"Faust it's hot!" I said as I took off my blouse, Almond Rock sat down against the parked Humvee as he pours water onto himself. Our convoy had stopped outside a village to set up a checkpoint, most of our armored support had been rerouted earlier to help out friendly forces in Donlikit. And from what I heard on the radio, it wasn't sounding too good.

"Delta Foxtrot, what is your status? Over"

"This is Delta Foxtrot! The city is full of hostiles! I got two whole squads pinned down and isolated from us! We have 12 confirmed KIAs and 2 MIAs! I need immediate support__"

A couple of shots rang out as the gunfire in the background grew louder, we then heard the sound of a bullet striking metal and a yelp in pain.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! My radioman just got hit!"

Sighing, I got up and made my way over to where Ivory and a bunch of others were gathered around a woodland-colored humvee. He face hoofed before shaking his head, it seemed the others had shared the same thought.

"Hey Serge, something up?" I asked, I watched as he looked at me with a tired face.

"We...have been assigned a new mission"

"And what's that?"

Taking his helmet off, he sets it down on the hood of the Humvee right next to a map "The plan to take the Airfield has been put on hold, our new assignment now is to establish a "diplomatic" relationship with the locals of this land along with gathering intel. Of course, this sounds like a job for the Army's Civil Affairs unit to handle since this sort of stuff is right up their alley, but I guess helping a shepherd find his lost sheep is more important than taking a strategic enemy airfield that has been hammering both ground and air units recently"

Speaking of air units, we both looked up just in time to see 2 Bell AH-1Z Vipers fly overhead toward an unknown destination.

"Where do you reckon they're going?" I asked, using my left hoof to shield my eyes from the sun's glare as I watched the two Vipers fly out into the distance.

"Probably to help out Delta Foxtrot, meanwhile we have a whole battalion ready to help but instead get told to stand by...for fuck sake, makes you question who the dumb fuck is planning all this shit__"

"Is there something wrong with your current assignment, Sergeant Ivory?"

Behind Ivory stood the Lieutenant Colonel, looking at him emotionless. I swore I saw Ivory gulp as he and I quickly gave a salute, LtCol motioned us to put our hooves down as he looks at both of us.

"So, do you have a problem with your objective?"

"No sir!" Me and Ivory said in unison.

Brass Star, from what the name tape said on his digital desert blouse, looked at both of us before nodding and going on his way. Me and Ivory looked at each other before going our separate way, I went back to where Almond was trying to light up a cigarette.

"Hey, you got a light on ya?" He asked as he discarded his lighter.

I shook my head "Sorry dude, I dont smoke"

"Fucking great..." Putting away his cigarette, he got up and went out searching for somepony with a functioning lighter. Now that I was alone again, I thought I was gonna be bored out of my mind until a light bulb lit up, I then took out my trusty notebook and pencil and began drawing.

'At least this should help pass the time and take my mind off that hot faustdamn sun'

Nothing much happened at our little checkpoint as time flew by, a water tanker came by earlier to provide water for the locals of the village, they're a bit still wary of our presence though I'm sure they're glad clean drinking water is being provided as well as other needs. As I sat against some sandbags with a can of 'tear-it' energy drink, I saw two ponies approach me in full kit.

"Hey, you're Swift Change, right?" one of them, a pegasus mare, asked.

"Yup, the one and only," I said as I stood up, dusting the sand off of my trousers and sipping the last bits of my drink.

The other, an earth pony stallion, spoke up "Looks like you'll be with us on patrol."

"Lucky me, just let me get my gear first, alright?"

They nodded before we parted ways, I got my vest on as well as my helmet before picking up my rifle, still wearing my coyote brown T-shirt. I met the two at the front of the checkpoint who were talking with each other, once the chatter stopped, all three of us made our way out on patrol.

It didn't take long for bags to appear under my eye, even though the sun is down, I was still sweating a bit underneath my vest. The others weren't doing so hot either, we were all tired to high hell despite our task being to literally just walked around the checkpoint perimeter to make sure nopony would sneak up and kill us all.

Although small talk was made, the feeling in the air was awkward and we kept silent. There wasn't much to talk about, what with the "liberation" going on and camels out there trying to kill us. I layed down on my belly, armed with my rifle as we stopped to take a little break and made sure we didn't miss anything before moving on. My ears perked up as I heard the sound of something being unwrapped, turning around, I panicked as I saw what was in Orchid Mill's hooves.

Orchid, the pegasus mare on patrol with us, was trying to open a stick of 'Allures Assorted Circles.' Acting fast, I snatched the candy out of her hooves, and against her protest, I threw it far out into the desert.

"Wha...? Why did you do that!" Orchid asked in confusion and anger.

"Uh, are you fucking stupid? You wanna test your fucking fate?" I said in a whisper as I frantically scoped our surroundings.

"Do you have something against candy?"

After a couple of minutes flew by, I breathed a sigh of relief as I turned back to her "I dont know if you've been told this before, but that candy is super bad luck. Call it superstition if you'd like, I dont trust them one bit..."

Rolling her eyes, she huffs as she takes out a bar of chocolate. What I said is true about the candy, I once heard the story from a pony who also heard it from another pony that anypony who ate or even had that candy in their position, was bound to get super bad luck. Since we're out here in the desert, I did not want to get sent back home in a box.

Turning to my right, I watched as Rapid Vision peered down the scope on his M14. Scanning the desert landscape for any hostiles, I tried to offer him an energy bar that I had in a grenade pouch though he shook his head silently.

As time went on, I found myself growing both bored and tired by the minute, the others felt the same way too. By the time shift change came around, I was already ready to collapse onto the ground and sleep the entirety of tonight and tomorrow. I said my farewell to Orchid and Rapid as I made my way to one of the parked Humvees where I had left my standard-issued seabag.

Using it as a pillow, I laid my head down as I started to think about things like my family, my marefriend, and my best friend Thumbtack. From what I heard, he's recovering well after receiving shrapnel from that blast in Narikhat. I shook my head as I rid myself of those memories, how I went AWOL and killed those camels...

'Don't think about it, think about something else...'

Adjusting into a comfortable position, I let my tired body rest as sleep took hold of my consciousness. Dozing off on the rough duffle bag pillow, inside this crappy tin can, in the middle of nowhere...

Waking up the next morning, I carried out the usual routine that I had grown used to back in boot camp: wake up, brush my teeth, and exercise. After running around the place a few times, I downed my canteen before getting out the brown packaging of good ol' MRE.

"Bleh, not this rancid shit again..." I muttered as I looked over the title of the MRE: "Menu 13. Cheese Tortellini Vegetarian"

Eating it without having the urge of puking was hard, but nonetheless, I pushed on. Finishing up the vile meal, I got my helmet, flak vest, and ALICE web set on and made my way to the front of the checkpoint which faced away from the village. There, I met the same ponies from yesterday alongside Almond and Ivory. Orchid and Rapid waved at me while Almond and Ivory simply nodded or didn't care less, after talking to them a bit, they said their goodbyes and left. Leaving only me, Orchid, and of course, Rapid, to guard the checkpoint.

As the day went on, nothing exciting happened besides the occasional M927 cargo trucks carrying ammo or supplies and woodland-painted AAVP. I was starting to think nothing would happen today until I noticed troops getting into defensive positions, confused, I looked in the direction where their rifles were pointed to see a white Civic making its way down the road toward us.

Hearing the sounds of several charging handles being pulled, I see Ivory step up in front with a microphone in his hoof.

"Halt! Stop your vehicle and step away from the wheel!" his voice boomed, and a translation of the same message followed, courtesy of our translator.

"توقف! أوقف مركبتك وابتعد عن عجلة القيادة!

The car slowed to a stop, tensions were high as minutes began to pass. Finally, the car reversed before quickly making a U-turn and returning the way it came from. Everypony breathed a huge sigh of relief before resuming back to their duties as if nothing happened, we've all heard stories of suicide car bombers where an unknown vehicle would charge at an outpost or convoy only to explode and take the lives of nearby troops. Even the thought of such a thing happening to us sent chills down my spine.

After the whole ordeal and tensions beginning to calm down a bit, we heard the news of the Equestrian public opinion and what they think about this whole "liberation" operation. While some, like the nobles up in Canterlot, are supportive of the takeover of this "barbaric land" and focusing on boosting their profits in the future. Most ponies living in remote or rural areas were against the idea of sending Equestrian troops to fight, they had gathered in cities like Manehattan or Fillydelphia to protest the war. Pictures of ponies holding signs like "This Is Not Our War!" and "Bring Our Troops Home!" began to spread like wildfire in newspapers and on TV.

Besides that, we had also gotten word of a reporter being embedded into our battalion. Of course, that didn't go well among the troops since the idea of having a reporter with us would slow us down, there's also the chance of none stop questions and them being annoying the entire time which would be a pain in the flank.

Having nothing to do at the moment, I decided to take a little trip into the village. I left my rifle, helmet, and vest back at the checkpoint and only took a tri-colored boonie hat and my M1911 service pistol. Of course, I couldn't go alone since there could be a chance some angry camel could up and shoot me point blank (chances of that happening is low, but never 0) so I decided to invite Almond as my temporary battle buddy.

It was a short walk until we were outside of the village, entering, we were soon met with stares by the local inhabitants. Some looked at us with curiosity, others stayed at a distance in fear. The children nearby came to us, unafraid at the fact that we were Equestrian Marines who could fuck up somepony's day at a moment's notice, they would pick a part and ask us questions about our gear. I smiled as I placed my boonie on top of one of their heads.

"Can I keep?" asked the bull calf, he looked up at me as he now held the hat in his hooves.

I nodded with the smile still present on my face, the calf then said something that I couldn't understand before running away from the group. Presumably to his home so he could tell his amazing story to his parents.

As the sun began to descend, Almond and I decided that it would be best to head on back to the checkpoint, earning disappointing 'awww's' from the group.

"I say today has gone surprisingly well," I said as we walked back "home."

"I gotta agree with ya dude, what I would give for days like this without the chances of somepony shooting my flank off" Almond said, letting out a small yawn.

"Tired?" I asked.

"Oh yeah, brother. Who knew talking would tire you out? I still can't believe you let one of them keep your boonie."

I chuckled as the recent memory played on in my head "Yeah yeah, I could always get another or "tactically acquire" one"

Although the war has been a pain in the flank, I could see myself living here with my marefriend. It would certainly be better than sleeping on a rough duffle bag in a hot Humvee.

When we got back to the checkpoint, we noticed that something wasn't right. Nopony was around and it looked like they had gotten up in a hurry. However, before Almond could say anything, we heard the familiar burst of an M16A4 going off. Rushing towards the front, we saw everypony in a defensive position with one stallion up on top of a humvee and armed with an M2 machine gun.

"HALT! THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING! STOP YOUR VEHICLE AND STEP AWAY FROM THE WHEEL!"

"وقف! هذا هو التحذير الأخير الخاص بك! أوقف سيارتك وابتعد عن العجلة"

Looking over at what everypony's guns were aimed at, I could see a red 1997 patrol speeding up toward us. I watched as Ivory, who I was currently with, sighed sadly before looking over at the M2 gunner and giving him a nod. The gunner took this as a signal before racking the charging handle of the machine gun.

I covered my ears as the M2 let out a loud roar, firing several rounds of .50 cal at the vehicle. The car swerved left and right as it dangerously approached us, and despite it being peppered round after round, it still didn't stop as it got closer and closer. Realizing what was about to happen, I, alongside Ivory and others, took cover behind sandbags and Hesco bastion as the car finally made impact.

With a deafening 'BOOM!', dust and other debris were thrown into the air as the car bomb went off. Once everything cleared, I could hear nothing but ringing in my ears as I watched corpsmen and other medical team rush on by to help anypony who was injured. Getting up shakily, I looked over at the damage that was caused and almost puked.

Near the flaming wreckage of what was once a car, bodies of ponies who weren't so lucky were spread throughout the impact sight alongside those who barely survived this. I watched those carried on stretchers who had injuries ranging from shrapnel and burn wounds to almost losing a limb entirely, I spotted Almond who was sitting against some wooden supply crates and being tended to by a medic. His clothes were tattered and bloodied.

One of the medics to came to check on me and Ivory, once they had left to go check up on others, Ivory left to go help out. Now alone, I sat down and watched as the smoke rise up into the sky. Never in my life would I imagine being in a situation like this, lives were taken today by just one camel in a car. I was scared. Very scared. And I wanted to go home.

Looking away from the destruction, I stare off into the sunset as everything slowly faded away.

I wanna go home, I dont like this.

Author's Note

Sorry this took long, although I wanted this chapter (along with others in the future) to be longer (I'm probably doing a bad job lmao), this is going to have to suffice for now.

The song, La Casa Del Sol Nacinte by Los Juniors, does not belong to me. But other than that, I will hopefully work on making longer chapters so that it doesn't feel like I'm rushing it.