//------------------------------// // A Blast that Changed Everything // Story: A Soldier and a Pegasus // by RainbowDashAddict //------------------------------// Three days after my sixth, and last, re-deployment came a fateful day that forever changed my life. I had gotten much faster at putting on my body armor, but still always taking the time to look at my now old and faded Rainbow Dash patch which clearly showed the many years of service it had undertaken. I dashed from my bunk prepared to board my vehicle as I stood ready for inspection. We were cleared with some time to spare before leaving on our normal rounds. I walked to the medical unit where Chris and Fireblitz were on a break. “Hey, what are you two up too?” I asked with a slight smile. Usually I never had time to visit before departure, but today was an exception. Fireblitz shot back replying, “I’m excellent.” Chris simply nodded in agreement as he had just taken a swig of black coffee upon my entry. She continued, “What are you doing in here? I thought that you had bomb escort today.” I smirked, “I do have duty today. I just have about five minutes until roll out time.” Chris grinned saying, “You be safe out there Dashie, we don’t want to see you in here with us after your patrol is done.” Out of nowhere Fireblitz gave me a hug so tight I could feel it through my coarse body armor. I always wondered what her real name was, but never inquired, or dared, to ask. I must have been blushing because I heard Chris chuckle to himself as I hugged her back. “You guys always scare me when you go out on bomb runs. Just be careful,” she said very calmly as she let me go and looked into my eyes. I nodded in reply, too speechless to talk. “I-I guess I better head to the truck.” I stammered clearly still shocked by the sudden affection towards me. Managing a weak smile I stepped out of the Medic’s quarters and headed to the waiting truck. I slid into the shotgun spot, looking over at Shadow with a nod. Abel was in our gunner spot and Mitchell behind me alongside a new recruit to the company. In a cloud of dust we drove out of the base having acquired lead position in front of the two other dust covered vehicles that trailed behind us. A recent sandstorm made life all the more dangerous because any mines or I.E.D.’s would blend in all the more into the coarse sandy dirt. Shadow, Abel, and I all had the duty of watching for any roadside bombs that may arise in our path then alerting the others to the danger. A couple dead animal carcasses were investigated and found to be no threat. Sometimes the sand overtakes the beasts breathing, leaving it with a cruel fate. As we continued on through the city I noticed something very… very odd… “Where is everyone, none of the natives are even remotely present,” I said over the radio with clear concern in my voice. A car was along the road ahead of us. I immediately called for a halt of the caravan. “Abel, what do you see wrong about that car.” I spoke though the headset. “Sagging suspension, looks like it hasn’t run in years but has no sand piled in or around it meaning it has been placed there within forty-eight hours, and if my eyes aren’t lying to me I swear I see four civilians in the road up ahead behind it.” Replied our keen eyed gunner. I hadn’t noticed the civilians but indeed there were four in sight up ahead. I ordered the vehicles to back away from the car. I stepped out of the vehicle walking back to the already prepping bomb squad. A robot rolled past me as I approached closer to the back of their truck. I stepped in the back as the escort commander to watch the video feed coming from “Sparky V” (Don’t ask what happened to III and IV). As the robot investigated more carefully we soon came to discover that it was only a hoax with no sort of payload in it whatsoever. I cursed under my breath knowing what this meant. This is a tactic used by insurgents to draw our attention away from something else that they are plotting. I ran back to my truck and told everyone to begin to search the area, check everywhere and everyone for suspicious activity. Abel was to give us cover fire if needed and keep an eye on us, while the others of my company were to search the surrounding area. Moving quickly and efficiently we scoured the area, and saw nothing, even the civilians had left the scene, in a mysterious and sudden fashion which further put my mind at unrest. I ordered us to move out of the area, I wanted nothing more to do with this area and knew that we needed to get out before something bad happened, little to my knowledge it was far too late. The caravan was about to begin its trek again, but we found ourselves in a horrible predicament. There was no way for our armored vehicles to make a U-turn, forcing us to go past the car we had just investigated. I was extremely nervous about the idea, but my hand was forced in the situation. I ordered all of our rifles to be taken off of safety in case we needed firepower quickly. Our advance started once again, I could have sworn I was sweating bullets as we passed the car. In the blink of an eye, my worst fears came to light. Underneath the car we had inspected, was a daisy chain that the robot had not seen on camera. With a deafening blast the truck behind ours launched at least fifteen feet into the air and rolled onto its side with a sickening crunch of metal shrapnel. After the initial shock of the blast and the ringing in my ears finally ceased I could hear voices blaring from my radio along with the feeling of our truck shaking from the fifty caliber gun on the roof over our head firing shot after shot. “Everyone out now! Fire at will and check for survivors!” I bellowed over the radio. The sheer blast force had caused my door to be jammed shut due to the frame bending around it. I looked to Shadow, who had grabbed a shotgun from under his seat and kicked his door open. Mitchell and the recruit had already exited the vehicle and firing their rifles. A sinking feeling had worked its way into my heart as I heard another dreadful message come across the radio, “Men down! Insurgent fire to the north! We need assistance immediately!” As I cursed under my breath I typed a code into our emergency beacon which sent a distress signal to the base requesting help. “ETA for back up is ten minutes!” I barked over the radio once again. With a few swift kicks my door was finally ajar of the frame as I crouched behind it. I spotted an open entrance in a building that hadn’t been crumbled in the blast wave and dashed to it. I saw a terrorist take a step into the street holding an AK-47 assault rifle, and took him down before my men could be injured. At least five insurgents fell by my gun alone and they seemed to keep going as my soldiers did the same. The chaos the scene I beheld was awful: guns firing, grenades exploding, and screams of pain from the men of my company drove me to near insanity. I ran out of ammunition in the current clip of my rifle and began to reload. Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in the back of my neck as something seemed to bite and pull me back as I lost my balance and fell to the hard tile ground on my back. While I fell, I saw a cloud of dust fly from the wall, as a bullet struck the frame I was just standing next to, which begged the question: who had pulled be back from the door? I saw a smear of blood across my brony patch. This disturbed me even more as I knew that it was not my blood and the pain I felt from my neck was not bleeding. After regaining my sense of balance and orientation I stood again, looking around the room I was pulled into. What I saw, shocked and bewildered me beyond belief. I raised my visor, to dispel all doubt that my eyes were not seeing reality. In the furthest corner of the dark room stood: Rainbow Dash. My brain said my eyes were lying, so I turned on my attached rifle light, to illuminate the dimly lit space. I honestly felt like my heart melted in my chest. It was true, she stood in front of me with a trickle of blood down her right front leg, her coat seemed dirty and the bright colors of her mane and tail tampered by obvious dust. I knelt in front of her, laying my rifle down on the ground leaving the light on so I could see. “I’m not going to hurt you… come here…” I spoke as calmly as possible, still trying to believe what my senses were telling me as my mind reeled in confusion. “O-okay...” she said in almost a whisper as she hobbled towards me keeping almost no weight on her obviously injured leg. The magenta color of her eyes locked on mine, and as soon as she was close enough, I maneuvered my arm to grasp and pick her up under my left arm so I wouldn't put any pressure onto the seemingly delicate wings that lay on her back. “Don’t worry; you’re safe with me now.” I said picking up the rifle and walking back to the door frame as a sigh of relief overtook me upon laying eyes on our backup. I walked back into the room and exited through a side door, which in a stroke of luck had been behind the mobile medical unit. It was the last one there as the rest of my unit had already left with other vehicles. I don't know how long I was confused and laying on the floor after I hit my head, but the gunfire had ceased and the insurgent attackers had been neutralized. I stepped in the back of the medical vehicle quickly trying to keep the sky blue Pegasus out of sight. I sat down and slammed the door shut with a sigh, but as I turned around, none other than Fireblitz was staring me right in the eye. “I… umm…” her eyes trailed from my eyes and down to Rainbow under my arm. I followed her gaze and looked down at Dash, to my surprise realization, was looking up at me. “What the hell… is that?” she exclaimed with a gasp. My attention turned back to the daring medic, “It’s… Rainbow Dash, the Pegasus from the show that Chris, Mitchell, and I watch. I know it’s hard to believe, and I’m still trying to understand it myself.” She cut me off and took her from me beginning to examine her right leg, “Jason… she took some shrapnel to the leg.” “Yes I know. I found her like that,” I said while unloading my gun. “Driver! Let’s go! Back to the compound now!” she bellowed over the engine noise. We both sat down as she handed Rainbow back to me. I looked down still wondering if what I was seeing was reality. I stroked her back until she fell asleep in my lap while Fire, which I had come to call Fireblitz, watched me closely. The vehicle lurched into life headed back to base, kicking up a small dust cloud at the speeds it was traveling. Who knew, that even now this would become one of the most crucial and defining moments of so many's lives.