Tarli couldn’t believe his eyes. In this whole mess, the pegasus was the last thing he’d expected to see. The very nature of her existence seemed to defy everything this world seemed to embody. Her eyes were too soft and full of life, serving only to further mark her as an aberration in this hellscape.

Her bright-yellow fur even appeared to be able to banish darkness, reflecting the red blazes coming through the broken windows nearby. It was almost as if the sun itself had decided to come down from the sky and take a pony form. And speaking about the sky, the pony before him had a thick, pastel-blue mane that was only made more transfixing due to the contrast it had with her coat. Rather than only going down one side of her head and neck, the mane ran behind both ears down the sides of her head before coming back together at her chest, making it look from the front like a blue heart. Tarli found it cute, and couldn’t help but begin shuffling on his paws slightly.

But most of all, the one trait that Tarli couldn’t wrap his mind around was that there didn’t appear to be a speck of soot or debris on her. Despite the dozens of raging fires and the lack of any undamaged buildings, she looked no more disheveled than an average citizen less than a week ago.
If I’m not mistaken, you seem to be preoccupied with her appearance, don’t you think?Tarli heard the voice inside his head return, and based on the tone, it was clearly making fun of him. He was about to yell “Fuck off” back, before meeting pegasus’ green eyes, which caused him to forget the tongue in his mouth. Those irises looked like grass, slowly filling his mind with pictures of the greenfields near Isen, waving gently as the soft wind blew through the open space from the bay. Seeing their lazy movement and shine just before the shells hit the coast and turned them into a scorched wasteland was what brought some kind of peace to his soul.

“Are you just gonna stare at me?” Said pegasus turned her head down and to her right as her cheeks turned crimson and her ears folded back. It was only after seeing this reaction that Tarli realized that since finding her, he had been doing nothing but looking at this small creature as if she were a ghost.

“Excuse me,” he quickly murmured, moving his gaze off of the pegasus. Not wanting the current situation to lapse into silence, Tarli made an attempt to start a proper conversation. “Tarli,” he said awkwardly, raising his paw in tiny pegasus’s direction, only to then mentally face-palm. “I already told you that, didn’t I?”

The pegasus covered her smirk with a hoof and quickly replied with the same gesture. ”Wind Chaser, but everybody calls me Softy,” she replied, and almost immediately looked at Tarli’s bandaged leg. “What happened?” she asked gently, coming a bit closer, making the wolf-pony even more uncomfortable.

You really suck at face to face interactions.

“I had a small accident in a building nearby, but it’s all good,” he said, stepping back a bit, though the pegasus didn’t seem to be convinced.

“What building? I’ve been scavenging this area for a long time and I’ve never seen you,” Softy replied, her voice tinged with a hint of suspicion, frowning as she tried to remember which building she may have missed while on scavenging duties.

“This one, across the street.” Said Tarli, pointing his paw at the building where the helicopter had crashed. Softy gasped and she quickly came closer, giving the wolf-pony no time to react.

“Wait, what are you doing!” He yelled shocked when the pegasus had started checking his wounds.

“I saw the chopper crash into it a few hours ago. Were you inside when it happened? Were you the pilot?” Her series of questions slowly caused Tarli to develop a headache. He gently put his paw on her head and pushed her away slightly.

“I’m fine. I just arrived here. I was trying to jump over a small gap and slipped. Nothing serious,” he lied, trying to calm down Softy. She sighed before looking at the ground.

“I’m sorry, old habits,” she murmured, still staring at Tarli’s bandaged leg with a look that conveyed a desire to treat it.

“What do you mean? Are you a medic?” He had to start thinking about her nickname. Softy, huh? I bet twelve lunaruses that she was a doctor or corps he thought, still staring at the tiny pegasus.

“I used to be a haematologist practitioner at a local hospital.” She looked sadly out the window.

“Oh, great. I know that Isen always had a problem with those. Low wages, long shifts... only crazy ones wanted to work here,” Tarli smiled, trying to cheer up Softy, but she looked at him with a neutral expression, making him wonder if it had been the right thing to say in this situation.

“It didn’t matter. I just wanted to help wolves,” she said, getting closer to the window and staring at the oppressive clouds and pillars of flame. From ground level, they seemed to be even more massive than before.

The Wolf-pony subtly approached the pegasus, trying to figure out the correct words.

He wanted to cheer her up somehow, but he had never been a good speaker, and this whole mess inside of his head was only complicating things. In the end, he ended up sitting next to Softy in complete silence as she looked to be going through her memories. His best guess was that she was recalling her life before the city turned to ashes.
As he looked at her and thought this, Tarli decided to follow her lead and try to dig his memories out of darkness that had inundated his mind, but all he was greeted with was a harrowing void. This lack of definitive information regarding his history was causing him to bring his pre-war existence, before he awoke in the burnt building, into doubt.

“Do you want me to check your leg?” Softy’s warm voice dragged Tarli out of his mental exploration, making him crestfallen.

“Nah, it’s fine,” he said quickly, doing his best to hide the fact that each movement of his leg was the very definition of agony, but he was a terrible actor. Softy rolled her eyes.

“Every, single time” she whispered tiredly, pushing a shocked Tarli’s side.

“Wait! I’m fine!” He tried his best to resist while lying on the floor, but Softy was assuredly experienced with similar patients. She began to unwrap the improvised dressing around his legs, gently pulling out the metal pipes, all while displaying she was a true professional. Tarli was about to oppose what she was doing once again, but her dead-serious look got him to reconsider. He closed eyes, preparing for a wave of pain to accompany even her slightest touch.

“I swear, it’s not gonna hurt,” Softy calmly said before the pipes hit the ground with a loud series of clangs. Apparently, she was right, as her touch was painless. Her soft hooves were moving around the damaged limb so lightly that Tarli found it at some points strangely relaxing. The best way he could describe the feeling would be to equate it to a swarm of ants running across his fur. He closed his eyes as his mind slowly melted.

“Not good,” said Softy, rebandaging Tarli’s hind leg, dragging him out from the dreamland. He shot his eyes open as he felt the cold metal pipes being returned to their positions. “Seems you liked it though,” she said, smiling warmly with a dose of satisfaction. Yet again, Tarli was grateful for the thick layer of soot on his face, because he could feel the heat radiating from his cheeks.

“H-how’s the leg?” He tried to organically steer the conversation back to the original topic without exposing his feelings, but it was a harder prospect than he thought.

“Pretty bad. You’re gonna need a splint, that’s for sure. I think your bone moved a bit as well. Have you been jumping with it recently?” She looked at the wolf-pony suspiciously, causing Tarli to look to the ground to avoid eye contact.

“Maybe… just a bit.” He murmured, trying to sound convincing, but failed once again. However, Softy only rolled her eyes as she finished her bandaging. Tarli looked at her work and found it to be more professional than before. She definitely knows how to do it, he thought while standing up. A wave of dizziness suddenly struck him and almost caused him to hit the floor again, but Softy caught him just in time.

“Are you okay?” She asked when the wolf-pony finally found his pawing.

“Yeah. Just too much carbon,” He answered, but he wasn’t sure if that was the real reason. The pegasus stared at him, clearly thinking about something.

“I have some white crystal essence in my hideout. It should help ya,” she replied after a short pause. Tarli nodded, and before he knew what was going on, the pegasus suddenly rushed to his med box and pulled out a bandage.

“One more thing,” she deftly wrapped the dressing around Tarli’s body before he could react, stabilizing his broken leg.

“Damn, you’re fast,” he said impressed with her skill. Softy simply replied with an innocent smile.

“You’re not the first one to say that,” she replied with quiet giggling before heading towards the doors leading to the main street. “Imma wait for ya outside. We have to go. This place won’t be safe forever,” she said while disappearing behind a wall, leaving Tarli alone with his thoughts.

She is quite unique, don’t ya think? The voice spoke as Tarli stared at the doorway with a mixture of confusion and relief. He found her to be indeed quite unusual, and yet somehow familiar, though he really doubted it.

That being said, her reaction to his wounds made him kinda worried. She was acting like an angel, helping strangers without a thought. In this world, she was like a crystal in an ocean of detritus, and his mind was demanding he protect her at all cost. He couldn’t let her brilliance fade or disappear like the city that surrounded them. Though, he wasn’t sure if he was the right wolf to complete this task. I’m not the hero, nor the soldier, those words had been echoing inside his head since discovering that his radio only responded to his calls with static.

Let’s go, you don’t want to make your lady wait, do you? The voice giggled.

“Seems like you’re having a great time,” Tarli hissed, keeping his voice as low as possible so Softy won’t hear him.

Your struggling during the conversation was quite enjoyable. Its laugh caused Tarli to frown.

“I have a question…,” he stopped half-way to the doorway. There was something bugging him about this voice in his head. It seemed too independent to be his own thoughts.

What’s that? That was all the answer he needed to confirm that this voice wasn’t his own.

“Who are you?” he asked with unabashed curiosity. The voice chuckled before answering.

A friend, it answered simply, leaving even more questions.

“What do I call ya, then?” Tarli was far from being satisfied with this answer, but at least this confirmed that he wasn't completely crazy.

Whatever you want. It can be even, “An inner cunt”, but I don’t think it’s the right choice. Tarli could hear some kind of witty tone in the reply which made him confident that whoever was talking to him was using telepathy.

“Karit…,” Tarli whispered the first Lunar name that came to his mind. He wasn’t sure why it was the first thought, because it wasn’t that common at all, but it was better than calling it “The voice”..

Fair enough, The voice answered, seemingly satisfied with the choice. So… if we finally know each other, maybe we should join your lovely pegasus, huh? The giggling in Karit’s voice came back, causing Tarli to frown once again as he walked towards the doorway, coughing a black liquid out of his lungs.

Maybe “The inner cunt” wouldn’t be that bad a choice after all? Tarli thought and grinned slightly.

____________________________

Tarli walked outside and started to look around for Softy. He spotted her across the street, sitting next to the burnt body of the wolf resting next to the table and holding something that used to be a phone. She looked deeply thoughtful as she stared at the dead citizen. Tarli was a bit surprised at first, but quickly realized that unlike him, she wasn’t a soldier. Even though the wolf-pony had lost a good portion of his memories, the old behaviours, and the pictures flashing in front of his eyes got him to care much less about the dead bodies scattered everywhere.

He slowly approached Softy and immediately noticed small tears shining at the corners of her eyes.

“Hey?” he said gently, trying to get her attention, but Softy said nothing. Her green eyes were rooted to the wolf. Tarli gently poked her shoulder, but even this had no effect.

“Have you ever wondered what stories they had?” she said quietly, her tone somber and aloof, taking away Tarli’s voice for a second. He wasn’t sure what she was talking about. Softy turned her head slightly, giving him an unusual gaze full of pain and helpless. “You know, what kind of lives they lived before they died?” She added, seeing the confusion on Tarli’s face.

“Uh… not quite. I’ve seen too many of them” he replied honestly, seeing images of similarly lifeless individuals from the past flash before his eyes. He may not remember everything, but his mind seemed determined to recollect the parts of his past he would prefer to remain forgotten.

“Oh.” Softy sounded disappointed with this answer, making Tarli feel bad. He didn’t mean to sound like an emotionless soldier who took enemies’ lives without blinking. In fact, he was just a medic. He had trained to save those around him, not kill them.

He sighed deeply, grabbing the pegasus’ attention. “I’m gonna be honest with ya. That accident I had cleared out my memories. I can only remember fragments of my past,” he said, noticing Softy’s questionable look. She looked to be about to ask something, but he just continued.

“Ya know. I can’t remember who I was before the war. I can’t remember my friends or even my family, if I had one,” he paused for a second, trying to gather his thoughts again. Softy sat in front of him and waited.

“I just want to say, we all have stories. I’m pretty sure that all of us were someone else before this hell happened. I guess, this guy here…,” he pointed his paw at the grey mannequin before them and sighed deeply, “I think he was just another citizen living here. Maybe he’s got a text message from his girlfriend saying that she was gonna be late, or maybe he was checking the news on how the war was going, or maybe he was just playing a mobile game while waiting for food. I dunno. The thing is, his story ended with the blaze of incendiary bombs hitting the street, and I don’t need my memories to know that my job here is to not let others stories end like his,” Tarli once again took a deep breath and stared at Softy, waiting for an answer, wondering if he should say something more.

They sat in front of each other for some time after that, the interminable silence and lack of movement causing Tarli to start seeing dead soldiers in his mind’s eye. Many of them. In one memory, a young private was bleeding out on his paws, another, several soldiers had been blown up by a perfectly tossed grenade, devastating their bodies. He heard a voice saying “You failed to save them”. It wasn’t Karit, this one he had heard in his vision back in the building. Harsh, cold, and full of blame. He’d failed to save many lives, but deep down, he knew that not all of them can be saved.

Suddenly, Softy hugged him. Tarli gasped in shock, initially trying to push the pegasus away, but stopping himself after feeling her soft fur touching him through openings in his damaged ballistic vest.

“Pardon me?” His whispered, sounding far sadder than he had intended. Softy pulled away and looked into his eyes. From this distance, those eyes were even brighter than before, though, they were now full of sadness and… guilty?

“I’m sorry” she whispered ashamedly, stepping further back. Tarli was confused. He opened his mouth, trying to say something, but Softy was faster than his thoughts.

“I didn’t want to bring back bad memories for you. It’s just…,” she paused for a second, wiping her eyes. Tarli waited for her to continue, looking at her patiently. He didn’t want to force her. He wanted her to speak once she was ready to do so.

“I used to just be a nurse. I’ve never seen so many dead bodies in one place. Those burnt wolves… they look like mannequins, but still like living beings… It’s something I wasn’t familiar with… it feels like…,” she was taking a lot of breaks, clearly trying to find the correct words. Tarli put a paw on her nose, stopping the words from flowing. She didn’t have to say anymore. He gave her an understanding look and hugged her.

“I know…” he whispered as he felt her tears slowly moving down his back. She wasn’t a soldier nor a wolf who’d grew up in this world full of pain and death. The war was something new for her, and Tarli had seen it in her eyes the moment they met. She was trying to stay strong, but it’s hard when you’re alone in this madness and the only thing you hear are the bullets flying above your head. They’d only met a few minutes ago, but clearly she needed somebody who would understand the feeling of being inside this hell. Tarli could only guess for how long she had been here. However, it’s more than clear that it’s been too long.

They sat and hugged each other for quite a long time before Softy finally pulled away. She sniffed before once again wiping away her tears. Tarli noticed that the majority of the pain in her eyes had disappeared. The wolf-pony could only guess for how long it had been sitting inside her, but the most important thing was that she’d finally been able to cry it out. She did care about others’ lives and Tarli once again promised to himself to protect her from the darkness around.

“Better?” he asked gently, looking at her shaking, sky-blue eyes. Softy nodded, trying to not look at the burnt wolves nearby.

“Let’s get the hell out of here,” She said, quickly trotting down the street while avoiding the grey mannequins. Tarli followed, trying to not touch them as well. He knew that those empty shells were the only things left to remind others of the innocents who’d died in the fire.

_______

The wolf-pony and pegasus crossed though another destroyed building, moving through a broken wall that opened into what was once a bar. Softy suddenly stopped before going any further. Tarli slowly approached her, wondering what the reason for this abrupt halt was.

“Watch out. Scrags plant mines in places like this,” she whispered, slowly scanning the floor. Tarli stood next to her and peeked inside. The room was unutterably spatial. He spotted many broken chairs and tables scattered all around the place, with the bar in the middle being the only thing that was somehow still in one piece. The massive gold-trimmed wooden furniture that occupied the building had turned black due to the endless smoke that filled the building.

Suddenly Softy pointed at a small wooden plank lying just a few steps ahead. Tarli hadn’t noticed anything special about it, but upon closer inspection, he could see a small piece of green metal beneath it.

“Landmine,” he hissed, noticing that the trap had been expertly placed and hidden. Positioned just in front of doors to catch any would-be survivors.

“Why?” He asked, looking at Softy with curiosity. She rolled her eyes like the answer was too simple.

“They plant them to kill any soldiers left behind. Bars, restaurants, basically anywhere that might have food or something to drink. It’s a good way to not have to deal with them personally,” she said sadly, slowly approaching the trap, and carefully avoiding it.

“Well, I guess they don’t care about civs,” Tarli replied, following her steps. As they kept moving forward, the wolf-pony could see even more explosive devices of different sizes hidden in dark places. Underneath one pile of rubbish, somebody even placed an anti-tank mine, for some reason.

“Who really does?” she asked, appallingly calmly while jumping over a small wire, connecting two wooden parts.

“I do,” Tarli spoke and they got closer to the bar. Tarli peeked over the wooden countertop and stopped the gag reaction at the last second. Softy quickly ran towards him, involuntarily trying to take a look, but wolf-pony smoothly pushed her away.

“No. You don’t wanna see this,” he said, fighting with his stomach.

“What’s there,” she asked curiously, but Tarli could see in her eyes, that she wasn’t sure if she wanted to know the answer after all.

“I think I’ve found the barman,” he said, as a lump in his throat went away.

“Been searching for him for quite a long time to get his staff room key. Now at least I know that he didn’t leave,” she snorted with a shy smile, which quickly disappeared as Tarli gave her a scolding look. He rolled his eyes, and kept moving, avoiding more tripwires and mines

When they'd reached a huge window across the room, the area’d begun to gently vibrate. Tarli quickly hid behind the wall and looked outside. The whole road was covered in smoke, so he couldn’t see what was coming. Softy quickly joined him as the vibrations got stronger. For sure it was a heavy vehicle closing in, but it was hard to tell if it was an enemy or an ally.

“What is going on?” Softly asked as the wooden floor shook as if they were experiencing an earthquake. Shortly after, Tarli could hear the sound of the engine slowly raising.

“Vec. Following the engine’s sound, it’s not ours.” He responded, pushing himself harder to the wall. He knew the sound and it wasn’t friendly. Lunar combat vehicles were much louder and with higher revving engines. They sounded more like turbines than typical engines.

“I thought you lost your memories,” Softly asked in confusion, as the vehicle got closer.

“I have, but once you hear that sound, you can’t forget it, no matter what,” He said, slowly peeking out of his cover. In the smoke at the end of the street, a large black silhouette appeared, reminding Tarli of the first days of the Lizard offensive when a horde of similar black shapes slowly came out of a covering of smoke, rolling up the beaches and breaking through the first line of Lunar defences. The pictures of amphibious tanks closing in, completely ignoring the heavy suppressing fire, once again filled Tarli’s vision, paralyzing him, as The silhouette was slowly coming out of the smoke he began to feel even more defenceless and weak. During his mental fight with the flood of memories, he noticed Softy’s screams, but his body was refusing to move.

Suddenly, a strong pull tossed him behind the wall, and before his eyes, Softy’s head appeared. She was saying something, but Tarli was feeling like he was high on some kind of drug. He then started coughing out a black snoot from his lungs, losing his breath with each hack.

Then unexpected pain filled his senses, dragging him out of his nightmares. He shook his head and looked at Softy who was massaging her hoof, looking troubled.

“All good?” she asked loudly as the vehicle was dangerously close. Tarli cleared out his lungs from the remains of the black liquid and nodded.

He peeked once again to examine the tank, but as his eyes met the street again, he pulled back. The amphibious tank was no more than a few meters away. It was a long, tall, box-like armoured transporter, with sloped front armour, and mounted with some kind of long bumper-like equipment. Befitting its construction, it possessed a ramp to improve its displacement and stabilize it while in the water. On top of this rolling box, the disproportionately small turret had been placed. Based on the barrel’s width and length, Tarli could assume it was a 20mm autocannon, supported by a small, coaxial machine gun next to it. On the turret’s rear, a small box was barely visible, probably for additional infantry equipment.

Tarli hugged the wall at the last second as the steel box slowly passed them by. It appeared that the crew didn’t see the bright-brown wolf-pony looking at them. It looked to be about to pass the bar until it suddenly stopped. Where it had stopped though was only being partly obstructed by the wall they were using to hide, allowing Tarli to see its rear. Nobody was peeking out of hatches, so he was beginning to think now was a good time to sneak around their new guest.

Suddenly, the small turret turned towards one of the upper sections of a building in front of the bar. To Tarli, both the size and movement of the gun made it seem more cute than threatening.

Several loud bangs then reverberated across the street, making Softy squeak in terror. Three 20mm bullets ripped off a section of damaged wall from the building. The rubble from this hit the pathway below the building, breaking the tiles with loud concrete agony. Tarli involuntarily looked at Softy. She was sitting behind him and curled up like a cat. Her head was being covered by her shaking front hooves.

I guess, she’s not familiar with this said Karit stated apathetically. Tarli looked at the tank again, finding its turret spinning around as it searched for anything to shoot at. Apparently, the gunner found nothing worth his cannon shells and the metal box started to slowly roll again, turning behind another building. Shortly after, the noises from the engine started to gradually fade out. When the silence came back, Tarli checked Softy, who was still lying on the floor, shaking, and covering her head.

“Hey, are you alright?” he asked considerately, reaching for Softy’s mane. She did not respond, so Tarli grabbed her cheeks and slowly raised her nose. Her eyes were still closed.

“Hey, look at me. It’s all good. It’s gone,” he was trying to comfort her and it seemed to work as her breathing was slowing down. She opened her eyes and gave him a scarred look, which was slowly filling up with relief.

“I-I’m s-sorry” she murmured but Tarli just patted her with a smile.

“First time hearing a gunshot?” he asked, checking the street.

“First time hearing cannons shot from that close. It was so loud and unexpected,” she answered more confidently. “Scared the hell out of me” he added quieter as she was ashamed of her panic attack.

“It’s fine. You’ve reminded me of my first contact with a high-calibre gun. It went off next to me, unexpectedly.” Tarli smiled, looking at Softy, who seemed to feel much better as her legs had stopped shaking.

“Had a panic attack as well?” She asked with curiosity. Tarli smiled nervously while scratching his neck.

“Well… I... had to change my uniform” he answered awkwardly causing Softy to start giggling. “We should go. It looks clear.” Tarli then gently jumped through the window.

Author's Note

Here is Softy ^^