//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Love and War // Story: Til Kingdom Come // by TorontoFCBrony //------------------------------// "I'm sorry... I-I'm sorry I won't be there for you. Just... just do... do one t-thing for me." "Anything, my love." "A-always b-believe in yourself, l-like I believe in you. You'll be fine. You'll be a great mother." "I... I promise. I'll always believe in myself." "T-thanks. I-I'm sorry... I have to go now... I'm going to go home, Dashie. I'm going to... to go where I... where I will be at peace." "I love you Soarin." "I... I love you too, Dashie." -------------------------------------- "Dashie?" "Mmmhmhm..." "Hellooooo?" "MhmhmhmhmHONK!" Soarin used his hooves to close his wife's nostrils so that she would wake up. "Dashie, you've been shaking and muttering and snoring like crazy tonight. Is everything okay?" "Soarin... everything's fine. Sorry I've been keeping you up. I'll try to be more quiet." Rainbow turned on her side to try and fall back asleep again. She felt Soarin's hoof rubbing lightly against her soft, furry back. "Are you sure? You can talk to me about anything. After all, I went years without hearing your beautiful voice." Rainbow turned to lay on her back. Looking at the dark ceiling of their hotel room, she said, "Soarin, I had a dream again about the day you died. That day will haunt my dreams forever." "But I'm right here, Dashie. You know I'm not going anywhere, either." "I know, I know. But this whole thing has just been a shock to me. You haven't even been with me for very long since you came back." "And that's bothering you?" "Not at all! I just... I need to know what happened to you. I have to know how you came back to me." Soarin looked down, having thoughts coming back to him. "Dashie, it's all too soon. I don't even want to remember anything myself." "Soar, please. I mean, maybe telling somepony else about it will help you deal with it all. It's so hard to deal with this kind of thing alone." "I guess you're right. I've been having nightmares pretty much every night since I came back about it all. Maybe you can be my shrink to help me remember it all in a better way," the stallion said with a smile. "Sure, if only I had some librarian glasses or something to make me look more professional." "That would be nice. It would give it a all a better feel. But, you're right. I should tell you about it all." "Sweet," Rainbow said quietly, not wanting to shout to wake the other guests of the hotel. Even though they probably made plenty of noise earlier in the night. It was their honeymoon, after all. The day before Soarin spent most of the time in the room hungover while Rainbow did activities organized by the hotel with other ponies staying there, so Rainbow was eager to listen to her husband talking. "I don't even know where to begin, Dashie. Are you sure you want me to recount all this?" Soarin asked. Rainbow scooted over to be against her husband. He moved all the pillows against the head of the bed and leaned back. Dash rested on his chest, putting her head under his chin and looking up at him, waiting for him to begin. "It's all very hard for me to think about, my dear, but I'll try my best to say it all in the best way possible." "I'm ready!" -------------------------------------- As Soarin's body lay on the bed in the Equestrian base, lifeless, motionless, the doctor readied herself to hand the body over to the ponies who would bring him to Rainbow Dash to be laid to rest. Rainbow Dash had left sad, broken, and defeated just an hour prior. The doctor leaned down to pull the plug for Soarin's heart monitor. Beep. "Huh?" she asked as she heard the sound coming from the monitor. She picked herself up and moved over to look at screen. Looking at the monitor, she was baffled. There was still a very slight heart beat detected in the stallion. Soarin's heart was beating ever so slowly, hardly even noticeable. The beats were very slow, very far apart, and very light. But they were there. And the longer she looked at the screen, the more she noticed his heart beating. Beep. "He's alive?" she asked. She leaned into his chest, making sure that she didn't touch his wound, and listened. His lunges were breathing ever so softly, but there was still air movement. Beep. "Soarin?" she asked him. "Can you hear me?" There was no response. He might actually be in a coma, she thought to herself. Being in the desert during a time of war, the Equestrian doctors didn't have as much equipment as they would have liked in order to do proper tests. But his heart was actually beating, and his lungs were breathing. He had no way of responding. He had lost a lot of blood from the gunshot wound, which could have resulted in him falling into a coma; a much better fate than death. As cheesy as it sounds, the power of love made him stay awake and functional until he saw Rainbow Dash again. But when he saw her, he just couldn't hold on anymore. His brain shut off all non-essential systems as his body started to heal. But as he lost consciousness, all hope seemed to be lost as well. Rainbow wept over what seemed to be his lifeless body, but there was still a small amount of life left in him. -------------------------------------- "So, let me get this straight: you went into a coma?" "Yep. Well, that's what I was told, at least." "You didn't die?" "Rainbow, I'm sitting right here," Soarin reminded her. "Yeah, I know, but I just... I can't wrap my head around that. You told me the day you came back that you went into a coma, but it just didn't make much sense to me then. I was an emotional roller coaster at that time." "I know, Dashie. I feel you. When I finally regained my sense I thought I was in hell. Maybe if I was in a real hospital recovering then I wouldn't have lost so much blood and would have been operated on sooner. Then again, if I never went to war, none of this would have happened." "It's my fault. I should have been more forceful with stopping you from going," Rainbow said sadly while looking up at her husband. She still couldn't forgive herself. "Dashie, it's nopony's fault. And it definitely wouldn't be yours. I was just conflicted with my thoughts, and I thought it was right for me to go. And besides, we couldn't have survived living if we both lost our income. It was still my choice in the end, and we'll never know how things would have turned out if I didn't go." "That's true," Rainbow replied, feeling a little better. "Now, where was I?" -------------------------------------- The doctor at the Equestrian base, on realising that there was still time to save the stallion's life now that he was in a coma, and not dead, as first thought, quickly called on other ponies from Equestrian bases around the desert kingdom to come if they were available. A unicorn stallion surgeon, who enlisted in the army from Fillydelphia, and a pegasus mare nurse, who was called to serve from Las Pegasus, came later that day so that they could help remove the bullet from Soarin's chest. After a few hours, using as many resources that they had available, they were able to remove the bullet and seal the wound, without losing him again. He still remained in his unconscious state, but it was still a major improvement from just hours prior. Everything went well, and the stallion was on the long road to recovery. -------------------------------------- "Okay, so were operated on, you started to get better... what happened then? Why'd you go missing for so long?" "Well, Dashie, everything changed two days later." -------------------------------------- The next day came and went, and the second morning after arrived. Soarin's condition had improved greatly. He still was unconscious, but his heart rate was faster, and his breathing was much better. There was hope that he would make a full recovery soon. Only time was needed. But the peace that he had on his sickbed didn't last. The doctor, who was awake almost constantly to monitor his situation, along with the two other ponies with her, heard a sound coming from outside. Then more sounds. Louder sounds. It seemed almost like a stampede was coming. She went out the front door to see. The sun was just rising over the sand dunes. It shined brightly into her face. She used her hoof to shield her eyes. She could see the few other makeshift buildings that the Equestrian Army had made in the desert that were set up for the soldiers. They were located about an hour's trot from the area which had the most oil in the desert; one of the main reasons why Equestria had invaded the kingdom to begin with. Princesses Celestia and Luna had had negotiations going on with the leaders from the desert kingdom, but they quickly went south. The land that was prominent with oil and gems was not willing to trade with Equestria, and that resulted in Celestia's kingdom invading to try and take over the land and its resources. Well, the mare saw nothing in the distance, and felt no reason to be alarmed. She turned to go back inside, but was stopped as she heard the sound of horns coming from the distance. She felt a sharp flush go through her entire nervous system. It was the battle sound that the Saddle Arabian army would make before attacking. The ground started to shake, and the sound of hoofsteps became louder. She quickly ran back inside to warn the other two ponies, but by then there was no point. It was too late to get out. The three Equestrian ponies, knowing that theyir time was short, and their end would come so abruptly, huddled together and hoped for the best. They had spent much of their time and energy worrying about the stallion on his sickbed whom they saved. He still lay there, motionless, yet still alive. How much time he had left for his own life was unknown, but all hope was fading quickly. They could hear explosions and shouting close by as the Saddle Arabian army set fire to the primitive settlement buildings that the Equestrian army had set up. The sounds of pain and anger were in the air as they could hear their fellow soldiers fighting back. The noise, yelling, and fear in their heads became louder as their impending deaths approached. There was nowhere to go. They were in the middle of the desert, with nowhere to flee and not enough time to save themselves. The three ponies who saved the Wonderbolt's life huddled together closer and closed their eyes as the hoofsteps of the battalion got close enough for them to know that their time had come. Their efforts to save a wonderful stallion's life had all been for nothing, as they couldn't even save their own lives now. The only thing that could help them now would be a miracle. The mare doctor who almost pulled the plug on Soarin, but ended up keeping him alive because of the sound of one heart beat on the monitor, huddled with the other mare and stallion as they waited their impending defeat. She let out a sigh, saying, "Well, this is the end. Thank you for coming here to help me save a life. I'm sorry that it cost you your own lives." "It's all right, dear," the nurse from Las Pegasus said. "We knew of the risks when we came out here. It's not your fault." "Yeah," the stallion surgeon added while he huddled with the other two. "After all, it's our leaders' faults for getting us into this whole mess." "I know," the mare doctor replied, "but I still made you two come out here. I'm sorry. I wish it didn't have to end like this." "I wish it didn't either," the nurse replied, "but at least we won't have to face this fate alone." The doctor looked over to Soarin's heart monitor as she could hear the opposing army get even closer. His heart rate was a little better than before. But she couldn't stop her eyes from swelling up after remembering that it was all for not. The Wonderbolt would not be able to go home to his love and their future foal. He wouldn't be able to see Rainbow Dash's beautiful face or bright eyes. He wouldn't be able to feel her loving embrace anymore. She wouldn't ever find out that Soarin survived his gunshot wound. She held her head down low, letting the tears come as she heard hoofsteps just outside. The door was kicked in by a tall, skinny brown earth pony from Saddle Arabia who had a rifle at his side. As he noticed the three ponies huddled together, obviously scared out of their minds, he held his gun in his hooves towards them. "Hello, Equestrians," he said with sarcasm, even through his thick accent. "Can your beloved Celestia save you now?" "Please, spare us," the doctor begged as she sobbed. "We... we were only here to help this stallion so that he could return to his pregnant fiancée," she said as she pointed her hoof to the sickbed. Without looking at who the injured pony was, the Saddle Arabian stallion just looked back to the three scared Equestrians. "Do you think I care?" he asked angrily. "This entire war is your kingdom's fault. Some of my close friends have died simply because of your army following orders. Now I have to follow mine and eliminate you." The mare, now crying harder than she ever had before, knowing that her time had come, begged for one final thing with a quiet voice, saying, "Fine. I understand. But- but please, please, spare Soarin his life. He didn't do anything wrong. In fact, I... I h-heard that he didn't even harm anypony from y-your army." "Wait, did you say Soarin?" he asked. "Yes," the stallion in the huddle replied. He was stronger emotionally and hadn't succumbed to sobbing as of yet. He saw the pain in the mare doctor's eyes, so he wanted to be the one to speak as she quietly wept in fear. "Soarin the Wonderbolt. He was forced to come to war while he didn't want to. He only came so that he could support his mare financially. You can take us out, but, please, I beg you, spare him. He's innocent." The stallion with the rifle, who held the other ponies' lives in his own hooves, had a memory rush back into his mind. He remembered the time that his father took him to see the Wonderbolts as an older colt. Soarin was only a rookie back then, but the Wonderbolts put on an amazing show in his small desert town. It was the only time that they ever came, but it left a profound memory in his mind forever. It was one of his few positive memories he had of his father. The stallion closed his eyes tightly as he thought. He opened them to look at the badge he had on his army uniform. It read, "The Saddle Arabian Army- To Protect The Ponies We Love." It was a phrase he lived by. It was the reason he enlisted in the army, so that he could protect his kingdom from the Equestrian invasion. He didn't have to kill these innocent ponies to protect his kingdom. He also looked at another badge he had on his uniform. His "First Officer" badge. He's the one who led this attack on the Equestrian base, but he had the power to do what he wanted as well. "Please, s-spare him for all the young foals around the world who look up to him," the mare nurse begged as she spoke up, though quietly. With a sigh, the stallion at the door put his rifle back to his side. "Fine." "What?" the mare doctor asked, shocked. "What was that?" "I'll not only let Soarin survive, but I'll let you three live as well." The stallion surgeon quickly helped the other two mares with him to get up. He then ran over and gave the stallion a hug. "Thank you." "Hey, don't get all sappy yet," he said. "I can let you live so that you can get Soarin the attention he needs, but I also can't have it look like I'm helping you all escape. I'm going to have to transfer you to a prison. It'll be our lowest-level one. There you three can help him get back to normal. But you'll have to stay there until the war ends." "We accept," the mare doctor, who still had water in her eyes from her previous crying, but at the same time still had her life, replied happily. -------------------------------------- "So, you were spared by a member of the other army?" Rainbow Dash asked her husband. "Yep. I wish I knew who he was so that I could thank him. He not only spared my life, but also the three ponies who saved me." "I'd thank him too. If it wasn't for him, you wouldn't be here and I would still be unhappy. When you left my life it felt like half of me died." "I know, Dashie, I know. I felt the same way when I came out of my coma. You weren't at my side, so it felt like only half of me was there." The stallion let out a loud yawn. "Dear, I think I should get some sleep, though. If you want I can finish this story later." "I'd like that," the mare said with a smile as she scooted over and rested her head on her stallion's chest. The warmth coming from his body was soothing to her, and helped her to fall asleep soundly.