Life is a Highway
When Duke and Frost woke up the next morning, they felt refreshed in their minds, but terribly sore in their bodies. Amel had to push them to get them up, forcing them out of bed as hard as she could. Both men were shoved to the ground and rolled away, groggily muttering curses as they tried to function.
They checked all the gear to make sure they had everything they came with and set it in a pile. Right now, the men wanted to go eat some food. It was already ten in the morning, and Amel had been awake. Rather than go on her own and wait for the men later, she decided to wait for them now. It was the polite thing to do, she thought.
The trio went down to the dining hall to eat something before they left for the land of Equestria. Neither Duke nor Frost felt like thinking about it at the moment, as they were too hungry, but Amel’s mind was abuzz with thought. What was Equestria like? Why had her mother left it so long ago? What awaited her there, and what awaited her human companions?
They entered the dining hall silently to find it completely empty. There was still leftover food from breakfast that morning, so they scrounged what they could from that. It turned out to be a great deal of food that was to be left to waste. That was fine by Duke and Frost, it meant that there was more for them. They all picked up some plates and filled them up and sat down together at the table. The men eagerly dove into their food while Amel watched.
She chuckled. “I’ve never seen you eat with such eagerness before,” she commented. “It is funny to watch.”
The men had food all over their faces, throwing manners to the wind. Duke only grunted back, and Frost merely nodded. Neither had particularly realized that she was speaking, only heard her speak and responded how they thought they should. Amel knew this, but she also knew how exhausted they still were.
“I wonder what awaits us in our travels?” she wondered aloud. “What do you think we should expect in Equestria?”
Duke swallowed some noodles. “You tell us,” he said, though only barely coherently through his still semi-full mouth. “You’re the one who had heard of Equestria before we knew this world even existed.”
She smiled. “I suppose that is true,” she replied.
“Well?” Frost asked. “What should we expect?”
Amel thought back. “I know that they are a mixed group, with many cultures put together. They are a mainly female society, I think, with four princesses who lead the nation. Princess Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Twilight.”
“Great, more royalty,” Duke thought.
“They are nice, though,” Amel continued. “They represent the sun, moon, love, and friendship.”
Duke and Frost stopped and looked at each other for a moment. That seemed like a random assortment of things to be princesses of. The pairs made sense on their own, but both pairs together was just odd. But so far, nothing really made sense to them, so they didn’t question it.
“That’s good,” Frost said. “We hope to be able to cooperate with them.”
They continued eating, though the conversation was ended. Amel had gotten Duke thinking about how to deal with these princesses, how to make sure they were on his side. He had to be careful about that, though, because as much as he would like their help, he didn’t want to get sidetracked into their war. They had already wasted time in Saddle Arabia. They didn’t want to risk doing so much again.
After they ate, the group left the dining hall and went back to the room to collect their things. With Amel’s help, they were able to easily carry all of their things. Duke and Frost took all the hazardous gear; grenades, flashbangs, knives, guns and ammo; and their plates and uniforms. Amel took their parachutes and other gear.
It was about noon, time to go. They left their room without looking back and went to the throne room to talk to Sauri about their transportation. While they walked there, the guards around them on their way back gave them varying looks. Some were happy, and saluted them. Others seemed pretty peeved, and only now showed it since the humans would be leaving. Amel didn’t notice it too much, but the men did, and it felt a little odd to know that there were some guards here who truly disliked them.
When they entered the throne room, Frost felt like it was empty without all the horses from the previous day. There were just a few guards here and there, and Sauri sitting on his throne. The king remained sitting down as the humans approached him.
“Good day, Duke and Frost,” he said, forgetting Amel. “I trust you are well-rested?”
“About as well as we’re gonna get,” Duke replied. “We’re ready to head on out. What’s our transportation?”
“At the front gate to the city, there is a carriage waiting for you. It will take you to the coast, where a ship will be waiting for you to take you overseas.” Sauri stood. “You will have food and water the whole way, and you will be well taken care of.”
“Thank you,” Duke replied, giving the king a small bow. Frost did the same.
“No. Thank you,” Sauri said. “You have done us a service. You did not have to help us, but you agreed to do so.”
“We sort of needed to,” Frost thought.
“For your actions, and for felling many a gryphon, in your carriage is a sum of one thousand Equestrian bits. It is the money of Equestria, and it should help you to get started once you arrive there.”
Duke and Frost stood tall. They hadn’t been expecting to receive any compensation, so hearing that was great news. They had no idea how much money that was, though, so they looked to Amel for an answer. Her jaw hung low, practically hitting the ground, and her face was in shock. It must have been quite a bit of money.
“Thank you, your majesty,” Frost said, earning a grin from Sauri.
“I am glad you appreciate it,” Sauri replied. “Now, I suppose that you must be on your way. I wouldn’t want to keep you from finding OGA.”
“Yes your majesty,” Duke said. “We will be on our way.”
Before the trio turned around, Sauri had one last thing. “You wouldn’t want to walk!” he said. “There is a carriage waiting outside the main door. Take that out. And here-” Sauri pulled out a small bag of coins and tossed it to Duke. “Keep these in case you decide you want something on your way out.”
“Thank you again,” Duke replied, putting the bag on his waistline. They all turned around and walked away.
“Good luck with your journey!” Sauri shouted to them as they exited the throne room.
The trio left the palace through the front door and found their carriage. They climbed in, eager to leave, and signaled the puller to move as quickly as he could. He got the hint and took off fast, almost making Frost fall out of the carriage as he sped away. Throughout the streets, horses cheered them on as they left the city, clearly appreciative of what Duke and Frost had done there.
They arrived at the front gate to the city in no time, and dismounted there. Duke took a bit and tossed it to the driver as a tip, who stared at it for a moment, then bowed and went off. He seemed extremely happy to have received it, meaning that the bit was worth a great deal to them. Duke would have to find out just how much these things were valued at when they found someone who spoke English.
The trio walked out the front gate of the city, and the first thing they were facing was none other than their teammates, Hamid, Rashid, and Malik, who was on crutches. None of them had their translators, but they were all wearing their uniforms and stood at attention. As the men approached, they saluted enthusiastically and rigidly.
“At ease, stallions,” Duke said with an calm wave of his hand. The stallions released their posture. “No need for that any more.”
Hamid stepped forward. “أفترض أنه لا يمكن فهم لي،” he began, putting his hoof to his chest. “ولكن أردت أن أقول أنه تم متعة القتال جنبا إلى جنب مع لكم.” He stuck his hoof out when he finished speaking. Duke looked at it for a moment, then took it in his hand.
“I have no idea what you just said, but I’m certain it was positive,” he said, gripping the hoof firmly. “Good luck out there from now on. You guys can take whatever the world throws at you.”
They released their brief embrace, and stepped back to their respective groups. Duke and Frost saluted their no-longer-teammates, and they saluted back. Amel bowed deeply to them, despite the weight on her back from the parachutes and other gear. Then, with awkward hand and hoof gestures, and a few garbled words on both ends, the groups parted ways, with the SAR team’s remnants going back into the city.
Frost looked back at them as they walked to what appeared to be their carriage. “I’m gonna sort of miss them,” he said lightly.
“Yeah, me too,” Duke replied. “But they’ll be fine on their own. And we have a job to do.”
“Yeah. I would rather keep going on our own than stick around and keep fighting with the Saddle Arabians anyhow.” Frost stuck his hands in his pockets. “They’re nice, but I wouldn’t want to stay with them.”
“Same here,” Amel said, getting the men’s attention. “I would rather go anywhere than remain here.”
“It sort of goes without saying for you,” Duke replied. “I mean, this place has kind of sucked for you. I certainly wouldn’t want to stick around, were I you.”
“You men are much better than any of them,” Amel said. “Of that, I am certain.”
They walked up to the carriage and found that it was theirs. It was incredibly nice, possibly one of Sauri’s personal carriages. It was very well maintained, with gold decorations all over and carpet inside. The entire thing was self-contained, as in there was a ceiling and a door that could close when they were inside. Like Sauri promised, there was a large sack of coins in there, large enough to make the men wonder how they would carry it.
They all climbed in and sat down and shut the door. Right after the door was closed, the puller started dragging the carriage along behind him. The bag of coins jingled and shifted as the carriage started, and other items sung their songs in the cabin. Frost noticed that some of them were glass and crystal flasks, glasses, and pitchers. There was water and wine inside the carriage, plus some delicious-looking food.
“Nice,” Frost said, grabbing a pitcher. It was cool to the touch, probably from magic, and when he sniffed it, it smelled like wine. Grabbing a glass, he poured himself a little and took a sip.
“Frost, it seems a bit early for that,” Duke said.
Frost shrugged. “I wanted to try,” he replied. “And it’s always time somewhere.”
Duke smiled and shook his head. “Well, how is it?”
Frost nodded slowly. “Not bad.” He set the pitcher back and put his glass where he found it. “Anyone hungry?”
Duke shook his head, as did Amel. Frost moved himself to where the food sat and took inventory. There was no meat, obviously, being the king’s probably carriage, but there was some tasty-looking other stuff. There were some basic salad parts, but there was also noodles with several small batches of sauces, including tomato. Frost took some of that and went back to his seat next to Amel.
The smell of pasta, or at least its equivalent, filled the air in the cabin as they rode along. The cabin was well-vented, probably also due to magic of some kind. Duke nodded off a little bit, though never for more than a few minutes, and Amel just sat with a relaxed look on her face. At one point, Frost noticed she was staring at him. When he questioned her about it, she blushed and apologized.
“Not a problem,” Frost said to her. Without him noticing, she kept on staring at him later.
Soon, nightfall came, and the carriage came to a stop. They were all in safe country, and the starry night was gorgeous, so everyone in the carriage decided to lay down outside for the night. Duke and Frost were on either side of Amel, acting as sort of shields from a potential attacker. This area was safe from Gryphons, but who knew what else was out here?
They lay there in silence while the puller and someone who was apparently also there made a fire for themselves off by the carriage. If they were willing to make a fire, odds were that it was pretty safe, and they could handle the security detail.. Duke and Frost were mostly just watching the stars, looking for patterns they could use for navigation later. Amel was quiet in between them, her eyes scanning the skies as well.
“You know any constellations?” Frost asked.
“What?” Amel replied.
Frost waved his hand in the air by his wrist. “You know, patterns in the stars.” Amel was becoming good with her English, but certain words simply don’t come up that often.
“Oh!” Amel said. “Yes, there are plenty.”
“Why don’t you point them out to us?” Duke said.
Amel searched the sky. “Well, there are lots of them,” she said, raising her hoof. “Some change when Princess Luna of Equestria wants to change them, but many remain throughout all the nights. There is the Ursa Major, which always points to the north, and not far is the Ursa Minor. They are shaped like bears, and the legends say that the Ursa Major gave birth to the Ursa Majors that roam the world today.”
“What’s an Ursa Major?” Duke asked.
“They are massive bears, the size of King Sauri’s palace, which roam in the wilderness. There are very few, and they often stay away from each other. They are shimmery like the stars and clear as the night sky, only their eyes visible. So our legends tell,” Amel added.
“Are they actually real?” Frost asked, somewhat unsettled.
Amel nodded. “Oh, yes. Princess Twilight of Equestria battled an Ursa Minor before she became princess, a baby of an Ursa Major. They are as big as houses.”
“Great,” Duke said. They had to really watch their backs in the wilderness, it would seem. There was no telling what else might be out there.
They lay in silence for a time after that. Amel traced the sky with her hoof, pointing out constellations, and Frost put his hand next to her hoof to follow. She pushed it away at times to point at specific spots, and Frost would push back jokingly. Duke lay thinking about the future while they played their little game. Eventually, the hoof and hand came down, and it was time to sleep.
“The nights get cold here,” Amel said, vying for them to go to the carriage.
The men looked at each other, then turned in and put Amel in a two-sided bear hug. She hadn’t expected it and tried to jump away in her start, but the arms prevented her from moving. She struggled against them to escape, but there was no give.
“Why are you holding me?” she asked.
“Because huddling together preserves body heat,” Duke replied. “It’s more comfortable this way.”
“I’m not comfortable,” Amel said. “Why don’t we sleep in the carriage?”
“Not enough room to lay down,” Frost said. “You can go in, but we’ll have to stay out here.”
Amel was silent for a moment. “Okay,” she said with a sigh. “I will stay out here so you don’t get scared.” She smirked at Duke, who was in front of her, when she finished speaking.
“Don’t worry about me,” Duke said. “But I think you might need to tell Frost a story and give him some warm milk to get him to sleep.”
“Nah, I’m good,” Frost said. “I’ve got my Teddy Bear right here. That’s fine.”
The trio huddled close together to preserve their body heat in the cold, desert night, just waiting for the next day of travel.
***************************************************************
The carriage bounced up and down on the uneven ground. Both the humans and the mare would get into the air and then slam back down into their seats. Duke and Frost hadn’t slept all that much the previous night, but the rough roads didn’t stop them from catching some rest to make up their deficits.
Amel watched them both sleep, since there was nothing else to do. Both of them had their heads down and to the side, keeping their airways unobstructed. Their eyes were closed lightly, giving them what appeared to be a calm face in their sleep. They mumbled incoherent sentences in their sleep, often shifting their heads’ positions when they spoke.
Amel hadn’t known that they didn’t sleep much the previous night. It made sense, because they were in unknown country, but they said that they slept only a few hours at most. It hadn’t made much sense to Amel. They had worked hard on little sleep, weren’t they good with what they got?
Amel looked to Frost’s face. His eyes were twitching, along with his nose and lips. Soon after Amel noticed this, his neck started making jerky motions, like he was trying to get a fly to get off of him. His hands clenched into fists and his arms tightened in close to his body, like he was preparing for a fight. Then he started mumbling and making aggressive sounds, and everything started to become more severe.
“Frost?” Amel said. He didn’t notice in his sleep. She went to poke him.
“Don’t,” Duke ordered, snapping his eyes open.
Amel felt her heart jump a little at the sudden noise. She retracted her hoof from Frost’s person and put it before her like a shamed school filly, and looked down at the ground. Duke tapped his foot and had her bring her head up to face him, then made a calming gesture with his hands to indicate that she wasn’t in trouble.
“What is wrong with him?” Amel asked, looking concernedly at Frost.
Duke looked hard at his partner. “I don’t see what you’re talking about,” he said.
Amel blinked and looked confusedly at Duke. “He is far from restful,” she said. “He moves suddenly and looks distressed.”
Duke shrugged. “That’s normal,” he said.
“What?” Amel replied, aghast. “Why is that normal for him?”
“Not just for him,” Duke said. “For most of us in combat jobs in the military.”
Amel looked like she didn’t believe her ears. She looked at Frost, then back at Duke, shaking her head. She was trying to formulate something to say, but couldn’t seem to comprehend what Duke had told her.
“Why is that normal?” she asked.
“Because that’s what comes from what we do,” he said. “We get stressed out from the shit we see out there. It’s impossible to forget that stuff.”
“How bad could they be?” Amel asked with legitimate wonder.
“Horrible,” Duke replied. “No one can forget it when one of their comrades dies in battle, especially in our kind of battle. With your weapons, they kind of bleed out before they die, they can get out a last word or something. Back home, though, it’s not quite the same.”
“What do you mean?” Amel asked.
“When you see your friend get shot in the head, he’s gone, then and there,” Duke explained. “You learn just how easily life is lost. Just how easy it is to be killed out there, and how much life is really worth. Some people see it as the most precious thing in the world when they come home. Others see it as pointless, a thing that can become dust in the wind without notice by anyone else in the world.
People see these things and finally understand, ‘I could die just as easily.’ They learn that they aren’t alive because of some amazing strategy; they’re alive because they were lucky enough that it wasn’t THEM who got killed. But when they realize that, they remember how unlucky their good friend was that day. Why hadn’t they died instead? What let them live? And none of us can truly accept that there is no answer to that.”
“Our warriors never think about that,” Amel commented.
Duke nodded. “They should. But until the day that they can see their friends killed by a tiny piece of lead fired from over seven hundred yards away, they can’t comprehend just what life is worth.” He shrugged. “That’s just how it is, I guess.”
“And what is life worth to you?” Amel asked. “What have you learned?”
Duke sighed. “Well, let me tell you a story,” he said, leaning back into his seat. “I had to go in, alone, one day, into Afghanistan to rescue an Army Special Forces soldier. He had been helping a village out to be able to fight the Taliban and stand up for themselves. Well, the Taliban didn’t like that, and they attacked.”
“Who is the Taliban?” Amel asked.
“They’re bad guys, but the particulars don’t matter,” Duke replied, leaving the history out of it. “Well, they went in and slaughtered this village. The Green Beret tried to escape, but they hunted him. When he got in a position to call for help on his radio, he was injured. They sent air strikes to clear the area not too far and scare off the militants.
“I was sent in to get him. When I parachuted in, I thought I would find a guy with a broken arm or something hiding in a tree. What I got was totally different; he had tripped and fallen down a ravine, got wedged between some rocks. His leg was broken and twisted and his face was beaten and bloody from the fall.
“When I got there, he looked like he was ready to cry, he was so happy. But when I went to get him out, I found out his leg was stuck, and his knee was so crushed, it was basically powder. I had to take out my KaBar and amputate it on the spot.”
“يا إلهي،” Amel replied in terror.
Duke continued. “I cut the leg after giving him something to bite down on and tried to carry him out of the ravine. He was losing blood fast, even with the bandages on him, and when I finally got topside, he was almost dead. I called for an evac chopper-”
“Evac chopper?” Amel repeated.
Duke ignored it and went on. “But it didn’t arrive on time. The guy knew he was about to die, too, the whole time. He never thought he was getting out. ‘Get my body back,’ he told me. ‘Tell my family I’ll miss them.’ He held out a note for me to take. The moment I took it, his head slumped back, and he was gone.” Duke paused. “That was my first ever rescue. A total failure.”
“I... I’m so sorry,” Amel said, trying to console Duke.
“That Special Forces Soldier has been on my mind ever since that day,” Duke said. “I see him every night, I see his painful death. You want to know the value I put on life? Life is the most precious thing in existence, not because I’m alive, but because there are people who care about me and whom I care about back. That Green Beret’s life had worth, to him and his friends and his family, and it’s that knowledge that keeps me going. Through all the death, through all the violence, all the gore, pain, cold, and blood, it’s him that reminds me just what I’m fighting for. He reminds me of our creed; These things we do, that others may live.”
Amel was nearly speechless. “Wow,” she said. “I... I can’t even begin to understand.”
“Few can,” Duke said. “But that’s not what we ask of people. We only ask that people appreciate it just a little bit, and that they don't try to understand. We understand these things so that they don’t have to. It’s part of why you don’t see as many happy military families, especially with special ops guys.”
“Especially?” Amel asked, looking sadly at Duke. “What do you mean?”
“We’re always on call, we can get pulled away at any time,” Duke said. “And there is never a guarantee that we’ll come home. Even now, if Frost and I can’t find a way home, our families will never see us again, and we might as well be dead.”
“Who do you have back home?” Amel asked. “Neither of you seem like the married men.”
“I don’t know, maybe someday,” Duke replied. “Right now, neither of us is taken. It’s our parents and siblings who worry. But we accepted this life, and they accepted our choice. It’s just how it is.”
It became clear to Amel in that moment that Frost never spoke of what happened with his mother and father to Duke. Frost said he never told anyone who might do something, which must have included Duke. He was suffering alone, then, with Amel as his only confidant. She was the only one who knew. Frost must have trusted her quite a bit to tell her that.
“But yeah,” Duke said. “That all pretty much explains why we don't sleep too well. People like to think that we don’t need that much sleep, but we aren’t superhuman; we need sleep too. So we get it any time we can and in any quantity we can.”
Amel was stunned at everything she had just learned. They lived a uniquely difficult like, these men. Many had little family, only their friends, which one might say is their family. When one of them died, it hit hard, because there must not have been too many of them, being “special ops”. As much as Amel would never wish such a life on anyone, she didn’t doubt that if she loved a “special ops” man, she would choose the life of his wife as well.
She wanted to get away from that, though. “What kinds of ‘special ops’ warriors do you have?” she asked.
Duke seemed glad about the change of topic as well. “Lots. There’s Army Special Forces, which act as sort of trainers for guerrillas most of the time, but they can do other stuff. Navy SEALs are the Navy’s big-hitting special ops, with lots of assault missions in Afghanistan. Mostly, they operate in the water, though. The Army Rangers do special operations, but they’re mostly extremely hard-hitting light infantry. From the Rangers and Army Special Forces, they get people who go to Delta Force, a counterterrorist unit.
SEAL Team Six is also counterterrorist. Neither of those groups are actually named the way I just told you, but that’s how most people know them. There are also Navy SWCCs, who operate boats, and the army has the 160th SOAR for flying helicopters.”
“Flying?” Amel said in awe.
Duke chuckled. “Yes, flying. Nothing compared to me and Frost in the AIR FORCE, though.”
“Do you fly often?” Amel asked, fascinated.
“That’s how we usually get to the drop point,” Duke explained. “We fly in a plane, then jump out and use parachutes to get safely to the ground. That was actually how we arrived here in the first place.”
They continued talking for a time about the different Special Operations Units, but Duke maintained his ignorance about most of them. Even in their community, things were told on a need-to-know basis, so one PJ probably didn’t know much about what another PJ did on his last deployment. It was especially true when talking about cross-branch units.
Frost woke up eventually and joined the conversation, but he was kept in the dark about the conversation Duke had with Amel. The entire time, she couldn’t stop looking sadly at him, feeling sorry for both the humans. But this life was their choice, and evidently, they could live with it. There was no telling how long they would, though. And that was what made Amel feel sad for them.
She would never quite be able to look at them the same way again after this adventure of theirs, because the more she thought about it, the less it seemed like an adventure and the more it seemed like an exile.