That Was Just Your Life

Chapter Three

When Dmitri regained his consciousness, he laid there for a while and tried to remember the past hours' events. He remembered Alric sowing his wound together then blacking out from the pain. As Dmitri forced himself to sit up he opened his eyes. He saw a pool of semi-dried blood was under him, staining the seat. It was also night, as it appeared. Dmitri also saw Nitro taking a nap. Alric must have gone to scout the area as he was absent. He grunted as he tried to sit up but felt pain. He compromised for leaning against the GAZ door.

Dmitri saw that someone had put some sort of canvas over the broken windshield so the blizzard could not get in. He shivered as he regained some feeling and felt that it was extremely cold. While Dmitri was used to extreme cold, he wasn't immune to it. He stared out the window, wondering how the war was going back home.

That's when it hit him. Where the fuck are we? Dmitri thought. He must have forgotten due to the recent events. Alric must have already noticed, it's probably why he's missing he spoke within his mind. Dmitri resumed his observation through the passenger window for a good amount of time until a shuffling in the foliage caught his attention. He stared at it for a while until a monstrosity emerged from within it. It had to be at least several feet taller than him. It had mostly lion like features except for the fact that it had, what appeared to be, bat wings and a scorpion-like tail.

Dmitri's eyes spread wide, fully awake now, as he immediately began crawling over to Nitro grimacing through the almost overpowering pain. He pulls himself into a sitting position and shakes Nitro's shoulders.

"Wha? What?" he mumbles when he waked. Dmitri covered his mouth with his hand and put a finger up to his lips signaling Nitro to silence himself. "What is it?" whispers Nitro after Dmitri uncovers his mouth.

"Look out the window, carefully." says Dmitri in an apprehensive whisper. Nitro walks crouched over and glances out the window. "Holy shit. What the fuck is that?" whispers Nitro sharply.

"I don't know but if we just sit here that thing is going to fucking get us eventually." says Dmitri.

"I got this Dmitri." says Nitro, "You're injured." he says quickly when he sees Dmitri's aggravated facial expression.

"Fine, but don't get yourself killed." says Dmitri. Nitro then grabs his AKS-74U from the side of the front seat.

"Take your makarov just in case." says Nitro handing Dmitri his pistol. He glances back outside and takes his chance to exit the vehicle when the lion creature appeared to be distracted by the shaking of a bush. He gets behind the GAZ and leans around. He sees the thing sniffing the air. Shit it can probably smell me. thought Nitro nervously.

The creature then began to approach his position. He tried to circle around the GAZ but it had caught sight of his boot and pounced on him. "SHIT!" he shouts as the thing swipes at him with its claws. It caught him several times in the chest and he had his AK knocked away from him. He was about to give up his attempt to struggle when he hears a loud clanging sound and felt the weight on top of him disappear. Nitro looks up to see that Dmitri had kicked open the door so that it hit the abomination right in the jaw. However, it was quickly recovering.

Dmitri was supporting himself on the GAZ when he pulled out his makarov and shot twice, aimed at the thing's head. He missed on the first and the other grazed its shoulder. It quickly became very irritated and tried charging at Dmitri.

Dmitri fired one last shot at its leg and it fell to the ground. However it quickly got back up and took off whimpering.  He thought he heard something else but he needed to tend to his comrade. Dmitri then limped over to Nitro who was laying still, eyes closed. He fell to his knees at Nitro's side. He inspected his wounds and saw that his chest was torn apart, merely a mangled mix of flesh, armor, and blood. "Nitro, talk to me comrade" says Dmitri worriedly.

"Dmitri. We... we both know I'm not bouncing back from this one. I know I haven't known you long but take this." he said weakly shoving a picture of a family he pulled out from his hip pouch. "If you and Alric do ever make it out of this shit hole alive, tell my family I'll miss them." he finished in barely a whisper. His grip on Dmitri's forearm diminished and his body relaxed completely. Dmitri checked Nitro's pulse... Nothing.

Dmitri had experienced this too many times to be overly troubled. He ripped Nitro's dog tags off and put the picture into his pocket. He limped back to the GAZ with an expressionless face and grabbed his Spetsnaz shovel out from his pack. He then began digging a grave and didn't stop for a good hour ignoring his already harmed body's complaints. It was when he had almost finished when he heard more shuffling of bushes and he turned around to meet Alric, who had twigs and snow all over himself.

"Bet you wish you had taken that winter gear now huh?" says Alric to Dmitri, only getting Dmitri's poker face as a response.

"What, was it that bad of a jo-" says Alric before he notices Nitro's body laying on the ground. "Fuck!" he says running over to check Nitro's pulse. Feeling nothing he turns to Dmitri who had resumed digging the grave. "What happened?" he said.

"Wierd ass fucking lion thing attacked us." says Dmitri in a blatantly infuriated voice.

"What the fuck!? We've barely been here a day and we've already lost a man!" says Alric in a raised voice.

"Screaming at the universe will not solve our problems. Have you found out where we are? You left to scout out the area yes?" says Dmitri.

"Well, there's a town down south of us that looks like it's from the 1500's." says Alric.

"Well, we better get moving as soon as possible if we want to get back home." says Dmitri.

"Alright then. You go back in get some rest I'll finish the grave" says Alric.

Dmitri throws the shovel to Alric who initiates his shoveling, as Dmitri goes back into the GAZ. He pulls out an MRE and opens it. Fucking vegetable soup again. he thinks, defeated from the day's events. He finishes his 'dinner' and lays down in the back area. He pulls out a sleeping back and crawls in to escape the cold.

Dmitri had a shit day, one of those really bad ones that was slow as hell and mushy. He closes his eyes and clears his mind, and almost immediately falls asleep.

*Meanwhile*

"Are you s-sure we sh-shouldn't just go home now? I'm so c-cold." Sweetiebell chatters.

"Oh come on, we c-can't turn back now!" Scootaloo protests. "We could get our cutiemarks as s-survivalists!"

"Ah d-don't want to be a survivalist..." Applebloom murmurs.

Scootaloo sighed, Maybe we should turn back. Scootaloo looks at the dead treetops above her. "Let's go back home. This adventure of ours is a failure, like the rest."

The Cutiemark Crusaders turned and began their long journey in the dark back to Ponyville. They saw a manticore stalking something that wasn't them further into the forest. Being the little adventurers that they want to be, they followed the manticore from a distance. They saw it go through a layer of foliage to investigate a weird metal box.

The girls hid in one of the larger bushes in order to get a better look at both the manticore and the box it was investigating. One of the girls shifted their position and the manticore heard it. It looked directly at them. The girls looked at each other, communicating with their looks of pure fright. It wasn't until something behind the box caught the beast's attention.

The manticore chased after whatever was behind the box. When nopony expected it, a monkey with an object that looked metal and wooden, who had clothes and a helmet on ran around the corner. Unfortunately, the monkey was followed by the manticore. The beast pounced onto the monkey, right next to the box. It mauled the screaming monkey right in front of their innocent eyes.

The girls were paralyzed in fear. A door on the box slammed open, knocking the manticore off of the monkey. Another monkey seen inside, dressed the same as the other, pointed a small black thing at the manticore. Their thoughts were interrupted by two explosions, two flashes, and smoke coming from the black object.

This was all that the young fillies could take. They ran as fast as they could away from the killing. Another explosion only fueled their escape. The girls managed to tire themselves out a good ways away.

They thought they heard their sisters yelling to them. The girls passed it off as their minds playing tricks. They collapsed into the snow, exhausted from the unexpected run.

"Applebloom! Sweetiebell! Scootaloo!" The Cutiemark Crusaders looked up to see their sisters and their friends running to them.

"Where in the hay have you girls been?" Applejack scolded the girls.

"Sweetiebell! Do you have any idea how dangerous it is out here?" Rarity questioned Sweetiebell.

"Applejack, Rarity! We can't afford to scream at each other now." Twilight said in a harsh whisper. "It's too dangerous in this forest to make too much noise. We'll have to camp here for tonight and in the morning we'll go home."

Everypony agreed and they set up a small campfire along with a few tents.

"Oh my, girls. Are you okay? You look so tired. Why don't you warm up by the fire?" Fluttershy said.

"We're okay..." Scootaloo said, just wanting to forget the horrible things that they saw.

*Next Day*

"Mmmhh." grumbled Twilight as she opened her still tired eyes to see that it was still night. She and her friends had been searching the large forest fruitlessly for the lost Crusaders and the group had wandered at least a good 2 miles before they came across them.

Something must have woken me up. thought Twilight attempting to see anything through the almost pitch black darkness of the Everfree she lit her horn up. She looked around for another 5 minutes before she layed back down thinking it was nothing. However Twilight was denied her rest as she heard the sound of foliage being torn apart.

Twilight jumped up and shook the her group of friends awake. "Girls we have to get out of here, there is something out there in there in the forest that I saw! It was a huge metal box with wheels on it and weird monkey things inside!" said Twilight. The CMC's eyes grew huge as they all realized that was exactly what they had seen.

"Twilight ah think that we saw a manticore attacking one of them monkey things." says Applebloom. "Oh no, now there is a manticore too! We have to make a run for it we don't have that much farther to go to get to Ponyville! Let's go before those things find us." says Twilight as the group packs up their things and leaves in a hurry.

*Dmitri's view*

If only I had gone out myself, I should have known not to rely on someone sent by an outside agency! thought Dmitri as he and Alric are eating very early breakfast.

"Dmitri, I know what you're thinking. It's not your fault, if anyone's it's mine. I left him alone with you injured." says Alric trying to cheer his friend up. The two had dealt with many deaths but one can never rid himself of survivors guilt.

"I know Alric. But he had a family, one that will never see him again. They won't be able to even recover his body because we're in bumfuck nowhere. I could have handled that situation much better." says Dmitri admitting his thoughts.

"Well, how about we give him a proper burial?" Alric proposes.

"Alright then, let's play a song." says Dmitri. The two were instrumentalists but never got to play much due to constant assignments.

"Fade to black?" suggests Alric.

"Nice." replies Dmitri. The two finish up their 'food' grab their own respective instruments and head outside.

"Should we say a few words?" asks Alric.

"Nah, that stuff's to sappy" says Dmitri. They then began to play, without anyone singing of course.

They finished up and went back into the GAZ where Dmitri grabbed Nitro's ushanka and set it on a stick he had planted on Nitro's grave. Dmitri finished shutting the passengers door when Alric handed him a small bottle.

"Found some painkillers, thought you might need them." says Alric.

"Thanks." says Dmitri opening the bottle and taking one of the many pills. The two donned their skull balaclavas as Alric stepped on the gas and steered them south.

"Hope the town's inhabitants are friendly." states Dmitri.

"Yeah, we shouldn't take any shots at them if we can help it." smartly stated Alric.

"No shit." mumbled Dmitri to himself. They drove for a while longer, slowly however due to it being pitch black. They eventually stopped to take a break, going to the 'bathroom' and such. Dmitri just finished fastening his belt back on when he the same creature that had killed Nitro earlier that night limp out from some foliage.

Motherfucker, you aren't getting away this time. I don't like playing with my food. Thinks Dmitri angrily before he pulls out his yelan machete and crouches down and stealthily approaches the beast.

Just before Dmitri was upon the beast Alric calls out. "Dmitri where are you?!"

"Shit!" he growls running at the alarmed beast. Unfortunately, it began to run away having remembered the injuries it received from the last experience it had with Dmitri. It ran away relying on instinct, however Dmitri was not he could still think clearly through the rage he felt. He took a shortcut and ran up on a plateau of sorts and gained height on the beast. He put in one last spurt of speed and lunged for the back of the animal.

Dmitri quickly grabbed onto it's lion like mane. He quickly swung his machete down on it's shoulder muscles causing it to fall face down into the ground sliding do to it's speed. Dmitri then quickly rolled of it when he heard the swishing of the thing's large scorpion tail. It came plunging down on it's back, penetrating deep into its own flesh. The thing whimpered from it's self inflicted injury.

Dmitri took this as a chance to finish the beast, he walked up to it pulled it's head up by the hair and looked into it's eyes as he slit its throat. He managed to calm himself down by the time he saw the GAZ approaching. Alric jumped out and walked hurriedly towards Dmitri.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" shouted Alric.

"This thing killed Nitro, it deserved what it got." spat out Dmitri.

"I know it did. But, you don't go running off like that! Especially without me!" says a very agitated Alric.

"Yeah, that part I am sorry about." says Dmitri wiping his knife clean on the pelt of the beast.

"Well, come on we've still got some ground to cover." Alric said to deaf ears. "Dmitri, let's go." He says pausing his walk to the GAZ and looking at Dmitri, who was staring off into a cleared area. What the two saw would stay imprinted in their memories until they died. The pair gazed onto a group of horse looking things that were colored very generously. They stared at the group who stared back in obvious fear.

*Twilight's view*

After witnessing the brutal slaughtering of a manticore, Twilight couldn't bring herself to do anything. Neither could her friends as she could see. All she could do was stare at the creature who committed the act.

As Twilight saw the metal contraption she saw earlier approach, she felt fascinated by it however her fear was stronger. She saw another creature hop out and appear to argue with the other one. Wasn't there another one? Twilight thought. She then began to try and tell the others to get away as fast as possible, after seeing that the dangerous and obviously sentient new creatures could do.

Twilight froze up when she noticed that both of the creatures were staring in her direction, she couldn't tell however due to goggles and a frightening mask of what appeared a skull over the thing's faces. Her ears perked up when she heard one of the things utter "What the fuck?"