of ice in a snowstorm, which ironically, it was at the time.

Slowly, Cad got up from his foxhole and moved over to the nearest fire to thaw out his gear. As he walked by foxhole after foxhole, he looked inside to see soldiers huddled together. Some waved or nodded as their fellow avian walked past. Cad returned the gestures and approached the location of the nearest fire pit. The pit's had to be few in number and burried deep, lest they give away the position of the group to any enemy nearby.

Cad dropped into the pit and was met with disappointment as he saw the pile of ash that had once provided sweet, sweet warmth. Looking around, he spotted some semi-dry logs and a half used flint. He pondered whether to simply move on to the next pit, but then he remembered that the other soldiers needed this pit to thaw water from frozen canteens and keep warm.

Scraping his bayonet on the flint, Cad attempted to ignite the logs, but was met with nothing but failure. The wood was simply to wet, and there was simply no dry kindling.

"AWWW, COME ON!!!"

Cad was getting more and more frustrated by the minute. If only there was a mage nearby to ignite the fire. Magic fire was much hotter than regular fire.

'Well, maybe just this once.'

Cad looked left, then right to ensure he was alone before going about with his task. Ungloving his right hand, he revealed a matrix of runic tattoo's usually reserved for mages. Avians would never be seen with runic tattoo's on any part of their body's. However, Caduceus was no ordinary avian.

With a pulse of concentrated magic, Cad extended an index finger and a spell matrix formed in front, aimed at the logs. Suddenly, the logs burst into flame as the magic took place.

Cad quickly covered his hand back up with a glove and series of muslin wrappings. He looked around to ensure that there were no witnesses to the act that he performed and, once he was sure he was alone, got to thawing his medical equipment and water supply.

After the task was completed, he reluctantly, climbed out of the fire pit. As he made his way back to his foxhole through the snow and fog, a sudden wind picked up. The wind was harshly cold, and Cad had to duck down low to keep from catching too much of it. He simply sat there hunched over with his eyes clamped shut and waited for it to pass. When it had, he stood up and looked around to behold a breathtaking scene.

The wind had blown the snow clouds and fog away that had plagued the 12th for so long. Cad could see the entire mountain range now, It was a breathtaking and beautiful site to behold. Multiple snow capped mountains surrounded a small green valley built around a thin river of blue. Small puffy clouds of white cotton littered the sky and seemed to meld with the mountain peeks. It was the most peaceful site anyone could behold, and was completely contrary to the frozen wasteland that was the cliff face the unit occupied. Cad actually found himself lost in the serene view of nature in all its glory.

Then the shells began to fall.

~~~

Cad's eyes shot open. Sitting up he gathered his surroundings. A small bedroom was his place of occupation at the time. All in all, it was pretty barren. A long coat hanging by the door, and a small footlocker at the foot of the bed. Such was the lifestyle of the Man occupying the small apartment. He always preferred to keep things simple. It kept cleaning to a minimum, and left him less likely to lose things.

Then he saw the clock and his heart sank. He was already fifteen minutes late for work.

Moving out of bed, he quickly made his way to the footlocker to grab out his normal items for the day. A pair of loose brown pants, a loose v-neck black shirt, a pair of long gloves, and a shoulder holster with a loaded webley mk iv. Not the most subtle of concealed weapon's, but easy to hide under his long coat.

After checking the weapon, Cad grabbed his coat, threw on his boots, and paused at the door. It was the same coat he wore back then.

'Forget the dream' he thought to himself.

He made his way to work. Approaching the ponyville hospital, he noticed his boss standing at the door tapping her foot. He was in for it now.

"Nurse Redheart, how are you today?" Cad asked with the worst poker face he had ever mustered.

"You're late."

Cad imaginged literal daggers flying from her icy stare and impaling him. Nurse Redheart was a wonderful person to be around, and overall a very nice person. However, if you got on her bad side for a second, you would rather fight through Tartarus armed with a butter knife.

"Would you believe my clock broke?" bad poker face

"No." death stare

Cad sighed, he knew why he was late. Nightmares about the past always tended to make him sleep in for some reason. It was like his mind wanted him to remember a past he was eager to forget.

'Forget the dream'

"So are you going to tell me the real reason why you are late?"

Cad's attention was brought back to the pink haired nurse in front of him. She knew about his situation, but if he told her, she would simply send him to talk to the therapist again. As much as he needed it, he just needed to see another person right now.

"I just need to talk to her for a bit."

The nurse huffed and pouted in defeat. Cad always knew that if he just brought her up, Redheart would yeild. She stepped to the side and let him pass.

~~~

Cad made his way through the halls of the hospital. After two years of working here, if was easy for him to find his way to his destination. Soon, he found his way to the veterinary ward.

It was a little odd for a veterinary ward to be at a hospital, but with the amount of animals in ponyville, and the lack of a proper vet's office, an old section of the hospital had simply transformed into a veterinary ward a couple years back in order to accomodate.

There were a few nurses who waved to him as he walked by. They were all used to him coming in regularly now, even though he was an EMT during regular work hours. He made his way past the array of dogs, cats, turtles, and rabbits that occupied the area along with a number of other animals.

Soon he found a small office with an engraved name on the door of the person he needed to talk to. She was the one person who he had always been able to speak to about his past and had been able to comfort him. She was one of few left who understood his pain. And finally, she was the only other person who he had revealed his secret to.

The door simply read.

FLUTTERSHY

HEAD VETERINARIAN

The door slowly, silently opened and a young woman was revealed sitting behind a desk, completely occupied by her paperwork. She was a lovely woman with long pink hair and beautiful cyan eyes that one could easily get lost in. She wore a butter yellow sweater and long pink skirt under a white lab coat.

Cad slowly made his way into the room, silent as a mouse. Working his way around the office, he made his way behind the young woman, and ever so gently...

*poke*

"EEEEP!"

Fluttershy squeaked loud enough to almost be normal speaking volume.

"Well, good morning to you too." Cad said with a light smirk.

Fluttershy slapped him lightly on the chest in a playful manner. An almost imperceptible smile gracing her lips.

"You always do that when I least expect it." she said playfully.

"Well, you always leave yourself so open." Cad retaliated.

Shy slowly got up from her desk, gave Cad a light hug, and graced him with a soft kiss on his cheek. Cad graciously returned the gesture to the young woman.

Cad took a moment to admire the Avian in his arms. Shy had grown so much since he first met her, and not just physically. She carried herself with more confidence now. She was still timid and easily startled, but she now had an air of maturity around her. It was almost a motherly feeling that seemed to emanate from her.

"So," she said in a quiet but cheery voice. "What brings you here today?"

Cad's smile almost instantly faded as he remembered why he came.

Seeing this, Fluttershy suddenly got a serious look on her face.

"More dreams?"

"...Yeah."

"The same ones?"

*nod*

"Which one?"

Caduceus sighed and slumped into a chair in the office. "The mountain." he said plainly.

Fluttershy knelt at his side and simply nodded in understanding.

Having been together for over two years, Shy knew all of his nightmares by heart. That, and having taken part in the very war he spoke of, she had a greater understanding than most of the feelings he was experiencing.

"Do you need anything?" Her voice was soft and polite.

Cad shook his head. "No, I'm fine now. I just needed to see you, that's all. For some reason, seeing you seems to make the pain go away."

Fluttershy giggled a little.

Cad finally stood up."Anyway, I need to get to work as it is."

"Okay." Shy said softly. "Have a great day, and if you need to talk, you know where to find me...that is if you want to.eep"

Cad chuckled as he nuzzled her.

After a brief hug. Caduceus left the office and made his way down to the locker room. He removed his Coat, Webley, and brown pants, to don a pair of black cargo pants and a blue shirt with EMT written on the shoulders and his name over the right breast pocket. Afterwards he locked up, and grabbed his handy medical kit.

He made his way outside, focused his magic to his back to form his wings, and took off to catch up to his partner.

As he flew, he couldn't help but feel like today would be different than normal. Like today, something would change.

With these thoughts going through his head, Cad sent a new burst of speed to his wings to catch his partner and start his day.