Once A Shadow - From the other side

Yesterday was a bit of good and bad. We took down a base of necromancers and saved a little filly, got a new (unofficial as of yet) member to the group, and I finally got to see a bit of combat. Unfortunately our target got away, and two civillians died in the process. But it's as Spitfire said; you gotta take the good with the bad. I woke up and trotted into the sanctuary, and to my surprise everyone was there, even Princess Luna. However, it seemed as if the party had just finished, as Luna teleported away.

"Hey, what did I miss?" I asked.

"Oh, hey Hornet. Princess Luna came by for the mission debrief, and she'll be back later for something special." Spitfire said to me.

"Really? What's so special? Wait, don't tell me. It's-"

"A secret, at least for now. Don't worry, you'll find out later. You've still got time until she gets back, so you should go finish up on some things. I believe you still have to return those books you borrowed from the Ponyville library?"

I gave myself a facehoof. "Oh shit, almost forgot about that. I'll go do that now, I'll be back later." I rushed up to my room and grabbed the books. Just then, I felt a sharp twinge in my wings. Figuring I just clipped the doorway I just kept going. As I arrived in Ponyville, It was decently warm, with a nice cool breeze to go with it. I flew down to the library and knocked on the door, a few seconds later Twilight opened the door. Her mane was slightly ruffled and she had a dazed look about her.

"Oh, hey. What brings you here?" She asked.

I pulled out my books. "Just came by to drop these off."

"Oh, okay. I'll take those." She said as she levitated the books inside. "By the way, a friend of yours came by yesterday. He was wondering if he could find a place to stay for a bit, so I pointed him towards Sweet Apple Acres."

"Did he say what he wanted?"

"He said he wanted to talk to you about something. If you find him tell him I said hi."

"Sure, I'll do that. Oh, and sorry about interuppting whatever you and Barry were doing." I joked. As I turned around and left I thought great, who is it this time? Is it another agency grunt? A vengeance fueled necromancer? Or could it actually be one of my old friends? Guess I'll just have to find out. After a short flight, I arrived at Sweet Apple Acres. I trotted over to the barn to find Applejack and Big Mac stacking some barrels.

"Well hi sugar-cube, what brings y'all the way out here?" The hat wearing pony asked.

"Uhh, I'm looking for a friend of mine. Twilight said he'd be out here."

She put her hoof to her chin. "Oh, that's right! I'll get him for ya. HEY, BUCK SHOT! YER FRIEND'S HERE!"

Buck Shot, how original.

A few seconds later, he appeared. He was a decently built pegasus, who almost looked like Big Mac, except this guy had wings. "Hornet, is that you?" he said in a gruff texan accent.

"Shit, is that you, sir?"

"Well hot damn, it's really good to see ya son! Come over 'ere, we need to talk." We walked outside of the barn and out to a small field.

"So it's really you Tex, isn't it?"

"Yup, flesh and bones. I gotta say, I feel much younger."

"Well technically you are." I said.

He laughed. "Well you know what they say, old soldiers never die."

"Speaking of which, how DID you die?"

He paused for a few seconds. "After you died, I was put in charge of a group sent on a counter-offensive against the Russians, which apparently were behind the attack."

"Really? I never would have guessed." I said sarcastically.

"I guess I should be hating AND thanking you, because spending that time in Russia got me bored. REALLY bored. So bored in fact, that I decided to start watching My Little Pony. And you know what? I actually liked it, believe it or not. The dumb thing was that my boredom got the better of me. I went into a bar one night and being as bored as I was, decided to join in on a game of Russian Roulette. You can guess what happened next."

"Ha ha, now THAT I never would have guessed. So you basically shot yourself because you were bored? That's rich."

"Yup, just about. I'm staying here for the moment, Applejack reckons I can be rather useful round here. But honestly? I think she has a crush on me."

"Ha, keep dreamin' buddy."

"Speaking of unlikely things, have you managed to accomplish anything during your time here, or have you been sitting on your ass the whole time?" He joked.

"As a matter of fact, yes I have. I'm a part of Equestria's best flying team, The Wonderbolts, earning more than I probably ever would have in my old life. YOU on the other hand are working on an apple farm, most likely earning no pay whatsoever. Notice the difference?" I said.

"Yes, you're a cocky bastard and I'm not. Notice the difference?" He said mockingly.

"yeah yeah, very funny. So what happened after I died?"

He sighed. "After you went down, against my orders no less, reinforcements arrived. They took out the rest of the jets, and as it turns out the pilot of the jet you crashed survived. He confessed he was working with the Russians to temporarily cripple our new project, apparently they had a little project of their own they wanted to test. Unfortunately the F-18's could easily overshadow their project, so they sent out that little party to stall our project so they could modify theirs. As I mentioned before, afterwards I was sent to Russia to take down their project. The rest you know." Just then he turned around and saw Applejack waving at him. "Well, looks like I have to go back to work. I'll see you sometime later Hornet."

"You too Sir. And by the way, that's a REALLY original name you've got there, Buck Shot." I joked. I flew back to the Wonderbolts HQ, where upon arrival I was greeted by a smiling Spitfire and Princess Luna.

"There you are," Spitfire said "I was about to start looking for you. Are you ready for your promotion?"

"I most certainly am. I'm assuming this is why Princess Luna is here?" I asked.

"yes. The promotion to Captain requires the audience of at least two other Captains and the princess, with the Archer squad Captain on business elsewhere we will make do with me and Night Wing."

"Also," the princess said "That the special potion for the Captain rank is kept in safe storage in the royal palace, under our protection."

"Which is why the Princess left earlier." Spifire continued. "But now that we're all here, we can get things underway. So if you could all follow me, we'll be underway." I nodded and followed them into the sanctuary to find Night Wing waiting for us. "Oh good, you're here. Now, let's get this going. Are you nervous Hornet? 'Cause you don't have to do this if you don't want to."

I turned to her confidently. "Spitfire, I gave my life to serve my country, my home. I was given a second chance at life, and I plan to send this life serving my new home, regardless if I die or not, this is what I will do. If I die now, I will die knowing that I served us all proudly. So yes, while I am nervous, and I have every right to be, I will do this, because I feel this is what I was born to do, what I was brought into this world to do. Now quit stalling and give me that vial, I've got a promotion to recieve."

She stood to attention, gave me a salute, and handed me the potion. "Don't die on me, you hear?" she said.

"No," I replied " I won't. It's as a friend of mine said: Old soldiers never die, and being immortal I don't plan on dying anytime soon." I took the vial, gave it a quick sniff and jugged it. After a few seconds waiting to find I was still alive, I turned to the others. "So, what happens now?" I asked.

"Now," Spitfire said "you get a medical examination. We need to make sure you're in top condition for the long road ahead. Come on, I'll take you to the hospital."

"What, you can't afford to have a doctor here?" I asked.

"Not so much that, as we wouldn't be able to find a doctor that would be able to keep our secret, that and we would need a whole team of doctors to treat the injuries that we sometimes get. Doing that would be expensive and almost pointless, considering we have the medic squad. But since you're the medic Captain, we have to take a different approach. Don't worry, this sort of thing has been done before, you'll be in good hooves (hands)."

We arrived at the Cloudsdale hostpital and walked inot the reception, where a unicorn in a doctor's coat greeted us. "Ah, hello Spitfire, a pleasure as usual." He said before looking to me. "Let me guess, he needs a patchup?"

She chuckled. "Thankfully not this time doc, I just need a medical checkup for him, make sure he's in tip-top shape for our next performance."

"Right, this way. I'll have to ask you to remain here Spitfire, doctor/patient confidentiality, I'm sure you understand."

"Of course. I'll be waiting here for you when you're finished."

The doctor turned to me again. "Follow me to my office if you will." I nodded and followed him unitl we reached his office.

One medical exam later...

"Okay, all done." The doctor said. "I have good news and I have bad news." Oh great, The situation you hope never happens is here. Yipee-fucking-kayay. "I'll start with the good news. Apart from one thing you are in perfect shape."

"And the bad news?"

He sighed. "Your wings are that one thing. It appears you are suffering from some kind of calcium deficiency, causing the bones in your wings to deteriorate."

"So what, just drink a bit more milk every day and I'll be fine?" I joked.

"I'm afraid it's a bit more complex than that. Normally what you just said would do the trick, but unfortunately that's not the case. The calcium in your wings are diminishing faster than it can be replenished, which is causing the deterioration. I did some tests, and the cause seems to be some sort of hallucinogen, I won't ask how it got into your system, but that is apparently what started it. I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do."

I just sat there, completely gobsmacked. This is not happening, this is not happening, this is not happening, this is not happening! I really don't want to have to tell this to Spitfire, she'll have a fit, and then some!

"However," the doctor continued "There is something than can help. It's completely illegal, but I'm guessing you're the kind of pony who would take that risk."

I perked my head up. "what is it?"

He checked to make sure that no-one else could hear. "Necromancy."

"Necromancy?"

"yes. I don't know anypony personally who can do it, but I'm guessing somepony with your connections would be able to find somepony."

I stood up. "Say no more, doc. I'll be going if that's all." I trotted out of the office and back to the main entrance, where Spitfire was waiting for me. "sorry Spitz, can't talk. I have to go talk to Crystal, meet you back at the HQ." I whizzed by her and took off. I flew for what seemed hours, and with each passing minute my wings felt harder and harder to control. I swear I heard a crack at one point. Finally my wings gave out with a sickening crack, and I plummeted to the ground. I hit the ground and bounced twice (ow), before sliding forward and digging through the ground to create a small crater. Not wanting to give up, I started dragging myself and continued forward, only to stop a few meters away to stop my wings from being damaged any further. Well this is rather ironic, I just got promoted to the Captain of the Medic squad and yet here I am, lying helplessly next to a ditch. With every second passed my vision faded, and with one final effort I tried to lift myself up with my wings, with no sucess. Looks like karma finally found it's opportunity, to which I say fuck you.

So what do you think is going to happen next? I you have any ideas or requests I'll be happy to listen to them.
See you all after the apocalypse! :)