//------------------------------//
// Just Like Old Times - Continued 
// Story: Soldiers Remnants of Us 
// by Ribe_FireRain 
//------------------------------//

'Heeey, watch it, Private Smart ass.' Paul raised his brow at Ann.

'Just because we are at war...again, doesn't mean I can't enjoy a bit of drinking.' 

Ann just scoffed in annoyance and anger at the Sergeant, barely containing his expression.

'Can we just find Louis then? We can't just leave him behind with those...timber wolves..' Ann spoke shortly and quietly.

'Oh, and I think it is best if the six of you go back home.' 

Applejack looked Ann and Paul in the face with a look of sadness displayed on her face.

'Hold your horses, sugarcube, we didn't jus come all the ways out here to leave you to ya fate.'

They were all now looking up at both the armed soldiers, Rainbow deeply scanning Ann.

'Sorry, but I don't want any of you getting hurt, you could even get killed staying with us! We were trained to do this, you told me not long ago that you feared this creature that has our friend, and can't kill it, so to me, you seem to be of no use.'

'Ann. David wouldn't of backed us down, he would of stood up, with his weapon, and charged in at his target. He wouldn't let me back down, knowing there would be danger back where we started from that could be waiting for us.'

Rainbow gave Ann a mad look. 

'Rainbow....I...won't let you nor your friends get put in the face of danger because we were being selfless to you all. Like our badges say on our badges 'To serve and protect'.'

'i just won't let you nor your friends come with us knowing you would be getting yourselves hurt or even killed before our hands.'

Ann stood perfectly still, looking Rainbow dead in the eyes, with Rainbow staring back with those beautiful magenta eyes of her own.

'I'm still not changing my mind, no matter what you say.'  Rainbow raised her voice a little, letting out traces of anger.

'I'm not going to leave your side, Ann. I love...' Rainbow stopped talking immediately and blushed a bright red and looked away in embarrassment at what she was going to say.

This caught Ann a little off guard.

'Wha-what?' He forced an awkward smile at the cyan mare.

'N-Nothing....forget I said anything!' Rainbow replied sheepishly.

'Ok, if we are done doing small talk, lets get back to the part were we look for Louis.' 

Paul inquired out loud of annoyance.

The Sarge may of been a dick, but he also didn't like to stand around too long either. it was just 'a way for your enemy to find you' disadvantage, but what did Ann care?

'Right, right.' Ann rolled his eyes.

'Your not serious are you...?' Twilight looked up at Paul.

'Yes I am.' He replied to the purple unicorn, trying not to sound seriously angry at her.

'But...you don't know what's out there. You might get yourself killed...' Twilight said with a frown.

'Look, I don't care, either come with us or don't, I don't like standing around waiting to be taken to the floor, and I'm not letting you all drag me down with you all when death comes for you.'

Paul spoke with growing anger.

'We are not leaving you. Friends stay beside their friends no matter what.' Twilight said as she gave him and Ann a reassuring grin.

'Ugh fine.' 

And with that, Paul marched off, down the old and dusty trails that weaved through the forest, the others following behind closely.

Even though they were together, they still felt unsafe and aware of the dangers lurking in the shadows around them, not to mention the timber wolves.

They didn't get too fr from where they once were, stopping in front of a cave that let out cold gusts of air along with the sound of droplets of water that sounded like it was coming from a nearby water leak in the roof of the cave.

'You think he's in there?' Applejack asked from behind Ann.

'Don't know, but there is only one way to find out...' Ann pulled out his pistol, pulling back the hammer until it clicked and placed Curtis's assault rifle on his back with its strap.

Paul did the same, pulling out his combat knife to go with it, just for close quarters. 

He motioned for them to head inside as he went in first, letting them all stay behind him as they quietly crawled around the stone floor, knocking stones and pebbles now and again that sent silent echoes through the cave walls and deeper into the darkness.

The silence was interrupted as they heard a faint scream in the distance, and they knew all too well who it was.

It was Louis's scream. The small group had to act fast if they were going to save him, but there was a chance they may not come back out of the cave.

'You all hear that? We need to hurry!' Paul commanded, but in response got a slight nod from his associates.

'Sarge, why don't you go on ahead? I...I....I'm going to stay here..' Fluttershy spoke shakily and quiet.

'Scared? Scared, Fluttershy? At this moment I think your name would be Fluttercry.' Paul smirked as he raised a brow at the yellow Pegasus.

Tears started to form in the corners of Fluttershy's eyes at Paul's mocking sentence.

'Hey! Leave her alone, Granddad!'  Rainbow yelled at Paul, getting right in his face.

'Call me that one more time, I swear I'm gonna knock you to the floor!' He growled at Rainbow, but she didn't flinch or back down to the Sergeant.

'Just what is your problem anyway, you old bag? There is no wonder your friends ended up how they are now, it was all of your doing. Just goes to show how much of a stupid old man you are.'

Rainbow snorted as she kept her eyes fixed onto Paul's emerald eyes, not breaking contact.

Paul just gave an angry growl at the cyan Pegasus and uppercut her in the bottom of her chin, sending her into the wall behind her with a loud thud as she hit it and fell to the floor.

'RAINBOW!' Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie ,Applejack and Twilight ran over to Rainbow, who was knocked out cold from the heavy blow to her chin and head.

Twilight lifted Rainbow's head off of the ground and held it in her hooves, taking it off the moist dirt floor, letting a small track of trickles of blood drip from a cut on the back of her head.

Ann turned to face Paul, with anger staining his brown eyes.

'You bastard! Why did you do that?!' 

His voice echoed loudly through the trail, but before he could rant anymore at the Sergeant, he had ran away from the group, leaving them alone in the dark.

He began firing shots blindly into the dark, trying to hit the Sergeant as he made his getaway, but to his disbelief, did not.

'Fuck..I'll get you you bastard!' He called out at Paul before turning to go help his hurt friend.

'Rainbow can you hear me?! Wake up!' 

Ann knelt beside Twilight and her friends and placed two fingers onto Rainbow's neck for her pulse.

He felt thumps run down his fingers, to his relief he let out a sigh, knowing Paul didn't snap her neck by knocking her into a wall.

As he was going to get back up he noticed small drops of fresh blood tap onto the ground. At that point he checked Rainbow's head for any cuts or sources of her bleeding, a few moments later he was shocked at what he saw.

There was a large gash in Rainbow's head. It looked as though it was near her skull, and possibly be fatal if she didn't get it treated.

Ann patted around his pockets on his uniform, looking for something to bandage Rainbow's head up, but found nothing to patch her up, but then he had an idea.

His jacket was easy to tear up, and was strong enough to pressurize the wound, so he undid his jacket and cut out a fraction big enough to the size of a bandage for Rainbow's head wound and wrapped it gently around her head, tying a knot to add pressure to her head, trying to keep it stable enough so she won't loose too much blood.

'Twilight, get her out of here. You need to find her a doctor, now!' As Ann spoke, he locked eyes with the purple unicorn, not taking them off her.

Twilight stuttered as she tried to find her words. 'B-But what about you? We can't just abandon you here!'

'You can, I'll be fine, don't worry about me, besides I'm the only one left of my squad who can talk some sense into Paul.'

'Ann...don't go...I don't want you to go! You might get yourself killed.' Fluttershy looked directly into Ann's eyes with tears flowing down her face as Ann looked back.

'I won't Fluttershy. I won't, don't worry about me.' 

Ann knelt beside Fluttershy and hugged her as he said his goodbye's as he cried lightly on her shoulder.

'Here, I want you to have this.' Ann reached for his left boot and took out the knife from his strap and held the blade as the handle pointed towards Fluttershy.

Fluttershy stared at the knife with a look of fright and uncertainty.

'A-A knife? I can't use that.. I'm not a violent type of pony....I just can't take it...'

'Fluttershy, I consider you and the rest of you as friends, and if you are ever going to make it back to town, you need to protect yourself from the dangers out there. I'll be damned if I let a wolf get you all because of me being selfless!'

Fluttershy wiped her tears away with her hoof and slowly placed the knife in her mouth, being careful not to cut Ann's hand as she slipped the blade from his grasp.

The knife had small teeth all lined tightly together and to Fluttershy didn't feel right to be holding it. 

Ann took one final look at his friends and bid them farewell.

'If I don't come back, don't come looking for me. No matter what.' 

Without giving them a chance to respond, Ann ran deeper into the darkness of the cave and disappeared out of sight.