The ghost of you
By Yuki Harima
“Well this is the house” you tell yourself when you check to see if the address is right. You decided to do a report on a war veteran from the Canterlot royal guard and put it out as a new freelancing story. The war veteran you are going to interview is named Corporal Claymore. You take out his file. From the research you gathered, he is thirty-years-old right now and was in the army at twenty. Around the age of twenty six, he suffered bodily damage from a tragic battle and was medically discharge from the royal guard. His rear hooves were both broken from an explosion during a battle and he was then, taken to the medical ward to get them fixed. The surgery was a success; however he has to us a walker to help walk as he sustain a limp after the surgery. There is nothing else that you gathered about him.
One thing that is bothering you is the battle itself. It is unknown to almost everypony you asked and your contacts have very little information about it. You checked in almost every war archive you can find about the battle but nothing comes up and it is treated like a rumor around the royal barracks as you tried to interview some of the guards about the bandit conflicts. You were lucky to get kicked out and not taken to jail for sneaking into the royal barracks on that day.
You put the file away in your saddlebags and approach the door. You make sure that your coat is covering your entire body from the cold. It is early fall right now but it happens to be 80 degrees out today; however you suffer from a low body temperature and must keep your coat on at all times to insulate your body heat. You go over what you want to talk about to claymore and knock on the door.
“I’m coming! I’m coming!” A gruff voice shouted behind the door. You wait by the door to see it open by a dark green pony that has a grey military style haircut. You also notice that he has a sword as his cutie mark. A claymore to be exact as his name suggests. He has a walker in front of him and a scowl on his face.
“What do you want?” He angrily said in a military tone.
You collect yourself from the outburst and clear your throat. You reply in a calm tone, “Hello there Mister Claymore. I am the reporter who sent you that letter about the interview.”
His face softens a little and replies in a calmer tone. “Oh…I’m sorry. Right this right.” He walks away and you follow him into the house. You look around to see the mess the house is left in. There were items on the ground and food stains as well. He notices the way you are looking around the house. “Sorry about the mess. The maid comes by on Fridays to clean up the mess.” He replies solemnly.
He takes you into what could be the living room as you notice the chairs around the table and the couch next to the fireplace. You look around the dimly lit room. The curtains were closed to not allow any sunlight in and made the room have a dark and gloomy mood.
You break away from your gazing by Claymore’s gruff voice. “Why don’t you take a seat somewhere? Make yourself comfortable.” He tells you. His voice seems distant and full of grief. You decide to sit in the chair by the table which would be easier for you to write, and he took a seat on the couch. He lays on his back with his head on the armrest. You think that he is sitting on the couch to help rest his rear hooves.
He looks at you and asks, “Why don’t you take off that coat and sunglasses. It’s pretty warm in here and not to bright.”
“I feel more comfortable with the coat on and I wear the sunglasses because my eyes are very sensitive to the light.” You reply. He seems to accept your answer and just lays back looking at the ceiling as you get ready for the interview. You put your saddlebags down and take out a pencil with a pad of paper. You take your things and put them on the table. You open up to a clean sheet of paper and put the pencil in your mouth to get ready to write down notes on the conversation.
“Alright, I am ready for the interview. What about you, Mister Claymore?” You ask him.
“I’m fine. You can start asking me your questions.” he replies to you.
“You joined the Canterlot Royal guard at the age of twenty. What made you want to join?” You ask him.
“Well, it started with my father being a guard as well and being a master swordsman. One day he took me to the barracks so I can watch him train. Then, I saw something in the distance: a claymore sword. I picked it up and played around with it.” Claymore started to laugh. “My father was furious at me for playing around with a weapon but then he notices something appearing on my flank.”
“And that’s how you get your cutie mark.” You finish for him.
“Why yes it is.” He replies.
“But that doesn’t tell me why join the Canterlot Royal guard.” You say to him.
“Now hold on I am getting there.” He said with a slight irritation in his voice. “Now, I always looked up to my father and decided to be like him. Protect the innocent from harm and defend my country from opposing forces.”
“So it was just your father that got you into joining the royal guard or was it somepony else.”
He stares up at the ceiling deep in thought. You already know the answer about who this somepony else is but you want him to confirm it for you. "He is probably questioning himself whether to tell you or not. "
“No he is not the only one.” He closes his eyes and starts to tell me in a very solemn tone. “I had a foalhood friend when I was growing up. Her name was Archer and had an amazing ability to use a crossbow. She joined the military with me and became an archery expert.”
You notice that he is speaking about her in the past tense as if she is no longer his friend. You knew that he had a friend growing up but you didn’t know what happen to her. You decide to press further to the pony who seems to be getting older as the conversation goes on.
“You said she was your foalhood friend, but why do you say it in the past tense?” you ask. You notice him flinch from you question and just looks away from you. You notice him tense up a little and start to shake.
You are getting concerned for you interviewee but not you hear him say this tragic sentence. “She died during a raid.” Claymore said with a quivering voice.
“What!” you ask from the shock of his answer.
“She dies in a tragic raid against the bandits!” he cried. Letting his emotions get the best of him but one thing you notice is a melody starting to appear around him. Then like everypony you talk to or interview gives off a song relating to the mood but this is something else. It starts off with a haunting piano melody. Then the sound of an acoustic guitar comes in with the drums as a voice starts to sing the song. Claymore doesn’t hear what you can hear and starts to tell his grim tale.
“We were out in the field looking up at Luna’s night sky. The night before we were suppose to be sent to attack a bandit camp. We started talking about what was going on and she asks me a question that shocked me.” He start to cry even more. I just sat there and listen to the song not helping the troubled soul. “She asked me ‘What would you do when I die, Claymore?’ I was just stunned and did not know what to say. She just told me that she would mourn over my death and try to move on with her life. I say I would do the same but I would never forget her. I said she could try to forget me but I would never do the same. We spent the rest of the night in complete silence not knowing that she was actually predicting the future.”
He starts to shake even more retelling me about the day she dies as I hear a chorus breaks into the song. “On the day she died, we were supposed to go and attack a bandit camp that was attacking merchants and stealing their things. We would be sent out to get rid of the camp and kill them if they retaliate. They sent only ten of us but they told us that ten was enough. What we did not know was that we were sent into a death trap by the bandits. We were ambushed that day!”
He cries even more and his voice is on the edge of hysteria. “I knew something wrong was going to happen! I knew all along but just thought it was me being nervous for the raid. We did this hundreds of times for the past six years and nothing would go wrong! It was suppose to be a simple mission. A simple mission! On that day, I remember screaming at the top of my lungs her name as I held her dying body in my hooves!”
He is now shaking violently on the couch and is having a seizure. You realize that he is having a mental relapse of the battle and must contact help soon. You drop your notes and run out the door. The song is still being played in your head as the chorus comes in again. “Help! I need help!” you yell until you see a pegasus fly down next to you.
“What’s wrong?” she asks with a concerned tone.
“A pony is going into a seizure and needs help! Can you please rush to ponyville hospital to get somepony to get him and take him there?” You tell her.
A small smirk crosses her lips and says confidently so you. “Don’t worry about it. I can get there in under ten seconds flat.” She takes off after that and you see a rainbow trail behind her as she flies towards the hospital.
You walk back into the house and try to help him. You grab him but then you start to get dizzy. You wonder why you are feeling dizzy and hit your head on the table. You past out a couple seconds later.
You hear a piano sill playing in the background. You wake up and realize that you are at the scene of the battle that Claymore is talking about. You see a group of ten royal guards walking in the forest. You see Claymore in the group with his sword brandish on his hip. You notice a female unicorn standing next to him with a crossbow attach to her back. You can assume that it is Archer, the one pony he was talking about. You just watch and wonder what is going on and why are you seeing this.
All of a sudden you see a smoke go off and hear one of the royal guard scream ambush. Then a volley of arrows appears. You see Archer take out her crossbow and tries to attack some of the bandits but gets hit with some arrows herself. You see Claymore battling some of the bandits and killing them as they try to attack him. He sees Archer getting hit with arrows her self and screams at the top of his lungs her name.
“Archer!” he yells. Then all of a sudden the singer starts to wail as well with Claymore. He starts to gallop over to her but a bomb appears close to Claymore and explodes. He screams in pain as the shrapnel punctures through his rear legs. He still continues limping over to Archer lying on her back behind a tree. Claymore is leaving a trail blood behind as he just crawls on his forehooves. He manages to get to her and sees a pool of blood surrounding her. He doesn’t notice the battle going on behind him and just wants to see if his lifelong friend is alright.
She coughs up blood and smiles weekly at Claymore. “It looks like I won’t make it buddy.” She coughs up more blood hitting Claymore in the face as tears start to well up in his eyes.
“Don’t say that Archer!” he cries. “You won’t die! You will make it! I swear don’t die on me!”
“Remember what I said yesterday in case if one of us die.” She said weekly as her health decreases.
“No! Don’t!”
“Just try to not dwell on it so much and live happily.” She then goes limp and dies from the loss of blood.
Claymore is now crying at her and screams her name. “ARCHER!”
Then all you see is black and wake up. You turn around and see Claymore shaking but he is saying something that just shocks you. He starts to say the chorus lines along with the voice.
At the end of the world
Or the last thing I see
You are never coming home,
Never coming home
Could I? Should I
And all the things that you never ever told me
And all the smiles that are ever gonna haunt me
Could I?
For all the wounds that are ever gonna scar me
For all the ghost that are never gonna…
The song ends abruptly. You just lie in shock at what just happen but your thinking ends when the door bust open and see some ponies enter with a stretcher to take Claymore away. His body is still convulsion as his eyes seem to dart all over the room.
You get up from the floor and you just stare at them taking him away to ignore the white pony trying to talk to you.
“Sir. Sir.” She keeps saying to you but you just ignore her until she yells into your ear. “SIR!”
That got you out of your stupor and you reply back to her. “What is it?”
“Do you know how this happen” She asks with concern in her voice.
“Well, I was asking him about his life in the guard and he just breaks down when I ask about a friend of his.” You answer her.
She just looks at you and sighs. “Well he always gets like this after the mention of his friend Archer. He suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and it sometimes causes him to go in to shock and relapse the event.” She looks at you and then a worried look crosses her face. “Sir your head! It’s bleeding.”
You wonder what she is talking about and you bring your hoof up to your head and notice a wet feeling there. You lower it and notice that she was right. You are bleeding. You realize that it was from the table after hitting your head. “I’m fine” you try to reassure her.
She looks at you and asks, “Do you need me to bandage it?”
“No, I’m fine.” You reply trying to avoid the idea of going to the hospital to be bandage for a trivial thing. “You should be more concerned about Claymore. He needs help.”
She realizes that she should be back at the hospital and leaves. You are glad that she left. You decide to get your things and walk home.
During your walk, you ponder over the song that just played in your head. In your entire life you heard songs coming from other ponies but nothing like this magnitude. Also, how did you witness his past? Was it the song? All of these question bother you until you see your house appear along the edge of the Everfree forest. You chose that spot because you can live in the peace and quiet without the fear of anypony bothering you from your work.
You decide to patch yourself up and rest. Tomorrow you are going to see Claymore and get more details of that battle and why they covered it up.
Tomorrow came and you went to visit Claymore. After all, he is the pony you are interviewing. You question if it is right or wrong to question him even more but your thought were interrupted by the nurse telling him that he had a guest.
You sat down on the chair next to his bed. Claymore was just staring up at the ceiling. You never knew how bad he looks because the room was dimly lit yesterday. You see that he has bags under his eyes and that he look older than he actually is. “That is what stress does to you” you think.
He turns around and sees me. He just goes back to staring at the ceiling and asks me, “Why are you here?”
“I feel really guilty about pressuring you about the battle. To be honest I knew that you had a friend named Archer but nopony would answer me about her or the battle I was researching.” You tell him with guilt in your voice. “You were the only one there at the battle that remembers it and I wanted to get more but I didn’t realize the consequences and…” you swallow the lump in your throat. “…I caused you to go into a mental relapse of the battle.”
You became nervous as you don’t know what Claymore is about to say to you. Is he going to hate you for opening up the past or will he forgive you. You just stare down at the ground not making eye contact with him.
“Hey boy.” Claymore said. The tone was not angry but soft. You look up to him and stare at his eyes. They show years of sorrow, grief and guilt. “I forgive you because it was your job after all. That is what you were supposed to do. Question ponies and get information about it to your editor.
“I don’t have an editor.” You tell him. He seems confused at what you say. “I work as a freelancing writer selling my entries to different newspapers and seeing if they would buy it.”
He seems to understand what you told him and just continues. “Well either way you did not know that it would cause me to have seizures. You just wanted the truth and I gave it to you.”
You still have several questions you want to ask him but you are afraid to ask him. You muster up the courage and ask him. “Would you mind answering more questions for me?” Then he looks up at you and you start to get frantic. “I mean not as a reporter but as a pony concerned for your health but you don’t have to if you don’t want to I mean…”
He just chuckles at you and you just stare at him for not getting the humor at all from your distress. “I said I am not mad and you are probably still curious about the battle itself and why it is a secret. Or are you not?”
You calm down and answer his question. “I do have a couple but to be honest I have enough to get a story ready. I just want to know the entire truth and not lie about the rest.”
He just looks at you and said “I won’t mind it at all.” He gets into a comfortable position in his cot. “Alright, ask away.”
“Do you remember hearing anything unusual like a song or something?”
He looks at you with a quizzical expression. “A song?”
“Yea, a song.” You reply back.
“No I didn’t hear a song at all. Why?”
“No reason at all. Just curious.” So then he doesn’t remember hearing the song. That might be better because it sure was depressing to hear. You thought
He just ignores it and you ask the next question. “How did you survive while the other died?”
He looks away from you and stares at the ceiling. “I manage to survive because before hand a unicorn manages to set off a signal flare to alert any other pegisi guard to send in reinforcements. They came in and took care of the remaining bandits. I fainted from the blood loss a long time ago. Even after they came. I remember waking up in a medical ward. I wondered what happen so I called down a nurse to ask what happen.” He takes a couple of minutes to compose himself before continuing. You let him because you already know how losing somepony close to you hurts.
He manages to get ready and continue. “They told me what happen. At first I didn’t believe them but then I broke down and cried. I cried for the loss of a friend I had known for my entire life.”
“But why keep it a secret?”
“Princess Celestia didn’t want to cause panic to her subject. If word spread that a failed attempt took out some of her guards and that the bandits were still at large, then they would question her authority and worry about their safety. So she swore us to secrecy.”
“I have one more question to ask you.” You tell him. He turns to look at you. “Why do you still mourn over her when she told you to forget about her?”
That hit him hard as you notice the change of his face returns to depression. “I just couldn’t live with myself over it. I always blamed myself for her death and didn’t want to let it go. I didn’t want her to just be a forgotten soldier. I want her to know that I care about.”
“But why not just move on with your life? She even told you to forget her death and just live your life but for the past four years all you did was isolate yourself and mourn over her lost.” Ho looks down knowing that your words are true but you feel sorry for him. You do the only thing to help him. “I lost my mother at a very young age.”
He looks at you with wide eyes. You continue your story. “She contracted a diseased that nopony knows. There was no known cure for It." You look down towards the floor. “She died after one year from contracting the disease. I didn’t know what to do but I remember my mother telling me not to worry about her.” Then you raise your head and look outside. “She said to live my life the way I want to live and move on. Sure I cried for the first couple of days but I realize that she was right. After that I moved on and I became happy.” You look at Claymore and he you can tell that he feels ashamed of himself. “I am pretty sure that Archer would want you to be happy right now. Not broken up and just a hollow shell of the stallion she became friends with.”
He just stares up into the ceiling. We sat in silence for a couple of minutes. Claymore breaks the silence. “Your right. I always did blame myself and Archer would be very disappointed in me. I should have moved on but I haven’t been for the past four years.” He then turns around towards you. “Thank you for caring about me.”
He turns to look at you. You give him a caring smile. “Your welcome.” He is stunned at first but then smiles himself. “Well I have to get this paper written by tomorrow.” You get up and pack your things. You leave the room but before you do you turn around and tell him “I will bring the copy over tomorrow so you can approve of what I written. Will you still be here tomorrow?”
He looks at you and says “Yea I will still be here. They want to make sure I don’t have another relapse.”
You smile at his response and tell him “I will see you tomorrow after lunch then. Bye Claymore” You leave the room and run into the same nurse from yesterday.
“That was a nice thing you did.” You were stunned to hear her say that.
“What do you mean?” You ask.
“I heard the entire conversation. We tried to comfort him but he would always turn our help away. I was getting concerned for his health and I wanted to see him get better.” She looks at you. “You manage to make him feel better and had him get over the death of Archer.”
“I was just trying to help out a troubled soul. I hate seeing something like that happen to a good pony. It’s the least I can do.” You say nonchalantly.
“Well thank you any way.” She walks away but then turns around. “I forgot to mention, my name is Nurse Redheart.”
“Okay then, Nurse Redheart. I have to be going now. Goodbye.” You start to walk away but she stops you.
“Wait! I have another question.” She then walks back up to you. “Why do you have a coat on with sunglasses inside?”
You sigh. “I have a medical condition. I really don’t feel comfortable talking to you about it.”
“Oh sorry.” She apologizes. “Well I will see you tomorrow then.”
“Yea tomorrow after lunch.” You reply.
You walk out of the hospital and head towards your house. “Well the past two days were interesting but I have a story to sell. I think I have the name of the title.” You think to yourself. “Yes it’s perfect. This will be the best story yet!” You exclaimed in your mind.
You return to the hospital tomorrow to see Claymore again. You Nurse Redheart again and she takes you to go see him.
You enter his room and a smile comes across his face. “Well it’s good to see you boy. How goes the writing?” He asks you in a chipper mood.
You toss him the paper onto his bed. He looks at it before asking you. “What is it?”
“It’s the final draft. I worked all night to get it finish.” You beamed at him. “I think that it is my best works so far.”
He picks it up reads it. You notice that he has a stoic face on the entire time while reading it. You get nervous that he might reject you story.
“Boy.” He said. Then a smile appears on his face. “This story is brilliant!”
You smile at his comment. “Thank you. Do you have any changes in mind?”
“Yea, include more about my past because they won’t know who I am. Put that in the beginning and then just put everything after it. Other than that it is perfect.”
“Alright I see what I can do. But in the meantime…” You go into your saddlebag and take out a paper bag. “I brought you lunch in case you get hungry.”
He smiles at you again. “That’s very generous of you. Thank you.” You both sit there and eat your lunch talking about whatever comes to mind.
Two days later, you walk to a graveyard. Not the usual one you go to but a different one for ponies serving the Royal Guard. You walk up to a tombstone. “Well here it is you.” You tell yourself.
You see that it has her name and cutiemark on the tombstone. You read the engraving on the tombstone. Here lies Archer, I wonderful friend, a caring pony, and a loving daughter. May she rest in peace.
You go to your saddle bag to take out three things. One is a bouquet of flowers. The next thing is an arrow. You figure that you should lay down something the ponies will remember her. The last thing you put down is a newspaper article. On it, it read.
The Ghost of You
By: Anonymous
A soldier hung up on the past about a tragic battle the government hid four years ago that caused the death of his best friend…
You walk away from the tombstone. After walking a couple of meters you turn around. What happens next shocks you. You see a pony standing on her grave with a smile in her face. “Thank you” she said. You rub your eyes to only see that nopony is there. A small smile appears on you face. “Your welcome.” You whisper back and leave the graveyard.
