//------------------------------// // Evac // Story: Revenge // by HeroeDeLaVida //------------------------------// To say it was cold up in the Himalayan mountains would be a drastic under statement. I trudged through snow up to my waist. As I stopped to catch my breath, I unzipped my green-brown camouflage field jacket and moved apart the three winter linings I was wearing, then finally pulled up my light brown t-shirt to check the bullet wound in my stomach. The medical wrap I had put on was holding, and the medifoam was keeping me from bleeding out. For now. I zipped up my jacket and kept moving. I just need to get over this peak, the evac should be right on the other side. I kept moving, but the closer I got to the top, the more snow there was. I checked over my shoulder for any sign of my pursuers, but I had lost them in the blizzard long ago. Probably thinking I’m going to die in this weather anyway. Looking toward the mountain peak I thought, I just might. Then I mentally kicked myself. No no no no no no, I can’t think like that. I just have to make it over this mountain. One more mountain. Then by some miracle sent by God himself, the blizzard began to die off as I reached the peak. As I stood at the peak of the mountain, I took a moment to rest and take in the view. The sky was beginning to clear, and I could see the sun going down on the horizon. I was high enough to the point where I was above most of the clouds. It was a nice sight, and I envy birds for getting to see it daily. As I looked across the expanse of white fluffy clouds, I could make out a distant form, swooping through the clouds, performing spins, rolls, and dives. I looked down to the foot of the mountain, where there was a thick forest. That’s weird, there shouldn’t be a forest out in this mountain range. It should still be desolate tundra. I looked out farther, and saw a small little village, that looked peaceful and happy. Doesn’t seem like it’s touched at all by the war. I remember when home used to be like that. I felt a pang of sadness thinking about home. I had lived in the suburbs of St. Paul Minnesota, roughly 70 miles from the city center. It had been a beautiful place, until the war happened. Don’t think about home, you fool! Concentrate on the mission! Right. The mission. I started to walk down the mountain. I had descended about half a mile from the peak when I began to think something was wrong. Where was that evac? The helecopter was supposed to be right over the peak. I was beginning to worry. Something wasn’t right. Something just felt, not wrong, but different. The painkillers I hac taken where begging to wear off, and I needed to get my stomach stitched up soon. It may not be bleeding now, but I’m pretty sure it’s not healthy to have a hole in your gut. I'll just have to make for the bottom of the mountain, then try to get to that village. I began to descend again. It was difficult work, and I had to stop and rest often, on account of the blood I had lost making me feel extremely light headed. As I stopped to rest, I heard a muffled thump from higher up the mountain, than a gradual rumble. That cant be good. Looking up I saw that something higher up had caused snow to begin to slide down the mountain side. As the avalanche got closer, I turned and ran. I’m really in no condition for this. As the avalanche of snow caught up to me, the last thing I thought to myself was, This just ain’t my day…. I awoke with a shiver and a groan. It was dark, and I felt cold all over, and quickly realized why. I was encased up to my shoulders in snow, with just my head and my right arm sticking out. Maybe today is my day. After all, I’m still alive. Looking around I saw I was at the foot of the mountain. I looked into the forest, but something about it seemed off. This whole place seemed off. The world was so colorful. So vibrant. Dare I say cartoon like? I shook my head. I must of just hit my head, or those painkillers are having some odd after affects. Well, as far as I could tell there was still a hole in my gut, so I better get to some sort of hospital. Provided I didn’t get to turned around in the avalanche, that village should be on the other side of this forest. I began to dig my torso out of my cold snow tomb, and then was able to pull the rest of my body out when I had both arms available. Looking up, I could see the moon high in the clear sky, with stars splayed around it like diamonds. These where the kind of nights I would lay under and watch the stars with Kitty and Crystal. Katherine. My sister. Kitty was only my pet name for her, but she loved being called it so much. I could still remember her, with light blonde hair, and laughing brown eyes. She had always been so happy, so ambitious. And Crystal. My fiancé. My high school crush and my lifelong friend. She had been there when I dropped out of school to enlist when I was 16, so I could earn money to afford to look after Kitty when our mom died. She even offered to look after Kitty when I got deployed. She was there again when I came home, 3 years later. Scarred physically and mentally, by what I had seen and done. She gave me a home, and help me care for Kitty. I can still remember the night I proposed. I was only 21, but I was sure that I wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of my life, no matter how short or long, with her. She was beautiful. Her light brown hair falling in long curls. She cried when I got down on a knee and asked for her hand. I had worried I messes up or did something wrong, but I could see the smile on her face as she hugged me, and repeated “Yes yes yes yes.” Over and over again. We were set to be married in September, but September never came. No! Stop it! Stop! Think about Kitty and stop thinking about Crystal! I pulled myself out of the daze, and began checking for if I lost anything. Dogtags? Check. Combat Knife? Check. .44 magnum? Not check. I looked around, but couldn’t find my trusty revolver anywhere. It was probably burried under feet of snow. I checked the medical pouch I had on my belt. One more shot of painkillers and a roll of medical wrap. I better stop getting shot. Without further hesitation I began to move into the forest. The moon was full, but the conopys of the trees cut off a lot of the light. I stumbled around until I found what seemed to be a game trail. I followed it as best I could in the low light, but had to stop and backtrack multiple times. After an hour or two of travel, I was about ready to leave the trail, believing it was leading my in circles, when I heard what sound like a young girl yelling. I kicked up my pace a little, and as I got closer, I was able to make out the girl sounded panicked. “Help! Rainbow Dash! Somepony! Anypony! Help!” Somepony? What? I didn’t give myself time to think as I began running. Tree branches whipped my face and eyes, and as I burst through the foliage in front of me, I was met with what might just be the weirdest thing I had ever seen. I was in a small clearing, and in the moonlight, I could see a small orange filly, with dark pink mane and tail, and are those wings? What? (That explains the somepony) Slowly backing away from a wolf about for times the size of it. To make things better, the wolf was made completely out of sticks and logs. Yep, definitely lost way too much blood. Orange winged pony or not, it still needed help, and I wasn’t about to watch something so young get ripped to pieces by a wolf made up of a pile of twigs. I drew my combat knife, and before the wolf even knew I was there, I tackled it. As we hit the ground, I slid the blade right into the wolf’s heart. Or where it's heart would of been if it wasn't hallow! This world makes no sense. I threw the wolf off me and stood up. Ok, if a knife won't work, I'll just have to.... My train of thought was cut off as the wolf jumped at me, biting at my neck. I threw up my arms as it tackled me to the ground, but instead f biting my neck, it caught my left forearm. My combat knife slid out of my grasp as I hit the ground. It slid to stop at the hoof of the little orange pony. She was standing, looking confused and frozen in place. I was pulled back to reality (or wherever I am) by a sharp pain in my arms. This wolf's teeth may be made out of wood, but they were incredibly sharp. I did my best to keep my left arm between me and the thrashing wooden dog from hell that seemed intent on ripping out my throat, as I reached for anything I could use as a weapon with my right. My hand fell on a fist sized rock. I quickly grabbed it and started hitting the beast attacking me in the shoulder. On the third hit, I heard the sharp crack of splintering wood, and I felt the jaws clamping down on my left arm release. I threw the wolf off me, and watched carefully as it whimpered and ran away, wooden tale between it’s legs. Looking down at my arm, I could see my sleeve darkening. I’ll take care of that later. I turned to the orange filly. She looked halfway between thanking me, and screaming and running away. Instead, she said what I expected. “W-Who are you? What are you?” she stammered. Well I was going to ask you the same question. “My name is Sol.” I answered, doing my best to not kick my self for talking to a multi-colored wined pony that looked like it came directly from some little girls fantasy. “And I’m a human.” She seemed to jump back a little at the sound of my voice. “Y-you talk?” Well I didn’t really expect blood-loss induced hallucinations to talk, but you are. “Yea. So, what are you doing out in the woods alone at this time of night?” I asked. Might as well. Wouldn’t want to be rude to my own hallucination. “I’m not alone. Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and I were…” Her face immediately went from slightly nervous to afraid again. “Oh no. You need to help me find them. Apple Bloom was hurt last time I saw them. Please!” she looked up at me with pleading purple eyes. Her expression was so much like Kitty’s when she used to do that, that I found it impossible to say no. “Ok, fine. Where were they when you before you ran off.” Her ears lifted up and she began to smile. “Over this way!” she yelled as she turned and ran into the brush. I picked my knife up off the forest floor and began to follow her. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be, since she was able to easily slide under most of the branches, while I had to run right through them. As we ran, I decided I would be the one to break the ice. “So why did you run away from your friends?” She looked back at me with and undignified look. “I did not run away. I just was trying to lead the timber wolf away from Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom.” Timber wolf? Oh the irony burned “That was pretty brave of you.” I said dryly. “Well I’m a brave pony.” She said proudly, then came to an abrupt halt. “They should be right up here.” She said as she hopped through the remaining bushes. “Scootaloo!” I heard to voices call out in unison. “Hey girls. How are you Apple Bloom?” I heard the orange pony, Scootaloo, reply. “Ah’m fine.” I heard a second voice say in a slight country drawl. “It’s jus’ muh leg hurts a little.” “How did you get away from that wolf?” I heard a third voice chime in. “I had a little help.” she said. I took that as my cue and stepped out of the bushes onto a semi-open path. Sitting on the path where two more technicolor ponies. One had a white coat with a half purple half pink mane and tail and, a horn? The second was a (thankfully) somewhat normal pony, with yellow fur and a red mane and tail, and a simple red bow adorned her mane. They both looked up at me with wide eyes and mouths agape. I ran a hand through my somewhat short brown hair, not sure what to say. Luckily, Scootaloo broke the silence. “Girls, this is Sol. He helped me with the timber wolf. He’s a human.” She then turned to me and said, “Sol, this is Sweetie Belle” she pointed towards the unicorn, “and Apple Bloom.” she pointed to the normal filly. As I looked them over, I saw small bite marks in Apple Bloom’s foreleg. “Umm… Apple Bloom, is it? Do you want me to wrap that bite on your leg so it won’t get infected.?” This seemed to knock the two fillies out of there stupor, because Apple Bloom managed a nod. I reached into my medical pouch and pulled out my last roll of gauze, then preceded to gently wrap her leg with precision that only comes with lots of practice. Way too much practice than what’s healthy for me. I thought to myself as I finished on her leg. “How’s that?” She looked at it. “B-better. Thank ya.” she stammered. Sweetie Belle, who had been staring at me as a wrapped her friends leg, began to look around, then said “Girls, can we get out of here. I really don’t want a “Eaten by Timber Wolves” cutie mark.” A what now? Scootaloo moved over to her friends then said, “yea, we should get out of here, before more come looking for us.” Apple Bloom simply nodded. Seeing that, Scootaloo walked over to her and asked, “Can you walk.” Apple Bloom then attempted to stand, but was careful not to put any weight her injured leg. She began to walk down the path, but was moving slow. “I’ll just carry you.” I said, then scooped up the small filly in my arms. She squirmed at first, then realizing I had no intention of hurting her, she settled herself into my arms. “Thank ya again, for helpin’ us an all.” She said. “Yea thanks. Your really brave yourself, tackling that timber wolf.” Scootaloo said, as she trotted at my side. “It was nothing.” Sweetie Belle trotted up on my other side. “You did what?” “Yea, he just tackled it to the ground, then hit it a bunch with a rock.” Scootaloo said, sounding more like she was showing off her own feat then mine. “Is that how you got that bite on your…. Thing.?” Sweetie Belle said, noticing my arm. “It’s an arm, and yea, it bit me once. Nothing more than an oversized splinter really.” “Oh, Ah’m sorry for using your bandages. You should of used them.” The filly in my arms said. “It’s fine, I’ve had worse.” I felt a sharp pain in my stomach reminding me that I have worse. I shut out the pain, reasoning that there was probably a doctor wherever these ponies came from. There was a long silence as we continued down the path. I could see the sky getting brighter through the treetops. It’s almost dawn. We must be close to the edge of the forest, because the trees were beginning to thin out. “Ummm… Scootaloo, can I talk to you?” Sweetie Belle said as she stopped walking. Taking the hint, I kept walking with Apple Bloom in my arms. I heard the other two whispering behind us. I didn’t mind. They had a right to be suspicious, after all, if the positions were reversed, I would be checking to see if I was insane. I probably am, after all I am walking down a path in the middle of a cartoon looking forest while holding a pony that is yellow and red pony as a Pegasus and unicorn follow me. Nothing insane about that at all. I was once again pulled from my train of thought as I heard a rustling the bushes ahead of me. Suspicious that it was another of those wolves, I veered to the left of the path away from the rustling bushes. Apple Bloom looked up at me and asked "Is something wrong?" "No, it's just...." the rest of my sentence was cut off as an orange mare jumped from the bushes on the side of the path. She had a blonde mane and tail, pulled back in a ponytail(?) and on her head rested a simple cowboy hat. As she leaped from the bushes, she landed on her front legs, rotating, her back legs pulled against her body. I realized what was happening a second too late. "Get away from muh sister!" she yelled in an accent similar to Apple Bloom's, then bucked me in the side hard almost causing me to drop Apple Bloom. It hurt, but not as much as the time I was hit by that SUV. As I stumbled back, I placed the filly in my arms onto the ground, then readied myself, just in time. The orange mare bucked at me again, but this time I ducked under the flailing hooves, sticking out my own foot and kicking out the attacking pony's front legs. She hit the ground and I stood up. "Apple Bloom, you ok?" I asked, looking to where I had set her down, she was fumbling over her words and I started to walk over to her. I caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of my eye. As I turned, I heard a sickening crack as I once again felt myself get bucked in the chest, but this time it felt a lot more like the SUV. I stumbled back and hit the ground. In an instant I was pinned there. Looking up, I found myself staring into the calm green eyes of a red stallion with short blonde hair, wearing a heavy yoke and had a sprig of wheat hanging from his mouth. A heavy hoof pressed down on my chest, another pressing down on my left arm. "Good work Big Macintosh." I heard the orange mare say. As I looked over at her, I saw the other two fillies come running into view, both looking worried from the sudden commotion. The orange mare stepped out to greet them saying "Girls, your safe!" Sweetie Belle stopped and started talking really fast, while Scootaloo ran full speed past her. "Get off of him!" she yelled as she jumped full speed at the pony, Big Macintosh, pinning me down. He hardly flinched. "Applejack! Big Mac! What are y'all doing here?" I heard Apple Bloom ask. Applejack turned to her "We came here looking for you three. We got half the town looking for y'all!" "We were just trying to find our cutie marks." I heard Sweetie Belle say. "An what is that." Applejack said, pointing a hoof at me. Scootaloo stopped trying to move the hoof pinning me down, and turned to look at Applejack. "HE is a human, and his NAME is Sol. He was just trying to help us get home." I must say, I was happy that Scootaloo was sticking up for me, but I can worry about myself. “Where’d he come from? What’s he doing here?” Applejack started asking. “Look, I’ll be happy to discuss where I came from with you, but can we be civilized about this?” I said in a dull voice. So much for good first impressions. Applejack stared at me suspiciously, then said to Big Macintosh, “Could ya go round up Twi and the others, I think they’ll wanna see this.” He glanced at Applejack, then turned and walked away, which allowed me to sit up. In doing so, I involuntarily cringed. This was not helping my stomach heal. Luckily the medifoam is still holding up. Scootaloo was giving me a worried look. “Are you ok? Are you hurt? Do you need…” I put a hand over her mouth to cut off the stem of questions. “I’m fine, just a cracked rib. A day or to of rest and I’ll be fine.” I said, but it didn’t seem to help. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Applejack trotting towards me. “What where you doing with your…. Things… all over muh sister.” She said in an accusing tone. I was about to answer her when Apple Bloom spoke up, “Applejack, Sol was jus helping’ me, that’s all. I hurt muh leg and he was gonna carry me back to Ponyvile.” She limped over to the older mare to show her the bandages I had put on her leg. I took this moment to examine applejack more closely. She was well muscled, not as much as Big Macintosh, but muscled. She had light freckles under her eyes, and a tattoo of three apples on her flank. “Is that true?” Applejack said, turning to me. I nodded, and her stance and facial features changed instantly to a softer expression. “Well then ah’m sorry fer bucking ya like that. An Ah’m sure that when Big Mac finds out about the misunderstanding, he’ll be sorry too,” I looked at her and gave her a week smile, the massive amount of blood I lost beginning to catch up with me. “It’s fine. I can only imagine what I’d do if my sister had gone missing, and next time I saw her, she was in the arms of some strange creature.” Scootaloo looked up at me. “You have a sister?” She asked, sounding excited. I felt the emotion drain from my face, and I suddenly could look at those curious purple eyes. “I’d prefer not to talk about it.” I said plainly. She just frowned a bit then said “ok.” “We should get going.” I said, then stood up. I immediately regretted it. The world swam and I felt suddenly really top heavy. “I lost way too much blood….” I mumbled as the world crashed around me. I woke up with a start, then struggled to remember where I was, but as the vibrant color filled my eyes, I realized 3 things. One, I was still in this world of talking ponies. Two, I was in a cottage I had never seen before, and Three, I wasn’t wearing a shirt. Looking down, I saw my stomach had clean bandages around it, along with my left arm, and there where also bandages around my chest, keeping it stiff so the rib doesn’t heal wrong. Sitting up, I realized I was in a bed that was far too small for me, with my knees hanging the edge. Looking around the room, I spotted my shirt and coat clean, folded, and sitting on a chair next to the bed. I slipped into my t-shirt and walked to the door. Looking in the hallway beyond, I saw no sign of anyone, or anypony as it would be. I continued out towards a staircase I saw. I heard multiple voices drifting up, so I figured I better figure out who my hosts/captors were. As I reached the bottom of the stairs I was met by yet another very odd scene. I walked into a room full of bird houses and other random animal care objects. And in the center of the room, laying in a half circle, were 5 ponies. A yellow pegasus with a long pink mane and tail, and a cyan pegasus with rainbow colored mane and tail. There was a white unicorn with a long purple mane and tail that fell in long curls, and a purple unicorn with a strait mane and tail that had a pink highlight going down it. And last but no least was Applejack, sitting comfortably on the opposite side of the room. As I walked in, the purple unicorn stood and said, “Oh umm… your awake. Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle. I‘m the librarian at Ponyvile Library.” She looked like she couldn’t decide whether she should be afraid of me or intrigued by me. “Hullo Twilight.” I said simple. At the sound of my voice, the yellow pegasus bolted under a nearby couch. Shy much? I looked at her quizzically. “Don’t mind Fluttershy,” the rainbow maned pony said. “By the way, I’m Rainbow Dash. I control the weather here in Ponyvile.” Weather control? That’s cool. “I am Rarity,” The white unicorn announced, “and I must thank you for helping my sister, Sweetie Belle. I own the local boutique, so if you ever need new clothing, don’t be afraid to stop by, I’d enjoy the challenge.” “You already sorta know me,” Applejack said “but me and my big brother Big Macintosh own and run Sweet Apple Acres, outside of Ponyvile. He’s really sorry for cracking yer rib.” I waved a dismissing hand. “It’s fine, I’ve taken worse. Who was it that patched me up?” I said looking at the collection of ponies. “That was Fluttershy.” Twilight said helpfully. I looked over to where she coward under the couch. “Well thank you for that, you may have saved my life.” She just looked at me and mumbled “Y-your welcome…” There was an awkward silence, broken by Twilight. “I’m just going to come out and ask, how did you get into Equestria?” That must be the country I’m in. I gave her a sad look and said, “I really don’t know.” “Well what where you doing before you ended up here?” She asked, obviously eager to know all she could about me. “To tell you that, I would need to tell you about the state Earth, the place I’m from, is in, and to do that,” I looked around. These ponies, they all looked so innocent. I doubted there had been any really conflict in these lands for years. “I would need to tell you about war.”