//------------------------------// // Short Night of Solace // Story: Halo ODST: Feet First Into Equestria // by DontBeThatGuy //------------------------------// The sun was barely peeking through the windows, poking its shiny face above the horizon just enough to sear painfully into Rainbow Dash’s eyeballs. She clamped her eyelids closed to no avail, the unrelenting sunlight pierced her eyelids with daggers of excruciating pain. Groaning, she rolled over, away from the window. Apparently, sudden movements didn’t suit her hungover headache too well. The throbbing within her skull sent painful remainders to slow the buck down. Unable to return to the blissful realm of sleep, Dash decided it was time to search for that wonderful product called Tylenol. Dash swung out from her bed, impacting the ground with what normally would have been a soft landing. Today however, the blow reverberated up her spine, sending shock waves through her skull. The need for Tylenol increased exponentially. She shuffled to the bathroom in a haze, hastily opening the medicine cabinet and rummaged through the unorganized shelves. Where is it, where is it? In her haste, she knocked over some antibiotics onto the counter. The bottle smacked against the hardened cloud with enough force to hurt Dash’s hungover hearing. Recovering from the mind-shattering sound, she managed to search through the remainder of the cabinet without incident. Of course the bottle would be at the very back. She grabbed the bottle and worked her way slowly to the kitchen. With significantly more care than she worked through the medicine cabinet, she grabbed a glass from the cupboard, and filled it with tap water. She downed the Tylenol, hoping, praying that it would kick in soon. What the hay did she do last night? She had been drinking with a bunch of her friends. She remembered Vinyl being there, and Rarity. She was pretty sure that Pinkie and AJ were also there. They were usually her drinking buddies. But why did she spring for the hard liquor? She never did. Oh. Ah, crap. That’s why. All the memories flooded back in an instant. That’s why she had been drinking. Maybe she had another bottle around here somewhere… no. No, that’s not going to help. Besides, she had responsibilities to attend to eventually. She couldn’t show up drunk or hungover to weather duty. She had the Tylenol, all she needed now was some sleep. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Rainbow Dash bolted out of bed, expecting to see the elite towering over her ready for the kill in her waking state. Still, the fear lingering from her nightmare lingered and she glanced about the room frantically, knowing every shadow was going to jump out and kill her. She jumped out of bed, making a mad dash for the kitchen. She flung herself across the counter, grabbing the biggest knife within reach, before twisting and landing on the floor with the weapon pointed at the hall that connected to her bedroom. A few minutes passed without Dash moving a muscle. Slowly she relaxed her grip on the knife, her breathing slowed from the heavy, stressed panting to a more normal pace. Then, she started snickering, then laughing. The Covenant? Find their way up here? Ludicrous! “What’s so funny, Rainbow Dash?” Dash spun around with a yelp, hurling the knife as hard as she could. The blade stuck deep into the mailbag of grey pony behind her. “Oh my gosh! Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” “Why did you throw a knife at me, Rainbow Dash? What’d I do wrong?” The mare said with a sorrowful expression, unsure what she did to deserve this punishment. It must have been something terrible! “Derpy! You didn’t do anything wrong! I did something wrong! Oh, Celestia! Are you hurt?” “No, I’m fine! How are you?” “I’m terrible! I threw a knife at you, how could I be ok with that?” “I’m sure you had your reasons. Anyways, here’s your mail!” She tossed a few letters in Rainbow Dash’s general direction. “Bye!” “Wait, don’t go!” Rainbow Dash called out. “Is there anything I can get you, seeing as I almost killed you a few seconds ago?” “Well, I really shouldn’t…” “Come on, it’d make me feel a whole lot better.” Dash pleaded with the duty-driven mail pony. “Ok, fine. But only if you have some muffins.” “Muffins! Right! I think I have some,” Rainbow Dash searched frantically through her kitchen for her carton of store-bought muffins. “It’s in the cupboard to the left,” Derpy chimed in. “Uh, thanks.” She retrieved the muffins from the exact spot where Derpy had predicted, filled it with water and placed it on the stove. How the hay did she do that? “I hope you like,” Dash paused for a second, trying to find the specific type of tea it was that she was about to brew. “blueberry muffins.” “Oh yes!” Derpy looked quite pleased at the prospect. “So, how did you know where they were going to be? I mean, even I didn’t know, and it’s my kitchen.” “Oh, I don’t know. Mom always said I had a knock… a nook…” “A knack?” “Yeah, a knack! She said I had a knack for muffins, and I’ve just always been good at finding it when I need it!” Derpy seemed satisfied with her answer, even if Rainbow Dash did look at her skeptically. “So what was so funny?” “Huh?” “When I first came in you were laughing. What was so funny?” “Oh, nothing. I just woke up scared from a nightmare, and was trying to protect myself from it in real life. Imagine, me trying to fight off my own imagination!” “Must have been really scary,” Derpy observed. “Why do you say that?” “You’re still shaking.” “Oh. Heh heh, I guess I am.” Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t keep her hooves from shaking. “Anyways, I better be going. Thanks for the muffin!” She said with a smile, wolfing down the muffin before her. “Yeah, you take care, Derpy!” “Will do!” The friendly mail pony said cheerily before departing. Derpy. What a character. She was so nice, it was impossible not to like her. And she had thought it was her fault that Rainbow Dash had thrown—oh no. She had forgotten about the knife! Derpy still had the knife! Now everypony she met would think that Dash had tried to kill Derpy! Dash sprinted out of her house, hovering a few feet off the porch. Where did she go, oh sweet Celestia where did she go? Glancing frantically around, Dash caught a glimpse of Derpy as she delivered mail to Twilight. Oh this going to end marvelously. Her headache was coming back just imagining Twilight’s lecture. Nevertheless, she hastened to the library, hoping to supersede some of the lecture. “Thanks for the mail, Derpy. No, no please. Let me take that. I’ll make sure to talk Rainbow about this.” Buck. “Alright! Have a good day Twilight!” “Take care, Derpy!” “Oh, hiya Rainbow Dash! Twilight just said she was going to look for you, how convenient timing!” Derpy said as she left the library. Rainbow Dash was constantly making ‘cut’ and ‘stop talking’ motions to no avail. Derpy’s well-intentioned, albeit loud, one-sided conversation drew Twilight’s attention. “Oh, Rainbow Dash, you’re already here? How nice, please come in!” Twilight said with a deceptively sweet smile. Dash slunk through the door, dreading the upcoming conversation. “You threw a knife at Derpy? What were you thinking?” Mother of god, that mare could be loud when she wanted too. “Could you please keep it down? I still have a hangover,” Rainbow Dash clapped her hooves over her ears. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause you discomfort while you try to murder our friends!” “Ow! It was self defense!” Twilight’s volume had not lessened. “Self defense? What could Derpy possibly do that merits a knife to the chest?” “She didn’t do anything, it was in response to a nightmare, all right? She just happened to show up and startle me.” “A nightmare.” Twilight sounded extremely skeptical. “Yeah, you were at the woods last night. And you arrived after the elite was dead. You didn’t get to watch it’s murderous rampage first hand. Don’t even try to tell me you can shake off what you saw last night.” “Well, no but I didn’t throw a knife at anypony!” “Again, you showed up afterwards! I’ve seen these things in action twice! So buck you, I’m going back to bed. Actually, do you have any Tylenol, my head is killing me.” “Where you drinking last night?” “No, I got a hangover from flying too slowly.” Twilight harrumphed, retrieving a bottle from the medicine cabinet. “Here’s my only bottle. Though I must say, if the experience shook you up that much, you might want to talk to a therapist.” “A therapist? No thanks, I’m not going to admit to anypony that I can’t cut it. Because I can, I just need some time.” “Well fine then. Why don’t you go fly a bunch then? That always seems to help.” “Nah, I already do that a bunch. Didn’t help. Any other suggestions, O Wise One?” “Well, everything I’ve read regarding PTSD involves doing something to keep yourself distracted, it is best if you can take up something that will confront the problems you’re having. Do something proactive to force yourself to confront what scares you, so you can overcome it.” “Great. Well that’s supremely unhelpful.” “Maybe you should take up karate?” “Already a black belt.” “Oh right.” “I dunno, I’ll think of something to do. Right now, I plan on sleeping. You know what, I’ll talk to Jay, he probably has some experience in this area.” Twilight was still angry at Jennings, but conceded that he was the subject matter expert in that particular field. “Yeah, I guess so.” “Anyways, I am going back to bed. I’ll call you if I figure out something to help stop this. Who knows, you might want to use it, too.” “Who says I have PTSD?” “I do. Based on the number of books I see laying about, I’m gonna guess you haven’t slept since the incident.” Twilight looked back into the library, embarrassed to see mounds of books laying about. “Didn’t help take your mind off of it, did it?” Twilight shook her head. “No, not really.” “Didn’t think so.” Dash jumped off the ground, stretching her wings wide to catch a gust of wind. She floated back to her room, popping open the bottle of Tylenol. It was going to be a long day. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Dash arose the next day, remarkably not rested. Every few minutes she was woke up in a cold sweat, and felt compelled to search through her house with a flashlight and a baseball bat. Needless to say, she couldn’t stomach another night like that. As soon as had fully prepared herself for the day, she set off to Canterlot in search of Jennings. He had to have a lot of experience in this area. Dash set down in the upper tier of Canterlot, near where she expected to find Jennings. There was a military section of the compound up here where the high-ranking brass liked to chill and talk about military things, so she assumed he would be up here to. Glancing around, she saw one door with about 20 different ponies clustered around, all of them staring intently within at some bizarre spectacle. Dash correctly assumed they were watching Jennings work. Dash elbowed her way through the crowd (much to the dislike of the ponies in her way, she received more than a few unpleasant comments). She reached the front of the crowd, only to find the doorway blocked by two of the largest stallions she’d ever seen. “Excuse me sir, can I go through?” “No.” “But Jay is my friend, I need to talk to him.” “Unlikely.” “Come on, it’s important! I need to talk to him about what happened!” “Lady, we’ve heard that same story since this thing showed up. Stay back.” “Unbelievable,” Dash muttered. “Jay! Jen-nings!” she shouted at the top of her lungs, finally gaining the man’s attention. “Dash! Hey guys, let her in, it’s ok.” The guard begrudgingly stepped aside, allowing Dash to pass. The crowd outside was in an uproar as to why the rude young lady was allowed in, and they weren’t. “Hey, Jay. I’ve got a question for you.” “Shoot.” “Do you ever have problems sleeping?” Jennings leaned back in his chair. “Nightmares? Having trouble remembering too much?” “That obvious?” “Come on, let’s go for a walk.” Jennings grabbed his coat and a brown fedora, leading the way towards the back of the building and away from the crowd. Emerging from the rear of the building, Jennings put his hat on with a flourish, half striking a pose before busting out laughing. “Whatcha think?” “Of what?” “The suit. Rarity was kind enough to make another, and I specifically requested the hat. She claimed it was old and out of style, but I digress. Classics like this never go out of style.” “The suit looks great. The hat is… unique.” “I’ll take that as a compliment. Here, have a seat,” Jennings motioned towards a bench. “Thanks. Now about the whole sleeping issue,” Dash prodded. “Hold your horses—no offense. I swear it’s just a saying on Earth.” Spotting the confusion on Dash’s face, he elaborated. “It means to stay calm and wait for a few seconds. Now about sleep. You asked if I lose sleep?” “Yes.” “Yes.” “That’s all you have to say?” “Well I’m not sure what else there is to say. Yes, I lose sleep. Yes, I still jump at loud noises. Does it get better over time? Most certainly. Does it go away? Definitely not.” “Don’t you do something to help combat it? You know, confront the issue?” “Most of the nightmares I have revolve around my guns not working, or my unarmed strikes not being effective. So when I have those dreams, I go and train. When they get me scared I’ll die, I’ll train more to force that terror away.” “Yeah, but I don’t have anything like that.” “Didn’t Twilight say you’re a Karate black belt?” “Yeah, but that’s against ponies. It probably won’t work against an elite.” “Do you have any skill with a bow or sword or something?” “No, not like it would matter. The royal guard was so effective with them the other day.” Jennings shrugged in agreement at Dash’s obvious sarcasm. “So what are you going to do?” “I dunno. I can’t think of anything that will fight…” Dash’s voice trailed off and she looked up at Jennings hopefully. “If you’re about to ask what I think, the answer is no.” “Come on, Jay, please? I can’t think of a better solution!” “No! There are better ways to deal with PTSD than to join a special-ops unit!” “You said the best way to deal with it is to train? What better place to train then to train there?” “Well there isn’t one, but you realize that what we do is nothing but combat? You’ll just get more PTSD!” “Yeah, well I’d rather get more of it, and be with ponies who are also dealing with the same thing I am. We could go through it together! Isn’t that how you are supposed to process it?” “Well, yeah, but-” “But what? Jay, you have to let me do this! I don’t think I’ll be able to stand it if Ponyville gets attacked again and I can’t do anything.” Damn it, he knew that exact feeling. Jennings sighed in resignation. “Do you know what a challenge coin is?” “No, but that doesn’t sound like a yes…” “Will you just shut up for a second and let me finish my thought? Thank you. A challenge coin is a coin made by a unit. You take them to bars and stuff. When someone pulls out a challenge coin, everyone else has to pull one out as well. If somebody is missing theirs, than they owe everyone a drink. If everyone has one, the lowest ranking coin buys everyone a drink. Here’s the one from my old unit. We had a motto, a catchphrase more like. It was ‘Never stop fighting for what you love,’ but over the years was shortened to Never Stop Fighting. That’s why there’s the NSF engraved in the middle of the coin. I want to give this to you. If you promise to Never stop fighting for what you love, I’ll let you in. Can you promise me that?” Dash jumped past the coin, crushing the man in his first pony-hug. “Oh thank you thank you thank you! Yes, yes, I can do that. Thank you so much!” Once he could breathe again, Jennings managed a few words of warning. “Urgh! You’re welcome. Just remember, when you get to the training, I’ve never met you. In fact, I’ll probably be the biggest jerk in the world until you graduate. If you graduate.” “Oh I’ll graduate, just wait and see. I can’t wait to start! This will be my first new challenge since perfecting the Sonic Rainboom!” “Ok then, I’ll see you in a week. Rest up, and say goodbye to your friends. It’ll be a while before you see them again.” “Ok. Will do! See you in a week!” Rainbow Dash had almost disappeared into the distance before she finished the sentence, she was so excited. Jennings shook his head with a smile. She had no idea what she was getting into. A/N Why the fedora? Am I obsessed with older styles of clothing or something? No! I just freaking love Indiana Jones.