Cast Down
5 years before the letter arrived
As reality fazed in and out, all Seth could do was wait for his cruel life to unfold. ‘I’m horrible, a monster.’ is all he thought, until out of the dark shadows of his thoughts came a hazy voice, barely recognizable; “…he looks stable. Heart rate ste… …and brain electromagnetic readings are nominal; we might have just brought back a de…” That was all Seth could hear before going back under.
Standing at the bedside of his unconscious brother with look of relief on his face, Dawn listened to the doctor as he explained that his brother had survived one of the most brutal injuries of his time. Dawn smiled at the thought that passed through his mind, ‘I guess miracles do exist.’ Dawn Eclipse looked nearly identical to his older brother. They shared the same dark gray coat, same facial marks, same ice blue eyes, and the same Wolfpack symbol burned on their right front leg. The only differences would be Seth was slightly larger than Dawn, and had a light scar over his right eye, coinciding with his light grey fur line. Back in the war, the two of them were always mistaken for the other. Until now, Dawn hadn’t considered miracles to even exist; especially after that fatal day.
1000 years ago,
Dawn led the pack as they ran to the center of town. As second in command, he made sure the troop got to the target, while the alpha covers the team. Running down the street, Dawn could see devastation everywhere, and this is why he needed to reach the target. If this mission was a success, they could pave a road straight to Discord’s front door. This terrible, bloody war could be over.
Arriving at the town hall, Dawn bashed the double doors with his left forearm, priming his rifle as he did. Seeing that the room was pony-free, he yelled “Clear!” Like planned, the first two wolves were to clear the upper floors, while the third would cover the second ground story doors at the other side of the building. His job was to cover the entrance from flaking attacks while waiting for orders from Seth. ‘Hold up, where’s that wolf anyway?’ He didn’t run in like he planned to. As Dawn quickly scanned the interior of the hall, the wolf heard “clear” multiple times as the team checked the town hall.
‘Seth, you’ve really outdone yourself’, Dawn thought knowing this whole plan had been his inspiration. Chuckling to himself, Dawn glanced out of the door to see if any hostiles were inbound. To his horror, he saw the wolf that was not only his commanding officer, but also his older brother, lying on the ground, wounded. A unicorn was standing next to him, horn covered in blood. Quickly engulfed with pure rage, Dawn yelled to his team, “This one’s MINE!” before dropping his gun and charging at the now aware unicorn, the fear stricken face of which believed his imminent and painful death was near. All that met the three remaining wolves of the Wolfpack were two bloody brothers and the mutilated body of what looked to be a pony.
A retreat was called as the team pulled their C.O. back to the extraction point, top priority being to save their leader at this point. As soon as the brothers reached a medical unit, the doctors began the tedious task of patching the hole through Seth’s side while making sure to keep him as stable as possible.
Dawn sat outside, refusing to believe what just happened, nor caring that he was drenched in his victim’s half dried blood. “It’s my fault. It was my lead, I…” is all he could say, now mixing tears to the already disturbing amount of red in his fur. As Dawn huddled himself into his chair, one of the medics from the treatment unit walked up to him carrying a clipboard, but backed away slightly when he saw the blood. “What do you want?” Dawn yelled, half with rage, half with sorrow.
“Well…” the doctor began, "there's not much we can do. The damage to his heart alone is more than we can hope to repair, not to mention the massive blood loss."
“Then tell me,” the red coated wolf demanded, now increasing in rage. “Why are you telling me this now, out here, while he’s still alive and you’re not treating him?”
“There is an alternative…” the doctor began, earning the slightest interest from Dawn.