I had closed my eyes to shield them from the blinding light. When I opened them again, I had to blink a few times before I could clearly see. When I could see, I saw that the rock had... disappeared for lack of another term and beyond where the rock was, was the plain of grass that I had seen from the other side of the bridge. I hesitantly stepped outside and looked around, noticing that I had just come out of a boulder that otherwise marked the landscape.
“May the shifting of the pebbles be in your favor outsider,” I heard Yu'ak say. Turning around, all I saw was the boulder. The doorway was sealed again. How the hell? I thought to myself.
“Tyler!”
Looking to where I heard my name, I saw Jones jogging towards me. I watched him jog and noticed something. He had a light limp when he moved as he seemed to be favoring his right leg. When he reached me, he gave me a quick look over before asking the million dollar question,
“Where the hell were you man?”
“I, uh,” I looked back at the boulder, “I was making some new friends.”
I looked back at Jones to see him looking at me in confusion. Trying to change the subject, I pointed at his left leg, “What happened?”
“Banged my knee, hard, against a rock when I hit the cliff face,” he replied before looking back towards the bridge. I looked as well and saw that the train wasn't stopped on the bridge.
“Come on,” I began, “let's get back to the bridge and signal the others over. It's time we got moving again.”
“Got that right,” Jones replied with a chuckle. Turning, he began to jog back to the bridge. I glanced back at the boulder one more time before joining and following my squadmate. While we were walking back, I heard my radio squawk,
“Tyler! Is that you?”
I smirked behind the mask before pressing the transmit button on my personal radio,
“Yeah, Sarge. It's me. It's safe to cross, by the way. Jones and me are moving to the bridge now. Just hurry the hell across.”
“Roger that, we're rolling now.” a pause, “Where were you? We couldn't get you on comm until now.”
I clicked the transmit button, “Long story Sarge. Probably won't believe it anyway. I'll tell you when we're all mounted up and making tracks to Dodge City.”
“Roger that.”
I just shook my head with a chuckle. Hearing the roaring of engines, I looked across the bridge to see the two vehicles begin to move with the tank going first. The tread clanked onto the bridge slowly. When the bridge held, the tank began to move faster across.
“If only we had a Wolverine,” Jones muttered. I looked to him as we came to a step next to the tracks.
“I don't think the bridge on one of those would be big enough for this,” I muttered. Jones had referred to an M104 Wolverine. It was an Abrams chassis that didn't have a turret. Instead, it had a bridge that could be deployed for crossings.
“Duh. I meant that we could have gone down to the river and deployed it there. Of course, the Wolverine would have to camp out and wait for the west coast troops before packing it up,” Jones explained.
“Of course,” I replied as the tank came roaring off the bridge and drove back to the side of the railroad tracks. I cringed inwardly. I hope that those treads didn't just make mince meal out of the tracks... If we got contact with any pony in authority, we were going to have to inform them about this so they could check the tracks.
The Humvee then came off the bridge and pulled off the tracks to come to a stop alongside the tank. Wordlessly (as if we would be able to hear each other anyway), Jones and me moved to the Humvee and piled in. Once we were in, Kilborn radioed to the tank and both tank and Humvee began to speed across the ground toward the rally point.
“So,” Kilborn started as he put up the Humvee's radio and turned to look back at me, “what the hell happened to you?”
I chuckled, “Well, I jumped off a fucking bridge for one.”
Kilborn chuckled, “Yeah. Sorry for making y'all do that. I thought it was a good idea to scout it out first. The SM thought the same too, though.”
I pulled down my mask to reveal my wide smile, “No worries Sarge. Anyways, I jumped off the bridge and was preparing myself for a desperate grabbing of the cliff-”
/--\
I stood quietly next to the door, feeling like the new filly in the class as everypony stared at me.
“I see...” I heard Cheerilee whisper sadly. I looked over at her to see her and Twilight talking softly behind the teacher's desk. I looked down at my forehooves as their voices drifted back out of hearing. I used my ear to feel the hat and sighed sadly. Hearing the clopping of hooves, I turned to see Twilight walking back to me. When she got close enough, she knelt down so her eyes were level with mine.
“You okay?”
I nodded my head but she stayed silent, her eyes seeming to study my face. The stare caused some of the emotions to start resurfacing but I buried them again. I didn't care about breaking down at home but I would not do so here.
“Alright,” she finally said, “come to my house after school, okay?”
I nodded again, “Alright.”
She stayed kneeling for a second, looking as if she was going to say something else before standing. I watched as she gave a curt nod to Cheerilee before walking out of the school house. Looking at Cheerilee, I saw her smiling sadly at me.
“Go ahead and take your seat, Scootaloo.”
Looking back at the desks, I began to walk without answering. I didn't want to be here but I found myself walking to my desk anyway. The desk near Applebloom and Sweetie Bell. The desk near the two ponies who wore the saddest and most confused of looks. Why must everypony hold sympathy for me? I thought to myself as I got my desk. Dropping my bag onto floor, I crawled onto the seat. Setting my forehooves on the top of the desk I sighed and... stared at my forehooves.
I could hear my two friends whispering to me and hear Cheerilee call them out for doing so but it all seemed so far away. As if they were at the end of a tunnel, speaking normally and hoping I'll hear. On and on, I heard Miss Cheerilee droned as I stared at my orange hooves.
I felt something touch my left shoulder. Looking over, I saw Applebloom giving me a worried look.
“It's recess. Ya comin'?” she asked as Sweetie Bell walked around me to stand beside Applebloom. I looked around the school house to see that it was empty. Even Cheerilee had gone outside today.
I shook my head, “Not today girls.”
“What's wrong? Why are you wearing that hat?” Sweetie Bell asked, looking at said hat. I saw it though, that flicker of distrust in her eyes. Does she not like them either? I thought to myself as I reached down and opened my saddlebag. Taking out the note, I handed it to Applebloom before looking back at my desk.
I heard her open it carefully. When she was done unfolding it, she began to read it aloud. As she read, I felt the feelings of sadness resurface with a vengeance. Why must she read it aloud? I thought to myself bitterly as she continued. I tried to fight it back but found that I couldn't. By the time she was done reading, tears had began to form small puddles on my desk.
“Scootaloo,” Applebloom began. I could feel her put a hoof to my back, “Ah'm so sorry.”
“Look, Silver Spoon. The great Scootaloo is actually crying!”
I recognized the voice and looked up to see Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon standing at the door that led to the playground.
“Go away Diamond Tiara!” Sweetie Bell exclaimed, tears running from her own eyes from the note. She was always so sensitive.
“Why should we leave? I quite enjoy seeing you cry over those furless Diamond Dogs,” Diamond Tiara replied. I watched as Silver Spoon nodded in agreement.
“They're not Diamond Dogs,” I muttered.
“What was that?” Diamond Tiara asked teasingly. I stood up on my seat and slammed my forehooves against my desk.
“They aren't Diamond Dogs!” I shouted.
“Ah, yes. That's what they told us, wasn't it? However, they do smell like Diamond Dogs.”
“And dress like them,” Silver Spoon added.
“They walk the same,” Diamond Tiara continued.
“They do look the same.”
“Mostly,” Diamond Tiara said with an evil smile, “they eat like Diamond Dogs. Who knows when they'll try pony meat.”
That-
“-bucking, grass-munching, cutie mark flashing, pompous, worm!” I shouted. I found that I was now a foot away from Diamond Tiara. The surprise on her face would've caused me to smile if it was any other day. “If you don't shut that useless thing you call a mouth, right now, I'll-”
“You'll do what? Scootaloo?”
I looked up to see Cheerilee standing outside the doorway. She seemed very upset. My eyes lit with fire as I looked back down at Diamond Tiara, who had been smirking triumphantly.
“I'll stomp her face into the dirt,” I finished.
“Scootaloo!” Cheerilee cried as Diamond Tiara's smirk disappeared some. Silver Spoon, seeing her friend frozen, turned to Cheerliee.
“See Miss Cheerliee?” she asked, “The human's changed her. They-”
She didn't get to finish as I bucked her mouth as hard as I could.
/--\
“Sounds like you had an interesting adventure,” Gonz remarked as he steered around a cactus. A cactus. That brings back memories, I thought as I nodded before looking out at the passing sand. We had entered the desert some time during my story. The change was... insignificant to say the least. One minute it was green, the next minute it was tan.
Of course the implications of this change was extreme. The first being that we were nearing the rally point. The second being that this was environment was where we had died in our dimension.
In a twisted sort of way, we were driving into our own tombs. For the first time in years I felt true, raw fear at the idea of death.
I will not die here. I thought strongly to myself, I will not leave behind my new family.