Soldier Abroad.

After sitting beside her for what seemed like hours, the fragile pony beside me tossed and turned in her bed, every once in a while wincing from the pain of rolling on top of her wounded wing. I stirred from the catatonic like state I was in and leaned forward from my chair and asked her in the nicest sounding voice I could muster.

“Anything that I can do?”

She responded by pulling her blanket up and hiding her muzzle underneath the soft fabric, and spoke in an almost unheard whisper.

“Maybe you could s…”

“What did you say? I couldn’t hear you”, I responded while still trying to be as kind as possible.

“Maybe you could sing,” she said again much more clearly.

I felt my cheeks heat up while trying to respond. “I- Well I’ve never been much of a good singer…” Her ears drooped and she seemed to sink even deeper into the protection of her covers.

“But hold on I know what I can do for you.”

I held a hoof up and began to go through all my pockets while I searched for the device that would hopefully help assuage her pain.

Using the opportunity to sort out all my gear at the same time. First was my knife that had somehow found its way back into the sheath after my fall into this world. Next was my radio that seemed to be smashed beyond repair. Two grenades, five magazines, my trusty zippo and a pack of cigarettes later, I found what I was looking for. I drew the shiny black device from my pouch, trying my best to float it to her bed stand without accidentally flinging it into a wall or slamming it into the table.

“Found it,” I said softly.

She slowly turned her head towards me and watched the device come to rest on her bed stand.

“I may not be able to sing,” I said, “but I know someone who can.”

After fumbling awkwardly with the controls of the device, I managed to select the song I wished to play.

http://youtu.be/6-3wp2VVhKQ

She simply stared at the device for a few seconds after it started playing, and then slowly settled back into her pillow. Her pain seemingly being taken away by the voice emanating from the MP3 player.

“She has a beautiful voice,” she said quietly.

I could only sit there and mimic her. I leaned back in my chair listing to the music as the veil of sleep slowly enveloped me.

“I know what you are even if they don’t.”

I snapped awake and searched the room only to find it empty save for the sleeping pegasus. I slowly reached down to where my rifle lay before only to find empty air where the rifle once was. As I searched the room again, I found that my vest and all of the other equipment was missing as well. I began to panic. If someone had stolen those items, there was no telling what kind of damage they could do.

“You won’t need those things.”

My blood began to boil, though I wasn’t sure whether it was his demeaning tone or the fact that without my weapon I had absolutely no control over the situation. I hated that feeling.

“Where and what are you? Where's my gear.” I whispered venomously, trying not to wake Fluttershy in the process.

“What am I?” the voice asked “Why, I’m just the same as you. A warrior taken away from the battlefield. A soldier with his sole purpose in life taken from him.”

“You’re wrong! Show yourself coward!” I shouted in defense before slamming a hoof to my mouth and darting my eyes back to my slumbering roommate. She still seemed just as peaceful as ever. My outburst didn’t even elicit so much as a twitch from her. With one issue resolved I stood up from my chair and began to walk out of the room.

As I approached the door I noticed a small shadow on the other side. I walked as silently as I could, this being made difficult due to the hard tile floor clacking against my hooves. I remembered how my instructors had taught me how to walk quietly. I moved by inches slowly stepping and remembering to step quietly with the heel then transferring weight to the outside and finally to the front. After a few more agonizing steps I was pressed against the wall just behind the doorframe. As I readied myself for the upcoming confrontation, I began to wonder just what I was going to do if he had the advantage on me. No sooner had that thought passed through my head did the voice of that unknown presence made itself known once again.

“If you won’t come out here, maybe your little sleeping friend will be more willing,” it hissed.

His voice didn’t seem to be coming from anywhere in the room or outside. It seemed to be right in my head, ready to seep into the chinks in my mental armor like venom.

No.

I remembered how her face looked after I wounded her; twisted with pain, fear and anguish. I couldn’t bear to see that a second time. I wouldn't allow it. I made the mental decision right then and there. I would never let someone, or something, hurt anybody when I could be there to protect them. That was going to be my ethos. My warrior ethos.

I will always place the mission first.

I will never accept defeat.

I will never quit

I will never leave a fallen comrade

And now,

I will never allow harm to come to those I hold dear.

I felt a fire growing inside me. I felt my adrenaline start to rush. Just the same as when that first rocket was fired toward us from the ridge. I felt invincible.

“I won’t let you touch her.” I said in a low growling voice.

“And just what do you think you can do to stop me?” The voice echoed from inside the hall again. “Kill me perhaps? And show the ponies here what you really are? A cold blooded killer with nothing beneath your steeled carapace?”

I remained silent, thinking of anyway that I could get around this. Trying to think of any way I could end this without violence. Despite my best efforts, I could think of nothing. There was no talking him out of here. I steeled myself for my potential last stand. I pushed off with all the strength my body would lend me and bolted out of the door. To my surprise, I found nothing there but a white room. There was nothing on the walls and no determinable ceiling. I looked back to where I had come from only to realize that there now was no door.

“Damnit. Where am I?” I bellowed, hoping for a response.

There was nothing. Just deafening silence. I felt something welling up inside me. Like someone had just dumped ten pounds of cement into my stomach.  I fell to the floor and curled up into a ball, trying to make this horribly nauseating feeling pass. My eyes shot open when the mass made a sudden drive upwards. I kicked around randomly on the floor trying to get a grasp on anything, but I couldn’t get a purchase on anything, like I was floating. I attempted to breath but soon found it futile as I choked on the mass stuck in my throat. I was suddenly was droped to the floor rather unceremoniously. As I opened my eyes I felt body start to convulse due to the lump in my throat starving my body of oxygen. I made one last attempt to cough it up. I only partially succeeded. What came up with the hack looked like ink from a pen. It was jet black and seemed to be pooling together as if it had a mind of its own. I heaved again and managed to get the rest of the mass out of me. It looked much like the little bit that had came out before. It pooled together on the time floor. I reached out towards it so see just what the hell this thing was. When I was about an inch from the blob it seemed to shiver for just a second before a small needle-like protrusion erupted from it's surface and rocketed for my face. Pushing back as fast as I could I managed to avoid my head being impaled, and instead the spike only managed to cut the side of my face. I didn't even bother to check how deep the cut was. All I knew was that this thing was bad news and needed to be dealt with. Using the movement from my earlier dodge I continued backpedaling towards my rifle. I focused on the firearm and envisioned it resting on my shoulder. Sure enough it followed right where it needed to go. I flipped the safety off with the front hoof and slowly skidded to a halt. I didn't need to focus on my breath of the pulse rate to get off the perfect shot. I simply focused on the trigger being pulled back and sure enough three shots rang out and three rounds slammed into the blob.

“Fuck!” I screamed as I continued to unload burst after burst into the thing.

After the bolt had locked to the rear I looked down to what remained of the black pool in front of me. It seemed to have been splattered all over the door and the wall behind it. The barrel of my rifle was smoking and the end of the exposed barrel seemed to be a soft red color. I hadn't even though about how many rounds I had put downrange. I looked down to my hooves and saw 2 empty magazines and with one in the well I seemed to have gone through a large portion of my supplies. My ears where ringing from the prolonged firing indoors but as my haring slowly came too I heard a soft whimpering.

“Oh shit. Hey Fluttershy. Its okay. I took care of that thing.”  Rubbing her back like you would to a child who was afraid of the dark.

I saw movement out of the corner of my eyes. Looking back, the jet black mass seemed to be accumulating in the center of the door. I nudged her again.

“Hey I want you to get under the covers put the pillow over your head and plug yourears. Ok?” I said in a soft voice.

“What for? You-” she began to speak back.

“Just do it please” I interrupted.

She did just what I asked her to.  When I was sure that she was ready I pushed the magazine release and twisted the rifle clockwise. The magazine sailed out of the rifle and before the thing had even hit the floor I had drawn another from my pouch and had slammed it into the breach. Tapping the bottom of the mag to ensure that it was fully seated. I then reached up and slapped the bolt release on the left side of the rifle. It surged forward and closed on the chamber with the satisfying clack that only a soldier would know.

Almost as if the blob knew what was coming it launched itself from the door at my face. I wrenched my head back and at the same time attempted to roll out of the way. It then ricoched off the the back wall and punched right through the wooden door making an almost comical perfectly round hole. I got back to my feet as quickly as a could and galloped out of the room to try and find which way it had gone.

Looking left I saw many a terrified nurse splayed out on the ground to avoid the thing that had just bounced down their hallway at blazing speed. Following the black marks on the walls down the hallway I found myself at yet another heart stopping sight. There was Twilight. Ducking for cover underneath yet another hole in the wall with what appeared to be the rest of her friends and... Princess Luna.

Shit.