//------------------------------//
// Would You Like To Play A Game? 
// Story: Requiem For A Soldier 
// by Shieldheart204 
//------------------------------//

Would You Like To Play A Game?

With staggered breaths Shield Heart woke up in a hospital bed. His room was spacious, it's no other beds near him and the place being spotless. In front of him sat a stockpile of goodies, including plushies, balloons, chocolates and even a medal.

"What the hell? Where am I?" He asked himself. He heard a weird beeping noise and looked around. He was connected to a breathing machine and a blood dispensing post. He yanked the tubes in his nose and ripped the needle off his arm. "Hello? Anyone there?" He noticed he was wearing a white t-shirt and blue boxers rather than his usual attire.

He got out of bed and began walking. His left leg felt injured, but he felt as I it could still handle him. Still, he decided to use it as little as possible for fear of permanently damaging it. He began taking baby steps, using the white wall as support. Outside of his room was deserted, not one soul was even slightly visible. And if there once were people here, they left in a hurry. Some chairs were turned over, and the reception counter still had stacks of paper.

He scanned the environment and found a convenient yew walking stick. On the front desk he found Silver on top a form with a unique logo printed on the top left corner the logo was an olive green P circled by thirteen silver stars. Worried, he snatched the paper and began reading it. The paper said nothing, it was just hospitals paper work, so he dismissed it, grabbed his blaster and flicked the setting to level two. He felt safer with a gun in his hand, but he also needed intel on this place and dead men can't talk.

He kept walking through various rooms, but they all seemed deserted. Even the break room was devoid of life, with opened candy bars and spilled soda. There were signs of a struggle, various windows had skin marks, but there was no blood or anything that could indicate a problem. Most beds were turned over as if the patients had stumbled and run away.

Two floors up he found his first sign of life, an elderly man was lying in a large sofa eating a bowl of obsidian chuncks. He looked oblivious to anything, fashion, sense, even reality. He had pure white hair, his right fang was long, his goatee was unkempt and had black hairs, his clothes were a horrible patchwork of two colors: red and purple. 

Shield knew better than to let his guard down. He grabbed Silver and aimed. "Who are you, what's going on here, why is this place deserted, why are you eating rocks and why shouldn't I shoot you here and now?" 

The elder merely looked at him and laughed. "Oh goodie! You're finally awake, I was afraid you had died after I saw your wounds. I believe I saved the right man, you are Shield Heart right? It would be embarrassing if I saved Hield Shard. And before you answer please lower your weapon, you might hurt yourself."

Shield ignored him and the man snapped his fingers. Shield heard his gun shoot, but he never pulled the trigger. A nanosecond later his left knee was in searing pain. He hanged onto his stick, but it disappeared with another snap. Shield screamed in pain as the full weight of his body crashed down on it. "What did you do?"

"Not funny when your guns go off on you, is it? Now listen because I have bad news. Equestria is in danger, and you are the only one who can stop this horrible calamity." Said the elder with a melodramatic tone as he casually floated.

"What... Calamity?" He asked between spasms. He was thankful Silver was set to stun, otherwise he might have lost his leg.

"I'm very sure you know what I speak of. Now please tell me I contacted the Enforcer who took down the mighty Yegua del Sur  Cartel in Manehattan."

"Hell yeah that's me!"

"Then stop groaning like a little girl, you're embarrassing yourself."

Shield took deep breaths before he answered. His pain had deceased rapidly.  "What calamity, who's causing it?"

"Think about it, who could it be? Who has the power to launch a full scale assault on Equestria and still not get into trouble with the Elder Council?"

"It can't be. No it's not Him, is it?" Said Shield with worry.

"Yes it is Him! Ragnar, the smith lord of Boardor. He has been planing for ages a strike here on Equestria." Hollered The Man, his mockery clear.

Shield sighed in relief. 

The man in rags scoffed. "Who else would it be? It surely isn't Deep Sea, she's not even into the whole "conquer the world idea". Ragnar has been preparing an army but first wants to weaken you. He knows Equestria can defeat the changelings, but he doesn't expect you. You have managed to remain unseen for now, but you will attract dangerous folk."

"Why should I believe a word you say?" 

"It's quite simple really, you don't have to. I'm merely telling you what I know,what I've seen hoping that you can use it in your favor. I'd hate to see my favorite vacation home destroyed and turned into a forge."

"So, where am I?" 

"How should I know! We could be anywhere really. We could be in Canterlot." The old man snapped his fingers and there was an earthquake. After recovering from a fall Shield saw several high white towers. The smell of cinnamon rolls sneaked through a window, filling the lungs of a certain hungry officer. 

"Now listen, I need to be sure that you are ready for the task ahead, because this might just cause your little brain to explode."

With another snap of his fingers the man summoned two doors, one was red and the other was shining silver. "Before you stand two doors. One will take you through your worst nightmares, the other through your wildest dreams. Pass through them and you will escape this dream, fail or die and your mind will be stuck here in the Collective Unconscious. Your mind will forever roam free of your body, but you will die on the real world."

"Which one is which?" Asked Shield. He needed to know more of this test, he feared that it was worst than what this madman said.

"I don't know, I just made the doors and connected them to your brain. Your mind will fill it with the rest. It is a journey of resistance."

"Before i take any decisions, what should I call you?"

"Ugh, again with the labels, well if you must know, I have a lot of names. I'm known as Sheogorath Prince of Madness, as Loki God of Mischief, also as the Cheshire Cat. I have no definite name, so choose any of those." He said without meaning, but he also muttered very below his breath "Discord in Equestria."

"Very well Loki. How do I fail?"

"It's rather easy to know, you lose sight of what you need to do. If you get bogged down in marriage and forget that you are just passing by then that becomes your reality. If you get stuck in a heated battle and fall into a coma then, in that case, things are bound to become interesting." Loki chuckled for a moment. "I don't believe I have to explain how you lose if you die." The last sentence came with the stench of sarcasm.

"I'm sure I've figured it out." answered Shield in a smug tone. "Very well, show me what will or might happen if I lose." with a snap of Loki's fingers the doors vanished, leaving only a barren volcanic landscape. He could see masses of people working at steel mills, their faces swollen and hollow. It looked like a combination of exploitation and loss of sleep.

He was taken to what once was Canterlot, the once pearl city was now nothing more than white rubble. The majestic towers were either destroyed, burned or evaporated. The city was filled with charred corpses of the unfortunate souls that couldn't escape. He noticed that the castle was in ruin, with several armored soldiers turned into skeletons, their armor blackened by heat or pierced at various points.

One corpse was hard not to recognize. It was wearing a red suit, a silver sword on his side. The suit was burnt, but he had enough piece of mind to know that it was the formal outfit used by the Captain of the Canterlot Guard. 

Next to him was what he had to believe was a woman with the bones of wings. There was a single pink feather on the ground, untouched by the flames.

Shield couldn't bear it anymore, he dropped on his knees and began sobbing. He was facing a problem which had no clear solution, and two of his friends would be dead. He was later taken to the courtyard, where he lost it. Two winged skeletons were hugging, amidst swarms of corpses. He noticed a large crater where they stood, as if there had been an explosion. 

There was no way of knowing if they were friends or foes. Some had tusked helmets, so those he knew were enemies. But most were bones and ash.

With a snap of fingers he was taken away from the white city and transported to his home in Vanhoover.

Vanhoover was commonly known for its mirrored skyscrapers and concrete roads. These were ruined, leaving the sense that they were in a post-apocalyptic wasteland rather than the Glass Port. He saw the first sign of human life, his friend Fire Storm. He was wielding his extendable spear, slashing and stabbing several armored men wearing professional combat armor and wielding assault rifles.

Next to him were other friends of his, all fighting the oncoming horde. Hey were badly outnumbered, but they looked determined to fight to the bitter end.

It was too gruesome for Shield, seeing that much misery just couldn't be handled well.

"This is what will happen if you fail to wake up. Your friends became part of the Pony Rebels, the last resistance. But they are badly equipped and therefore destined to die." Broke out Loki with a serious face. He snapped his fingers and the hospital room reassembled itself.

"And how do I pass the test? What is my goal?" Asked Shield.

"How should I know? I'm not your brain. The task is determined by whatever your mind dictates."

Shield thought for a moment. He was about to jump into heaven or hell by chance. If he failed Equestria would become an extension of Boardor, and the world would probably follow.

Shield grabbed Silver, he had a plan, he just needed more information. "What happens if I die here?" He asked. Loki looked at him funny, almost as if the question was unusual.

"I've never tried it myself. But you are welcome to try."

"You said we are on the Collective Unconscious, which is basically a dream, and if you die in a dream you just wake up in real life." He said with gusto. "And you gave me a gun, which is pointless in here because there's no one to use it on!"

"I didn't give you that! Your brain summoned it. I only provided the future and the knowledge of today."

"Why am I the only one who can stop them, clearly the are more people who are better qualified. My friends could hold their ground fairly good."

"Only you possess the knowledge of these events. Everyone will be taken by surprise. And you are the closest thing to a soldier Equestria has."

"What about the ERG? They're very decent soldiers?"

Loki laughed once again. "Stop playing dumb. We have both seen the horrors of the outside, and we know that those soldiers aren't even ready for a single fight. You on the other hand, have lived through the various battlefields. Stalliongrad, Boardor, the Scorching Plains, the Ib'Xian triads, the mobsters in Manehattan. The list goes on, but the point is you know war. This is why you trained, why you ran away."

Shield was surprised, so he responded angrily. "How do you know that? That information is known by very few individuals, most of which are either friends or dead."

"I know a great many things, being here in limbo really makes me learn. I may not be able to move physically, but my mind can wander freely without anyone noticing. I am aware of everything that happens." Loki was floating again, drinking fire from a glass of wine.

Shield walked to the center of the room, flicked Silver to level three and pointed him at the elder.

"You really want to do that?" Asked Loki with a smug grin.

"I've made my decision, there is no possible scenario in which I win so..." He pointed Silver inside his mouth. "I' out!" And he pulled the trigger.