Equestria: Paranoia

2

The Private

           Comet coughed as she slowly sat up. She shook her head, feeling the soft sheets press against her body. The Pillow under her was slightly lumpy, but not to the point where it was intolerable. It was a few minutes before she opened an eye to look around.

Where… is this? Am I in a hospital?

Comet opened both her eyes as her vision came to, showing her the inside of a finely made tent. It had obviously been magically enhanced to be much larger on the inside than on the outside judging by the impossible geometry of the corners and furniture.

           “Finally, you’re up. I was starting to think that you’d be comatose forever.” A strong, steady colt voice said from just behind her. Comet whipped around to see a red earth pony staring at her. She backed up a bit as he blushed at her face being so close to his.

           “Who… who the hay are you?” Comet said, looking at him. He had dyed a black highlight into his mane, which came all the way down his neck and rested against his shoulder. The colt also seemed to lack almost all of the masculine features in his face that Comet had ever seen in a stallion. If it had not been for his voice, she could have easily mistaken him for a mare.

           “Names aren’t really important. You’ll know me as Private… They all call me private…” He trailed off at the end very bitterly, as if he had something more to say on the topic. “But… anyway, you’re alive, that’s what’s important. Can you stand up, try to walk for me?” the pony got up and trotted a little distance, motioning for Comet to move closer to him.

           Every muscle seemed to shriek as Comet stood up, walking over to him slowly. He held out a hoof which she grabbed onto, pulling him in and leaning on him for support.

How’d I get so weak?

           “You have amazing vitality, Most ponies that have been through what happened to you would be dead, but you can walk.” Private said.

           “Wait, what did happen to me?” Comet asked him, looking into his deep grey eyes. Private blinked a few times before he began to help her move slowly back to the bed.

           “I think… you should lie down while I tell you this.” He said, pushing her onto the bed as he produced a small bowl of soup on a tray. After the trey was put in front of Comet, he sighed. Comet just stared at the slightly cold looking soup, a blank expression on her face.

           “You haven’t eaten anything in over two weeks at least. Please eat a bit before I start to tell you why you’re here.” Comet just stared at the soup, mind blank as a new chalkboard.

           “Luna dammit.” Private said. “You’re stubborn, I can accept that, good quality. I’ll tell you this in the best way it can be said. We found your body lying out in the middle of a field covered in dust. The search squad was about to leave you there for dead when you breathed.”

           Comet stared at the soup, and then turned to look at the private. Who are you… You’re not Equestrian, I can tell by that accent. “What were you searching for… me?”

           The private laughed dryly. “We were looking for any survivors. Cloudsdale is…” He stopped, thinking over his next words carefully, his tongue bitten between his teeth. “You made it out before the spell hit. I assume you were a resident and… you’ll need to find a new home, I’m afraid you’re Cloudsdale’s only refugee.

           It took a few minutes before what had been said finally hit Comet. When at last everything that he said was clear, she could see it. The sky on fire, the death, ponies seemly rent in half by air, Rocket on the floor of her room-

           “NO!” Comet screamed, knocking her soup onto the floor and jumping out of the bed, only to fall over onto the ground. She quickly was helped up by the colt, but she only shoved him away as he cursed, moving as fast as possible to exit the tent. She starred up at the sky, looking all around. The world was as dark as it had been when Cloudsdale fell out of the sky, and there were still no clouds.

           “It’s out there! I know it’s up there! Let go of me, l-let go!” Comet sobbed as the Private grabbed her, preventing her from flying as he pulled her into a hug, tears running down her face as soldiers all around the camp stopped to ponder the scene. A few took off their helmets and bowed their heads, others just tried to pretend to be looking the other way. In the same instance that the crowd around the event had formed it was gone, and Comet sat outside the tent, tears falling onto the dead ground below her.

           “Shh… let’s get you back inside, it’s going to be okay.” The Private said as he picked Comet up and carried her inside on his back. It was about an hour before she could do anything but sob.

           “Listen to me… You have to move on. Equestria is changing, and if you don’t get these sorrows off your chest… it’ll get you killed.” He put a hoof on her foreleg gently, leaning forward and looking up at Comet. “Tell me what you saw.”

           “Dying… Everypony just, cut to ribbons, blood on the clouds… it was, terrible and and…” The sight of Rocket flashed in her head, “I went home and… my family was gone and my, my sister she… they.” The fullness of the horrible, indescribable mutilation hit her as she tried to explain it. It had been worse than anything else, even her home falling. The ribs… had teeth marks on them.

           Comet turned to the other side of the bed and wretched, losing what was basically nothing from her empty stomach. “My sister… something had been…”

           “… Oh, sweet Luna.” The private said, catching on to what must have happened. “When emotion isn’t enough… I’m so sorry.”

           “You’re not sorry!” Comet yelled as she turned and smashed her hoof into his face. He grabbed his cheek and looked at her, a fierceness taking over Comet’s features. “Where were the soldiers? Where was the rear guard? Where were our guards? Why did nopony try to help? Why couldn’t you do your jobs…?” She fell into her pillow sobbing as the Private put a hoof on her shoulder, rubbing it gently.

           It was some time before Comet was able to lift her head again. When she finally did her stomach growled terribly. She rubbed the wet spot where she had laid her face on the lumpy pillow, frowning.

           “Let me get you some fresh soup Comet… and gather your thoughts.” Private trotted out with this, leaving Comet alone in the strange place.

I can’t even tell if this is real anymore. Are these tears real? Is what I saw yesterday real? … Is my sister really gone? Comet punched the wet spot on her pillow before turning over, sitting up as a fresh tear traveled down her cheek.

           “You have to stop crying eventually.” A cool, rich voice said. Comet looked around for the source of the noise, but she couldn’t make out anypony in the room.

           “Hello? P-Private?” Comet asked. The room was silent. There was no noise or movement besides her breaths, which slowly raised her chest up and down. Comet moved into the sheets as they pressed against her, a semi sleep taking her while she waited for food.

           “This is your full statement on what happened?” The Private said, reading down the report that he’d filled in for Comet. Comet looked over at the paper to see his fine, almost stunning penmanship scrawled over the page.

           “Yeah… that’s my full statement… Where did you learn to write so well?” Comet asked, intrigued by his grace for something that seemed far outside of a soldier’s profession.

           “Well, We all have habits don’t we?” he quickly took the paper and began doing some complicated curves and roundabouts that Comet could not follow before showing her the paper again. The name on the top read Comet Firehooves with fancy embellishing not unlike the style used to begin those tombs Comet saw in the library.

           “Where did you learn to do that?” Comet asked, quizzically gazing at her own name.

           “Just something I do in my spare time. Now…” He put the paper away and turned to face Comet directly, taking a bit of a more grave tone. “You know that you can’t stay here forever, right? I know you’ve been through a lot but when we break camp in a few days, you’re going to be on your own… the front lines are no place for a civilian.”

           Comet bit her lower lip, looking down. She didn’t want to be on the front lines either, it wasn’t just dangerous out here, but she had no way to protect herself against whatever those… those Changelings things. “I… I know, but I need you, and Everypony else at this camp, I can’t protect myself out there from those things, they’ll overpower me.”

           The Private just grinned at this, looking down. “We’ll teach you how to shoot… I’m sure we can spare a few weapons…” his grinned died as his voice became shockingly morbid. “Those soldiers don’t need a gun anymore.”

           “That mare makes you look bad, Hawkeyes.” The Private said to a blue colt that stood next to him as Comet fired a shot from her wristgun, dispatching another empty can. It had been a few days since Comet had woken up, and as soon as she could walk down to the range she had begun to take up shooting.

           “I only missed because you bumped into me.” Hawkeyes said smoothly, eyeing his next target coyly as he raised a wristgun and hit his can from behind Comet. “I’m so far above this, remind me why I agreed to come to a rigged game of shooting cans again?”

           “Because this mare can’t march into combat with us, we can hardly give her enough rations to reach the nearest town, and she needs to be able to defend herself.” The private said. He had spent the last week helping Comet get well and hone her firing skills. Each can was a “Changeling” from Zelmus Inc. They had only one purpose, and that was to harm ponyfolk.

           “So, does this mean I’m ready, and the ‘Sarge’ will leave you alone?” Comet asked as she turned to look at the pair.

           The red pony nodded. “Ah’m sick of you ‘n yer friend occupyin’ mah tent, y’ all need to finish that trainin’ so she can be on ‘er way!” Private mimicked his Sarge crudely.

           “Don’t let Sarge hear you talking like that.” Hawkeyes said coolly as he trotted slowly past the Private, exiting the makeshift range. Private sighed, looking at Comet with slightly sad eyes.

           “Well, I suppose that’s all to say… You’ll be going now, won’t you?” Private asked her. The manner in which he approached the subject almost made Comet want to say that she was going to stay here with him. He had the look of a sad puppy on his face as he looked down, his grey eyes misting over just a bit.

           “Yeah… I’m going to try and find work in that town you mentioned. I’ve never been outside of Cloudsdale… This is a good chance to really try out new things and new places.” Comet told him as he trotted over to her side.

           “At least it will get you away from this perpetual darkness.” Private said as he looked at the sky, which had not lightened up at all since comet had first seen it go black.

           “Yeah, I suppose so… You’ll be alright, right?” Comet couldn’t help but be concerned for the pony as he pulled out his long bowie knife and played with it in his hooves, resting against a pole stuck into the ground.

           “I’ll get along…” the Private looked down the range at a challenge, tiebreaker can. Hawkeyes had tried to hit it before the match ever started and missed, attesting to how hard it would be to knock it down. “The best marksman we have couldn’t hit that can with a wristgun. Bet you I can get it with my knife.”

           Comet laughed. The Private looked at her, his face letting on he was more than a little hurt. “You don’t think I can hit the can?” He asked her.

           “Hawkeyes is a better shot than you, and he couldn’t hit it. I doubt you can, but you’re welcome to fail!” Comet said, turning her attention to the can. There was a loud wiz beside Comet as she kept watching the can. Her mouth dropped in awe as the can fell to either side of the pole it rested on, split cleanly in two. The private nearly dragged her over to the can, fetching his knife and sliding it into the foreign looking sheath he kept for it. Comet looked down as he pushed the sheath forward, offering her the knife.

           “… Are you sure?” She asked, eyeing the blade.

           “It belonged to my grandfather. We’ve passed it down for a long time, but I don’t really need it to keep safe. It’s like good luck, maybe it’ll keep you alive out there so I can see you again… because I want this back someday.” He threw the belt and sheath onto Comet, tightening it and smiling at her. Comet smiled back at him when a thought struck her.

           “Hey, if I’m ever going to see you again, I need to know your name!” She said, looking him straight in the eyes. The Pony backed up noticeably, a bit of a blush cursing him.

           “I will find you, alright? Just trust me!” He winked at her, waiting for a moment. Comet slowly nodded her head before he took off, disappearing before she could form any words to say to him. She turned to look out at the bleak landscape as she picked up her heavy duty Equestrian Army saddlebags. She beat her wings a few times, and then was gone into the darkness of day.

Keep well, Private.

           Comet flew just by a small outcropping, knocking over a few rocks as she headed towards the only safe place in these parts. The rocks tumbled down from above, clicking on the ground and coming to a stop against an apparently sleeping colt. He spat at the ground and got up, slinging his sword onto his back and looking up at the soaring brown dart in the sky. Stuffing a piece of paper into a small clip on his black leather jacket that contained somewhat dubious looking pockets, he walked into the darkness and began to gallop, keeping just out of Comet’s range of sight, but still hot on her tail.