Welcome Home Soldier

The wind was howling over the large hills, the sand moved about like a living creature, shifting as frequently as the sea. Yet in its own desolate way, it was quite beautiful. It was hot, and endlessly challenging, but beautiful.

It had taken Sharp three months to really and truly see the beauty of this land, and in those three months he had been part of several engagements with the rebels. Now he was on guard duty along with his squad mates and their corporal. They guarded a checkpoint along one of the roads leading to one of the bigger cities. Their job was simple enough, search anyone who wanted to go through, check for weapons, note their identity, and if all is well, allow them through.

The checkpoint consisted of two fortified positions on each side of the road, then some open space leading to the cliffs, and between the positions and the cliffs were a sea of mines. They had not been placed by Equestrian forces, they had been placed by the order of the city commander, their ally. There was no fence to speak of to keep ponies away from the minefields, only a few warning signs separated by ten meters were placed along the field.

Their positions were holes in the ground, half a meter down, then a lot of sandbags, a few openings to allow them to fire through, and of course a simple roof that kept rattling in the wind. The position on the right side of the road housed the machine gun, always at the ready, sticking out of the position like a spear or a thorn, signaling danger and sending a powerful warning. Behind it was Zandre, the only zebra of their squad. He was as strong as they came, and as calm as the summer breeze. His helper was Clover Hoof, an earth pony from the Highlands with a love for alcohol and a good brawl. Mostly they sat in the hole as the machinegun always had to be ready.

The left side position was bigger, it held a communication line, four bunk beds, a table, and supplies. Like in the machine gun position, there too was an opening facing the road, ready to fire if necessary. The only time they would spend time down there was to get out of the sun for a bit, take shelter from smaller sandstorms, or to eat and sleep. Silver Star, their medic, and the only one from Canterlot, mostly found himself down there. Out of all of them, he was probably the one who had grown the most. Sure, he could still come off as a big arrogant, and he often argued with Clover Hoof, but he was as much a soldier as any of them, and a good friend.

Other than Silver Star, their corporal also often sat down there, doing the reports and communicating with command back in the city every so often. He was a mild mannered stallion, not as old as Zandre, but not as young as Sharp. He was a good corporal, and he shared a close bond with his squad.

That only left Sharp Shooter and his best friend Pin Point. They had the immense honor of standing guard and acting as spotters out in the open. They moved around the positions, walking back and forth here and there, using their binoculars to look across the fields of rocks, sand, and the road leading up to their checkpoint.

They had been here for three stinking days, only relieved late at night, and then moved back out early in the morning. 12 hour shifts, and they all hated it. The road was not well traveled, very few ever took this road, in the three days they had been out here, only four ponies had come through. It was not like they didn't understand why it needed to be guarded, but it was just so boring, and nopony in the company wanted to get this post as their assignment.

Still, today was a better day, the wind was gentle, and it cooled them down in the hot sun. Sharp could appreciate that at least. Pin on the other hoof groaned loudly. "When does our shift end?!"

"In six hours, you're halfway there." Sharp replied as they trotted towards the checkpoint. Both walked on their hindlegs, carrying their rifles in both their front hooves. Despite having gotten used to it, it still felt rather strange to be moving like this. "We only have tomorrow left, then we can enjoy some free time, and the city," said Sharp, trying to cheer his friend up.

Pin simply groaned. "It's not just about the assignment, we need to clean our uniforms when we get back, and all that sand, it gets in everywhere."

"You would have to do that anyway!" Their corporal, Shadow Mist, laughed as he got up from the makeshift bunker. "Anything to report?"

"No, nothing sir," replied Sharp.

"Just like an hour ago, nothing." Pin put in.

Shadow nodded. "Alright, you better get into the bunker, command has apparently noted a small sandstorm heading this way, nothing serious, but I rather we keep close so we don't wander into the minefield by mistake."

"Yes sir," both ponies acknowledged as they both went down into the bunker. Silver Star was sitting down there, his helmet and most of his heavy equipment was off.

"Anything to report?" Silver asked in an almost mocking tone.

"Very funny.." Pin responded as he took off his helmet, placed his rifle at the wall and sat down on a bench. "There is never anything to report, and now we are going to be stuck here."

Sharp chuckled, sat down across from Pin and took off his helmet. "We could play cards, then Silver could do his job and keep an eye out for us"

"A sand storm is coming, I would not be able to see anything before it was right in front of us." Silver replied. "Besides," he continued with a smirk. "I need to be ready to put you guys back together if you end up getting shot."

"You're always such a ball of fun.." Pin mumbled, getting out his rations. "By the way, did you hear back from your father?"

Silver sighed and moved over to sit with them. "No, not yet. I've tried writing to him again, but still nothing."

"I don't get it," said Pin. "If you want to be a Royal Guard so much, why not stay back in Equestria and reapply?"

"I'll get more experience here," said Silver and took the deck of cards. "Besides, somepony has to save your asses when you get yourself shot."

It only took an hour for the sandstorm to hit, it wasn't anything dangerous, it was mild compared to what it could have been. Still, one didn't want to be out there, it was hard to see anything, and when you moved up the road you wanted to make sure to stick to the road and not fall off the cliffs, or trot into the minefield.

Sharp, Pin, Silver and Shadow Mist sat around the table playing cards, thinking no one would be idiotic enough to try and travel along the road in this weather. Fate however seemed to have other plans, it started with the phone ringing, it came from the bunker on the other side with Zandre and Clover. Shadow stood up and went over to answer.

"Yes?"

"Somepony is coming up the road."

"What? In this weather?"

"See for yourself sir."

"Alright, standby." Shadow put down the phone, walked over to the opening they had covered with planks. He slid it open and just as Clover had said, somepony was making their way up towards them. "He must have some balls.." Shadow mumbled and went back to the phone. "Clover, put on your gear and meet us outside."

"Wha? Aren't I a helper?"

"I don't think the machine gun is going to be too much help here, besides, in this weather we need to be extra careful."

"Alright, as you say, sir."

They both hung up and he turned to the three ponies sitting at the table. "What's going on?" Sharp asked.

"Somepony is trying to get through, you know the drill. Silver Star, I want you to join us out there, can't be too careful."

"Sir."

"And put on your masks and goggles, it's going to be hard to breathe and see without them."

They all donned their equipment and made their way outside. The wind was not too strong, not enough to make it hard to trot, but it was enough that they had to speak louder than normal. The sand swirled around them, making the task at hoof much more difficult, and annoying.

With their corporal taking the lead, Sharp and his three squad mates followed, trying their best to stand on their hindlegs with their rifles, but the wind made it extra difficult. The wagon had at that moment made it close enough for the driver to see them, a local, hitched to the wagon seemed to tense up as the five of them made their way towards him.

Shadow Mist stepped up, trying to look as friendly as he could through his mask and goggles, but it was a losing battle. Sharp could hear him introducing himself, and asking a few standard questions. The local started to talk in a mix of his own language and theirs, making it hard and confusing to make heads or tails out of anything.

As far as Sharp could get out of it, he was on his way to the city to visit family, he was not doing anything illegal, something he repeated again and again. Poor corporal Shadow tried his best to calm the stallion down, telling him he was not under arrest, it was just a checkpoint to make sure he was not transporting anything illegal.

It took several tries for the corporal to finally make the stallion understand he was not being arrested, and they were just going to search his wagon, get his name, and then he would be allowed to continue, easy, right? Well it would have probably been easier if they didn't argue in the middle of a bucking sandstorm. Finally the stallion seemed to understand, and he reluctantly agreed they could search his wagon.

He ordered Sharp, Pin and Clover to start the search while Silver stayed with him and the still tense stallion. Pin started to examine the bottom of the wagon, trying to see if there was anything strapped in place to keep it hidden. Sharp could not see what Clover was doing, best guess he was checking the sides of the wagon to see if anything was hidden.

Sharp in the meantime made his way to the back and up to the entrance. The whole wagon was made of wood, almost like a house on wheels. Making his way to the door, he opened it up, expecting to find nopony inside, but he was wrong. Sharp had barely made it two steps inside before he saw something move.

"Hello?"

He tried, but no one responded. It only took him three more steps inside before he spotted it, a bundle of blankets shaking. Took him about a second to figure out what it was, and when he removed the blankets he found himself to be right. A filly, looking up at him with terrified eyes. Poor thing, Sharp estimated she was no more than seven years of age, or around there. She had probably never seen a soldier like him before, and he probably looked scary with his mask and goggles.

"Hey little one, it's okay, I'm a pony." He said soothingly, hoping to calm the foal down. Reaching up he pulled down the mask and the goggles, giving her a warm smile. It seemed to calm her a little bit, but she was still nervous. Sharp couldn't blame her, he tried his best to explain everything was fine, and her father was right outside. She didn't understand, probably couldn't understand Equish. Well, hopefully she understood he meant her no harm.

"Sharp." Someone called from the entrance. Sharp turned around, finding Clover standing near the door. "Pin needs your help."

Sharp nodded, putting back his goggles and mask, giving the confused filly one last look before he went outside. "There's a foal in there, can you keep an eye on her?"

"I'll search the wagon." Clover agreed and the two switched places.

It took a moment to spot Pin, but he quickly found him lying under the wagon, seeming to fiddle with something. "You found something?" Sharp asked, making his way down to him.

Pin shrugged. "Maybe, whatever it is, it was well hidden. Probably just some valuables he doesn't want the city guard to get their hooves on. I hear they can be a bit greedy."

Sharp nodded, laying down beside him and looked up. Above was a cocoon like package, something long wrapped in thick white fabric. Sharp reached down, pulling out his knife and started to cut at the thick rope keeping the package in place. Whatever it was, it was well wrapped, well protected from the elements. If it was something valuable it would be a nightmare to wrap back up, so before they got too far, Sharp placed a hoof on Pin, stopping him from cutting more of the straps.

Pin didn't ask why, he simply looked on as Sharp reached up, cutting through the fabric itself. It was quicker, and easier to fix if nothing was amiss. Unfortunately, something was. Sharp spotted weapons, not just any weapons, but rifles, Sharp recognized them instantly.

"Pin.."

He scooted closer to Sharp, looked up and gasped. "Holy Celestia.." Pin looked over the size of the package. "There must be about a dozen.. Maybe more, maybe less... It's hard to tell." He looked at Sharp. "Go tell the corporal, I'll see if I can get a better look."

Sharp nodded, moving out from under the wagon. This was not going to be very pleasant, of course, maybe there was an explanation to all of this, but whatever it was, they had to detain the stallion until he and his daughter could be taken to the city and interrogated by the local authorities, a process they had very little to do with.

"Sir." Sharp said, gaining Shadow Mist's attention. "We found weapons, they're hidden under the wagon." Maybe it was his tone of voice, maybe he had seen Sharp coming up from under the wagon, whatever it was, the stallion knew what they had found. He started shouting, talking fast in a confusing mix of their language and his own.

Shadow did his best to calm him down, but nothing seemed to work. "Calm down, calm down!" It was getting out of control, the large stallion seemed to become aggressive, not that he was going to attack them, but he seemed to have a mind to just run off.

Suddenly the stallion became quiet, gave a brief look towards the wagon, then yelled something, pointing in the direction of the city. Before Sharp could figure out what he was doing, Clover yelled. "Sharp!!" Looking back to the wagon, Sharp saw Clover rounding the corner, looking frantic. "The foal!"

Neither the corporal or Silver understood, but Sharp did. His eyes widened as he looked towards the checkpoint, then moved his eyes more to the right just in time to see the foal vanishing from sight. Panic shot through Sharp like a lightning bolt, he dropped his rifle, got down on all fours and ran after the foal.

"NO! STOP!"

"Sharp!" His corporal called, but Sharp didn't listen.

The foal had no idea about the cliffs, or worse yet, the minefield! His heart pounded, his mind went blank, the only thing he focused on was the foal. He had no idea how far he had gotten, but it didn't matter, his worst fear became realized when he saw a flash, then felt the sound of the upcoming, BOOM!

Sharp fell into the sand, his ears hurting, giving a painful ringing sound. As far as he knew, he wasn't hurt, but his mind raced, he tried to get up, tried to move forward in a desperate attempt to reach the foal. Before he could get much farther though, he was grabbed by several hooves, dragging him back.

Sharp screamed, trying to fight it. He couldn't accept what had just happened, he refused to. In the end, it was of no use. Clover and Pin were dragging him back while the corporal and Silver, soon to be joined by Zandre, wrestled with a crying and screaming stallion. Sharp looked at him with anger in his eyes, but at the end the anger was washed away with sadness and pity.

He had sent his foal out in that minefield, not knowing about it made little difference. There was a sandstorm, and whatever he hoped to accomplish by sending his seven year old out there, it was apparently worth the risk. Now he understood though, hearing the explosion, he knew full well what he had done. He had sent his daughter to her death....

In the days that followed Sharp found himself depressed. An investigation had been launched, but found no wrongdoing. Sharp didn't agree, he felt justice had not been served. Captain Fairfax had sent him and his squad back to outpost Solaris, they still had time off, but it was so the reporters from Prance could not get a hold of them.

The father had been arrested, having tried to smuggle in weapons, and having ties to the rebels, it was an easy decision for the Saddle Arabian authorities. Sharp didn't feel any pity for the stallion, but he didn't think prison could punish him anymore than his own guilt.

Sharp replayed the experience over and over again in his mind, trying to find blame, trying to figure out what he should have done differently. Clover was supposed to watch her, but the filly had climbed out the window. Pin could have spotted her from under the wagon, but had probably not heard her thanks to the wind. Then there was the father, shouting to his daughter to run to the city. Apparently she was supposed to warn whoever her father was going to meet with.

The thought of involving a foal in something so dangerous, to send her into a sandstorm, it frustrated him, made him angry. Then there was his own failure, he had failed in reaching the foal in time, failed to save her, and now she was gone. The sound of the explosion kept repeating in his mind, like a terrible echo.

The only good thing that they had determined was that death had been instant, the foal had felt no pain, wouldn't even have realized what had happened before everything just ended. It was a hollow comfort, because Sharp could not understand the insanity of it all. A foal, not even at the age of ten, running into a sandstorm as per ordered by her father and then just gone, just in that instant, seven years of life snatched away in just a second.

Sharp changed after that, a part of him died along with that little filly. That day would forever be burned into his memories, and Sharp would never be the same again.