Chapter 12
Rain poured from the black clouds covering the sky. The ground was muddy, brown puddles mixed with blood were scattered about the land. Delta Squad moved through the forest, there were bodies all over the war zone. Most of them were bodies of changelings, but a few were those of Celestia's not so royal military. Aldy shivered as he noticed a few familiar faces. "Damn, you think Bravo Squad made it out of there?" He asked his superior officer, Sgt.Rex glared at him. "Don't doubt them, they can handle themselves."
Pvt.Strat caught on, "Then why are we searching for them in this shit?" Rex interrupted him, "BECAUSE, that was orders." Delta consisted of only seven ponies, they saw a valley in the distance through the many trees. A rustle was heard in the bushes, Strat and Wilson raised their rifles in response. Pvt.Felix trotted ahead, he stopped and noticed the body of an Equestrian soldier laid up against a tree. His head was looking down and a cap covered his face, his hooves were on his lap as well. Felix moved the cap, his eyes were open, staring out into space, he was dead no doubt. Felix looked down and noticed a yellow sack under his hooves, it was armed C4. "AMBUS-" The explosive detonated, blowing Felix's front left hoof off and throwing him into a tree. Pvt.Strat looked all around as did the others, black creatures were running towards them with faces of bloodlust.
The squad raised their weapons at the attackers. Shot after shot was fired, Aldy was knocked on the ground by a changeling. The creatures teeth sunk into his arm. Silas shot at the black monster chewing on his best friend, it fell dead. Silas helped Aldy up, Sgt.Rex had a large machete in mouth, he was cutting through each changeling one by one. Cpl.Wilson turned his head to see a grenade land in the middle of the group, "GET DOWN!" He yelled. *BOOM* The explosion rocked the forest, when the dust cleared the attackers had all fallen. Rex got up, as did the others. Felix's body lay motionless next to a tree, Rex sighed. Aldy opened his eyes, there laying in front of him, was the body of Doug.
***
Four months had passed since Silas' accident, things were finally back to normal, Pinkie had a party to welcome Jake and Lucas. Everypony got to know them just as they got to know Silas. Aldy rented an apartment next door to Octavia's house, rent was cheap and Aldy worked for the landlord. Jake got a job working construction, and Lucas got a job working at the Cafe. Silas still held his job at Noteworthy Instruments, life was good.
Silas ran into Aldy on his way home from work one day. Silas looked like something was bothering him, Aldy noticed. "Heyyo man!" He said cheerfully to his friend, Silas replied with a simple "Eey." Aldy knew something was up, he had to find out what it was. "Something wrong? Tell me whats up." He said to the orange pegasus. Silas sighed and flapped his wings, Aldy did the same. The two flew up in the air and headed towards Aldy's apartment. "Aldy, remember Doug?" Silas asked, Aldy gave him a funny look. "Doug? no, what was his full name?" He didn't remember at all who Silas was talking about. "Douglas White Wilson, Cpl.Wilson. We used to call him White Will." Silas said.
Aldy frowned, "He was a good guy, what about him?" Silas flew up and Aldy followed. They hovered over Ponyville. "I had a dream a while ago, about the time we got ambushed while searching for Bravo Squad. We lost Felix and Will, they were both good soldiers yeah, but we grew up with Will. Now that hes gone I've been thinking about changing our band's name to Doug, or Will, as a sign of respect." He said, Aldy was silent until they reached his apartment. They landed in front of his door, Aldy opened the door and finally spoke, "That'd be a good idea Strat. He was a good friend." He closed the door behind him.
Silas trotted back to Tavi's, they've been dating for almost four and a half months. Silas didn't want to seal the deal yet, he wanted more time to pass before he did so. When Strat entered the house there were no signs of life. Usually Octavia was home around this time, Silas looked around the house for a clue. There was a note on the kitchen counter, Strat read it carefully.
Dear Silas,
By the time you get this I'll be quite far away I'd imagine. I received a note from Canterlot this morning while you were at work. I was hoping to see you before I had to leave but you didn't come home on time. Don't worry its nothing bad, Princess Celestia has requested for me to play at the Grand Galloping Gala tomorrow night. I apologize for not telling you sooner, I wasn't sure if you'd be upset. The Princess sends out tickets for special mares and stallions to attend the Gala. Its more of an Upper-Class party, I'm sad you won't be able to watch my performance. It won't be the same without you. Don't worry, I'll only be gone for the next couple days. It will be nice seeing my hometown of Canterlot once again.
Wish me luck my love.
~ Octavia
"Damn upper-class party. Just cause I'm not high class shouldn't mean I can't go." Silas said angrily to himself, no one else was home so he decided to vent. "Oh yeah, I wasn't invited, well son of a bitch. Ugh, now I'll have nothing nice to come home too after a crap day." He yelled, of course no one was there to answer, that was probably a good thing. Silas walked up the stairs and climbed into bed, "Okay, I'm not that much of a dick. Life is fine." He said to himself, then fell asleep taking up the whole bed. He hadn't slept alone in months.
***
Octavia sat patiently on the train to Canterlot. It was a long ride, but she heard others talking and they said it wouldn't be much longer. She was sitting alone, Tavi didn't recognize anypony else on the train. There weren't that many other ponies on the train. She glanced over at a red stallion sitting alone across from her. He was wearing a cowboy hat, but he had a weird suit on, almost like it was homemade. He noticed her, "Howdy, Octavia right?" She nodded in response, "Don't recognize me eh? Its Slim, we met in Ponehville." Tavi was surprised to see Slim on a train to Canterlot, "Yes, I remember now, what do you seek in Canterlot?" She said, Slim chuckled. "Heh heh, not the Galah, too fancy smanchy for a fella like mahself. Stride opened up a new place, said he might need some extra help." Tavi nodded, "How lovely." She simply said. Slim nodded and went to sleep.
Tavi looked out the window at the rainy night sky, she began to think of the Gala. Octavia hasn't played in Canterlot in over four months, she started to get a little worried. The Gala this year was suppose to be the largest it ever has been. Tavi noticed a large stallion soaring through the skys, his coat was a dark blue and his mane was black and blue. He bounced off a cloud making lightning strike, then he flew off. What an odd pony ,she thought. Seeing lightning made her think of Silas. She hated the fact that he was severely injured in this kind of weather. Tavi kicked the negative thoughts away and began to think of how they spent the rainy night in Applejack's barn. The way they cuddled up on the couch, and the way they slept every night. She felt safe with Silas, knowing she had a stallion like him made her fall asleep peacefully on the train.
***
Silas was up early the next morning, he didn't sleep very well. But he didn't have another nightmare thankfully. He didn't have any coffee, Silas just got up and got ready to go. He had the day off, which made him happy. Strat noticed nopony else was home, Vinyl spent most nights at Baritone's place. Silas had the house to himself, he was lonely. When there was nopony around he'd usually sketch so he pulled out his guitar case from the closet and opened it up. He took the gutiar out, but to move not to play. Silas opened the middle compartment of the case, inside was a large sketchbook with some of his best work, along with a few pencils. He kept the spare sketch book in his case just in case he felt the sudden urge to draw. He had that urge now, Silas sharpened his pencil with his old pocket knife and took a seat on the couch.
He stayed there for about a good hour, just sketching. He blew off a few eraser shavings and took a look at his work so far. "Alright, now lets make this look more alive!" Silas said, he began to trace the sketch carefully. He never was any good at calligraphy, but he did know how to draw. In fact, he used to draw so much during flight school he almost got expelled. Silas threw in some lazy shading and shined the finished product in the light. "Perfect." He said as he held it up to the window.
Meanwhile
Lucas awoke slowly, he looked at the clock. 11:45am, "Damn." He said as he got out of bed. Jake was on the floor, still passed out. "Aw man, that's friggen adorable." Luca said as he kicked Jake awake. Jake flew up with bloodshot eyes, "Dude what the balls....do you have any idea what time it is?" Jake asked. "Heh heh, do you? Its 11:45, get your ass up sleeping beauty." Luca laughed, he loved messing with Jake. Actually, all those two did was mess with each other. Jake looked out the window as Luca poured himself a coffee, "Wow, now this is a view I could get used to." Jake said out loud, Luca joined his side and admired the view. "Dang, Ponyville sure is different than Filly." Luca said, Jake rolled his eyes and chuckled, "In a better way."
The two friends were interrupted by a knock at their door. Lucas answered it, it was none other than Silas. "Alright, Luca I just came by to say we're changing the name of our band to Doug." He said in a stern, but tired voice. Luca stared at him, "Why? Whats wrong with the old one?" He asked his orange friend. Silas rolled his eyes, "That was just a name we came up with, it has no meaning behind the naming. Besides, Doug is the name of one of my best friends I grew up with. He died in the war along with a few other friends of mine. So what do you say?"
Jake turned to look at the two in the door way. "Well, I say hell yeah. Doug is the best friggen name ever, plus its named after someone. Dude, fucking Doug!" He said, Lucas laughed. "Alright, sounds good." Luca said, "Want a coffee?" He asked. Silas shook his head, "Nah, I've been up for a while, thanks though. I'll see you guys around." With that said Silas left the apartment and headed towards the center of town.
Silas noticed Twilight Sparkle outside for a walk all alone. He decided to be friendly and go say hi, he needed a boost. As he got closer she noticed him and greeted him first. "Hello Silas! Wonderful day isn't it?" She greeted the orange pegasus. Silas smiled weakly and replied, "Hi Twilight, yeah it is rather nice." She noticed a troubled look on his face. "Um, is there something wrong?" She asked, Silas shrugged. "Wanna talk about it?" Twilight said, she cared deeply for her friends, she didn't like seeing them upset.
"Well, I just feel like a low-class slug I guess." Silas said, the purple unicorn shook her head, "Don't feel that way, it isn't true. Why would you think that?" She asked. Silas sighed, "Octavia's performing at the Grand Galloping Gala tonight, and I don't get to see her play. She said it was more like a party for Upper-class ponies, which I'm not. I mean, I know I wasn't invited, but even If I was I could never show up. I'm not the sort of stallion with class." He said, then hung his head. Twilight saw how troubled he really was, "Oh Silas, I'm sorry, I wish there was something I could do. But, just because you don't look like an upper-class stallion, doesn't mean you're a slug. Its the way a pony acts that counts, it doesn't matter how you look." She said, "Silas I know you're a great guy, the way you treat Octavia, the way you treat your friends. You don't need to change just because of some upper-class party, stay true to yourself." Twilight said. Silas' face changed, from a depressing frown, to a gentle smile. "You really think so? Thank you Twilight, you really are a good friend." Silas said.
All of the sudden Spike came rushing out of the Library. He was holding a letter from the Princess, "Twilight! Just got a letter, I don't know who its for." He said. Twilight opened up the scroll and scanned it, "Its for you Silas." She said. With her magic she showed the scroll before him. Silas read it out loud.
Dear Silas "Black" Strat
I've heard about you and your accident. Twilight has written to me and informed me of your condition every week, I'm happy that you're flying once more. She has also informed me of your rescue of the Cutie Mark Crusaders and your kindness throughout your stay in Ponyville. I confronted a mare you may know, Octavia, this morning and she told me about her troubles. Apparently you can't see her perform and she felt bad that you couldn't come to the Gala. I've also heard about your desire to some day visit Canterlot and meet me. I know you must be feeling a little on the sad side, but cheer up. I have a gift for you and a few friends of yours.
~Princess Celestia
Silas was speechless, Spike then burped up something else. It wasn't a letter, but three golden tickets with a note. They were tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala. Twilight read the note aloud.
To Silas, May you join us in Canterlot for the Grand Galloping Gala, I am eagerly waiting to meet you. You may bring two other close companions of yours as well.
~Princess Celestia
Silas beamed, "Oh man, this is crazy. How am I gonna get ready for tonight? I can't just go like this." He said worried. Twilight laughed, "Have you ever met Rarity? She'll fix you up, who are you going to bring?" She said to Silas who was now pacing with anxiety. "I'll bring Jake and Lucas, they'll have the same feeling as me, I won't be alone. We've all never been to Canterlot. Plus they're my best friends. Will Rarity have suits for all of us?" Twilight smiled, "Oh she will, trust me."