//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: A Friend 
// Story: An Underground Mission! 
// by tmz112 
//------------------------------//

After the attack on the camp, the group of soldier ponies decided to continue on their mission. Truestrike was slightly shaken from it all. The Diamond Dogs were very scarey to her. The appearance of them frightened a little, but what mostly scared her was the fact they could attack at anytime with little to no warning. However, she was a military pony and she knew she had to be strong, for herself and her group mates.

As Truestrike began to put her things into her saddlebags, she was approached by the leader of their squad, Ravenheart. Ravenheart was a mare like Truestrike, in height and sleekness, but was a pegasus instead of a unicorn. She had black fur, the complete opposite to Truestrike's white. She had her long, purple mane put up into a pony tail so it wouldn't get in the way of her deep blue eyes. Her tail, unlike her mane, was shortcut, black, and scruffy looking. Truestrike noticed that her cutie mark was an illuminated raven with two swords crossed over it. Oddly enough, it was surrounded by a patch of white fur so it showed up. Truestrike admired Raven's cutie mark as hers was just a patch of green fire. Some ponies found it cool looking but Truestrike disliked it considering it just reminded her of her special talent, causing destruction.

Ravenheart looked at Truestrike seriously and spoke in a commanding voice.

"Truestrike, you're assigned to the left side of the squad to provide light."

Truestrike nodded and spoke as she continued to put her things into her saddlebags.

"Yes ma'am, you can count on me."

Ravenheart smiled and spoke again, but this time in a more calming tone.

"Good Truestrike, nice to know there's a pony I can depend on. I'll just leave you to finish your packing."

As Ravenheart began to walk away, she looked back and saw that Truestrike's face was filled with sadness. Being one of the few ponies of the group to actually be talkative, she turned around and sat down next to Truestrike as she was packing.

Truestrike looked up from her packing and saw her leader sitting there, a smile on her face and a slight worried look in her eyes.

"Is everything okay, Truestrike?"

Truestrike gave her a slightly confused look, not expecting this from her commander. It did make her happy however that another pony was finally talking to her after the long journey they'd be on. That happiness quickly faded as she remembered what their journey was. A scared frown flashed on her face for a second but was quickly replaced by a forced smile, not wanting to show her fear. She spoke quietly and avoided eye contact with Ravenheart so she wouldn't see the frightened look in her ruby eyes.

"O-ofcourse, ma'am, I'm completely fine, ma'am."

Ravenheart saw right through the lie and the forced smile.She sighed loudly, mainly at the lie and also a little bit because of the whole 'ma'am' thing.

"Please Truestrike, call me Raven."

Ravenheart grinned happily as she saw a real smile come to Truestrike's face and continued.

"Truestrike, I'd really appreciate if you'd be honest with me. I know I'm your leader and all but I'm also a normal pony just like you. It looks like something's bothering you and it really looks like you need somepony to talk to. I'm not here talking to you as your superior, but as a friend. Now please, tell me what's wrong."

Truestrike looked straight into Ravenheart's eyes with a sad smile on her face. She was right, she really needed to talk to somepony about her fear. A warm feeling crept over her as she looked into the eyes of Ravenheart, concern in her blue eyes and a reassuring smile on her face.

"Thank you ma'a-...I mean Raven. It's just tha-"

As she began to speak, a large stallion walked into the tent and interrupted her.

"Commander, we're ready to move."

Ravenheart sighed and nodded at the soldier.

"Okay, we'll move out in a few minutes."

The stallion saluted and walked out of the tent. Ravenheart looked back at Truestrike, her smiled replaced with a frown. She really needed some comfort right now but the mission came first. Ravenheart got up from her seated position and looked down at the unicorn.

"I'm really sorry Truestrike, but we need to move."

Ravenheart immediately felt bad as a frown came over Truestrike's expression. She truly did want to know what was wrong and she was determined to find out, but later. Ravenheart gave the saddened unicorn a reassuring smile.

"But we'll talk later, I promise."

A faint smile appeared on Truestrike's face and she nodded.

"Okay."

Ravenheart gave a slight nod to her before walking out of the tent. Truestrike got up from the ground and put on her saddlebags. She didn't want to keep her emotions bottled up but she knew that the next time they set up camp, she'd have somepony to talk to.