Black Tulip

Black Tulip

"Fuck!"

I shot up in a terrible fright, sweat drenching my clothes as my heart slammed against my ribs like a wild jackrabbit. My body was shaking violently as the memories of previous engagements wreck my psyche. A light breeze blew my hair back, and the smell of fresh air and burning rubber filled my senses.

Wait, burning rubber?

I turned around to see what was creating that smell. To my horror, the helicopter was now a smoldering wreck. Inside was five charred dead bodies. Their eyes had completely melted to go, faces plastered with an eternal look of fear and pain. Bile rose in my throat as I felt my stomach-churning.

M-my friends! My only friends!

My hands shook and my vision blurred, I felt my guts get tied up in a tightening knot. A heavy molten weight pulled my heart down to my stomach whilst burning it. Tears poured out of my tired eyes as I watched my world burn in front of me. My old life and whatever remained from the days of innocence, and childhood, are now dead in a Soviet helicopter.

Welcome, to the soldier side... There is no one here but me.

I didn't sob though. I didn't mourn, I simply grabbed my gun and tightened my gear. Turning around, I saw a dense forest behind me. Maybe we're in the Nuristan national forest reserve? I didn't know but I didn't care anymore. I began to walk through the thicket.

Every bone and muscle fiber ached as I trudged through the thick forest. Crickets chirping, branches snapping, owls hooting, water flowing, every sound gave me a miniature heart attack. The temperature only lowered the further I ventured into the deathly forest. Feline eyes observed my every move. The eyes stalked me, preparing for the opportune time to strike me down. My hands shook ever slightly as I held the old rifle in my bloodied hands. My eyes felt like they were going to bleed yet my face was numb. Damn fatigue.

I stumbled across an extensive swamp, the sound of buzzing bugs and the thick swamp water made my stomach churl a little. It was a truly disgusting sound. But I had to soldier on regardless of my wants, my needs require me to traverse this swamp.

Slowly I moved through the swamp, my legs felt like twelve hundred pound blocks of lead. The swamp did not want to let them go, but I had no choice in the matter. My pace was slow and steady, if I took it fast I'd likely fall into the water. If I do fall, I won't have the energy to get out, drowning is not a fun way to die. Especially in Afghani shit water.

But is this even Afghanistan anymore? I have never seen a swamp in Afghanistan before. And I would know since I've been there for a long time. I don't know. And quite frankly, I don't care. Right now I need to get out of this swamp.

Thankfully, I didn't have to travel for that much longer in that damned swamp. Up ahead there was dry land again, and the forest was also starting to become less dense. I made my way towards the land, grabbing a hold of it and climbing out of the water. My body was drenched in mud and shit water, but my gear was mostly fine. I started walking through the forest again, the frigid breeze wreaked havoc on me but I pulled through. I had to. I don't want to die.

Hours went by, the pain was becoming more and more intolerable by the minute. I was freezing to death. I feel like I'm going to collapse and not get back up. Luckily, there was a clearing ahead, I was almost out of the damned forest. The bushes at the end of the forest sliced through my clothes and knicked my flesh. The wounds burned like fire as blood spilled down my skin. But I ignored them and marched through.

I managed to finally escape the forest, my heart skipped a beat as I stepped on bright green grass. Ahead of me was a beautiful plain of grass and flowers. To my left, I saw more plains, and to my right, I saw a large cottage in the distance. The cottage was rather small and it rested on top of a large hill. Not much else that I can say. Before I could even try to walk over to the cottage, my legs gave way and I plummeted to the ground.

And the world went black.

The sun was shining high in the sky, the breeze was very light and it carried the distinct smell of fresh flowers. Spring started a few weeks ago and they could already tell it was going to be a good year. Fluttershy had decided to go for a walk since it was such a great day. No thanks in part to the pegasi and the princesses.

My, what a beautiful day. Great weather as well, the weather ponies must've put 110℅ into their work.

She was trotting on the dirt road towards the forest, as she wanted to see something new. Take a small risk, which was highly unusual for the introverted mare to do. However, she decided to take the chance after the problem with iron will. She needed to build some confidence in her abilities.

The everfree had a very nasty reputation and for good reasons. The forest was, as far as they knew (which was very little), filled to the brim with many monsters. Manticores, Cockatrices, Usar majors, changelings, violent fairies, possibly undiscovered tribes, timber wolves, anomalies, and probably many more species that haven't been discovered yet. It was much like the ocean, only not tens of thousands of miles long and wide. Probably only a few hundred. Which is still a lot in its own right.

She was very astute when it came to the dangers of the everfree and its inhabitants. Even the plant life which you may assume she would gloss over, but in actuality, she didn't. The mare knows that she requires a fair understanding of the fauna and plants in the forest. Perhaps not as much as zecora, since she is not a witch doctor nor a botanist, but it is necessary in case one of her animals are poisoned by some plant. Or if she needs a special plant to properly treat a fairly common alignment.

The trail was pretty long and rather rough to walk on. Apparently, the people who paved it didn't put in that much effort, since the trail caused her hooves to sting a little bit. But it wasn't too bad, though. Just some mild discomfort and pain but easily ignored.
She trailed that path for what felt like hours. Fluttershy was just finally nearing the edge of the forest. The brush and foliage started to get thicker and rougher. Rose bushes, vines, small trees, and long dangling branches filled her vision and restricted her future movement.

She looked around a little bit, but she didn't see much of anything. Well, that was the case for a while, until she came across a large tan safari hat resting on the ground. The tan color contrasted greatly with the vibrant green plants that surrounded it. Plus, the grass was very short, and the flowers weren't much bigger.

What is this? Oh my, I hope nopony got lost in here. She thought, picking the hat up to examine it.

She examined it for quite a while. Taking in every detail of the hat as if she had just discovered a new species. The hat was large, arguably bigger than her head. It was made of a tan khaki material with a few holes put in the top for air to enter. A long leather strap was wrapped around the base of the hat, a small red, star-shaped pin was stuck on the strap. Presumably on the front of the hat.

The little red star and the overall design were what perplexed Fluttershy. The hat was likely produced for prolonged ventures in very hot parts of the world. Likely very sandy areas; such as saddle Arabia or Yakistan. She concluded this due to the air holes, the tan color, and the safari hat shape. What she couldn't understand was the little pin.

It was a red star with a hammer and sickle imprinted onto the star. It was painted red and a urine yellow, which contrasted poorly with the tan hat. Although, the pin was small enough that you would have to be using some kind of optic to notice it. She decided to put the hat on her head to see if it fit. Remarkably, it did, which surprised her immensely. It was comfortable too. Albeit a bit damp from some fluid, probably sweat.
She decided to look for whom the hat belonged to. Because she didn't want to steal it.

She searched the area for quite a while, leaving no stone unturned. Eventually, she saw a great, big dark greenish-brown blob. Fluttershy walked over to the blob. As she approached it, she quickly realized it was a creature. And the closer she got the more and more details she could make out.

It was a monkey-like thing, yet, it was mostly hairless, except for some hair on top of its head and some hairs on its face. It was wearing camouflage that covered most of its body. A bunch of pouches and an olive drab vest were strapped to its chest. Its face was covered in blood and tar-like soot and the creature's legs were mangled. Blood poured onto the grass turning it dark crimson.

Oh... My...