Never Leave Equestria Alive
Duke held onto Amel for what felt like an eternity. Truth be told, he didn’t want to let go. He needed something soft to hold close right now.
Amel buried her head into Duke’s shoulder and the tears seemed to be endless. She was totally powerless to the situation, lost the person she cared about most in this world. Duke felt almost similar, though he couldn’t stop thinking about how he might have been able to get Frost out.
When Duke and Amel at last calmed themselves down, Duke picked Amel up in his arms and carried her to the hangar. Frost’s body was in there, and Duke needed to remove the gear, but he knew she would want to be there. He may have been gone, but she wouldn’t leave him behind just yet, and Duke wouldn’t take that closure from her.
When they entered the hangar, Duke felt Amel tense up in his arms. He held her a little tighter in his arms to let her know that he was going to support her in this darkest of hours.
Wolf and Aprotelese were standing next to Frost’s body, unsure of what they should be doing. Duke appreciated that they weren’t touching him. Some of the gear was sensitive, and it was more of a job for Duke anyway to take care of the body. At least, that was how he felt.
“Nighthawks,” Duke said in a deflated tone.
“Duke,” Aprotelese answered. Wolf was still having trouble hearing anything.
Duke didn’t need to say anything as he carried Amel over; the Nighthawks understood perfectly well. Aprotelese tapped on Wolf’s shoulder and led him away from the body and out of the hangar, leaving Duke and Amel alone in the room.
Amel approached the cold form on the table that resembled her human. Gently, she laid her hoof on his cheek, just barely fighting back another torrent of tears. Frost’s cheek was swollen and bruised from the combat, and his skin was already changing dramatically to match his state. Amel began to feel sick.
“Amel,” Duke began. Amel cut him off, though.
“Why?” she asked in a broken voice. “Why did he have to die?” Amel laid her head on the table next to Frost’s and brought her other leg around to hold his head.
“Amel…” Duke said. He wasn’t sure what to say.
“What happened?” Amel asked, beginning to sob again. “How did this happen!?” Amel screamed.
Duke didn’t flinch at the scream, only looked sadly at the pained mare before him. With a deep breath in and a slow exhale, he shook his head and walked over to look down at Frost.
“Only me, Aprotelese, and Wolf made it out,” Duke explained. “The rest of the Nighthawks, the 22nd, the earth pony extraction team… Frost…” Duke curled his fingers into fists. “Everyone. Lost to those damn dragons and gryphons.”
“Frost…” Amel said. “I… I wish you were still here…”
Duke stroked her mane. “Me, too, Amel. Me, too.”
“Damn those princesses,” Amel muttered. Duke only nodded, hoping that she wouldn’t take out her resentment on their only friends.
“Amel, Frost came from a culture that dictates that a person be buried within twenty-four hours of death,” Duke said. “We need to make funeral arrangements.”
Amel swallowed and nodded. “Yes. We should… do that…”
“Do you want to keep living in Ponyville?” Duke asked. Amel hesitated, and then nodded. “We’ll bring him to the house. Aprotelese, Wolf, and I will dig the hole and get the coffin.”
“When will we notify the princesses?” Amel asked.
“I suspect they already know,” Duke replied.
“I don’t want them at the funeral,” Amel said angrily.
“Amel-“ Duke began.
“They lied to us, to you,” Amel said.
Duke stopped. “What?” he asked.
“They brought you to this world,” Amel revealed, growing angrier. “They kidnapped that OGA to help them in their war effort and it failed, and he fell into the enemy’s talons. Then, they tried to bring some SEAL here, someone they knew or some stupidity, and you two were brought here instead. And they sought to task you as they would the SEAL.”
Duke blinked, jaw open wide in disbelief. The princesses had brought them here? But they landed in Saddle Arabia.
“How do you know this?” Duke asked.
“Cadance told me,” Amel said. “They were all in on it. They all knew they were sending you to fight their stupid war, advancing their own efforts.”
“OGA wasn’t in the dragon lands,” Duke said, tightening his fist. Slowly, he bared his teeth, and then, with a sudden explosion, raised his fists into the air and slammed them on the table. “GOD DAMMIT!”
Amel flinched back. “Duke?” she asked.
“They knew,” Duke said. “I knew it. They knew OGA wasn’t there. There was a chemical weapons depot there that they wanted destroyed.” Duke shook his head. “But who is this SEAL? What does he have to do with anything?”
“I don’t know his name,” Amel said.
“Doesn’t matter now,” Duke said through gritted teeth. “I’m going to get answers.”
“When will you go?” Amel asked.
Duke took in several deep breaths and slowed his heart, forcing his body to calm down and let him think. “After we take care of Frost,” he said. “I need to make sure this is done right.”
Duke stripped the gear from Frost’s body and had Amel carry it while he carried the body away. The gear had to be removed piece by piece, starting with the tactical vest, followed by the plates, and his various other strap-on pieces of equipment. Every piece of equipment Amel had placed on her back burdened her more, threatening to collapse what little was left of her foundation. Aprotelese and Wolf followed close behind and quickly decided to help Amel with her load. She was thankful, but she wasn’t in any mood to express it.
They had no choice but to go through the town as they carried Frost and his effects to the house to be buried. Ponies who were idling around froze and stared as they saw the man carrying his fallen comrade in a fireman’s carry, some tearing up and others ready to vomit. Duke didn’t care how they felt, though. Celestia could take care of her own subjects.
When they arrived at the house, Duke brought Frost inside and laid him on the couch. The gear was brought upstairs to Duke’s room and dropped there, while Duke removed his own gear and started a shower. Duke ordered Aprotelese to go find a coffin while Wolf started digging the grave.
When Duke left the shower, he went to his closet and pulled out a dress uniform Rarity had made him as well as his maroon beret. He stopped to look in the mirror for a minute. Here he was, burying his best friend in a land of tiny horses, in an outfit made by a tiny white horse, trying to console another tiny horse for the loss. Duke was losing faith in his grip on reality, but this was all too real for him to deny it.
Before he left, Duke went over to Frost’s gear and looked through it. The Nightvision needed to be destroyed so the technology wouldn’t fall into untrustworthy possession. The armor plates could be left. The ammo had to be disposed of, but then again, the princesses had a lot of it already, so that wouldn’t help.
But there were some things that Duke intended to take back. He grabbed Frost’s rifle and sidearm. Given Amel’s state, she shouldn’t be given access to the guns. She was technically a citizen here and would be arrested. As far as Duke knew.
Duke spotted Frost’s knife and gingerly picked it up. The FE9, Frost’s favorite fighting knife. His only really personal weapon, the thing he used to make his personal mark. Duke had to take it, so he put it and the guns with the rest of his own gear and left the rest alone.
As Duke left his room, a thought crossed his mind. Frost’s beret was still in his room, as was his dress uniform. Duke didn’t want him to be buried the way he was, filthy and damaged. He couldn’t clean his friend’s body, but he could at least put him in a nice outfit.
Duke went to Frost and Amel’s room and grabbed the beret and dress uniform, then went downstairs. Amel was rubbing her face on Frost’s hand, lamenting his loss, but Duke didn’t want to waste time. He tapped her shoulder and showed her the uniform, and she stepped aside to let him work it onto the body.
By the time Duke finished with that, Aprotelese was back with a coffin and Wolf was done digging a grave. With the coffin ready, and Frost ready to be set into the earth, Duke carried him out back and set him in the coffin Aprotelese left there. Amel followed along, silence now ruling her expression.
With no music or fanfare, no massive ceremony or wait, Duke and Aprotelese carried the coffin to the hole and slowly lowered it in. It took some time and effort, but when the coffin was gently set to the ground, Wolf got to putting the dirt back over. It was a quick process, and before long, the only trace of Frost left for the world to see was an empty patch of dirt.
Amel walked forward. She had something in her hooves, some kind of wooden pike with a sign. It read only “Frost”. She must have made it while Duke was showering.
She set it up and used her hoof to hammer the pike into the ground. While she rhythmically went about marking Frost’s place in the world, the warriors around her saluted one last time to their comrade. Every thud of her hoof seemed to echo in the yard, resonating in the ears of the beloved of the fallen. When Amel finished, she left her hoof on top of the sign and looked intently at it.
“I’ll get you a real stone soon,” Amel promised.
Duke grabbed the moment for one last thing that he thought would finalize this horrid event, put an end to it forever. With slow footsteps, audible to everyone around, he walked up to Amel and knelt down next to her, Frost’s beret in his hand.
“Amel,” Duke said. She looked to him, eyes bloodshot and tired of everything. “This beret symbolized what Frost did. He may be gone, but his legacy lives on. It lives on in those he saved, the lives he changed. His legacy lives on in you.” Duke lifted the beret and held it before Amel. “He would want you to take this.”
Amel swallowed hard, fighting back tears once again, and took the beret in her hoof. Duke guided her hoof up to her head and rested it gently on top, moving mane out of the way to make sure it stayed in its proper place.
“Thank you,” Amel whispered.
“He loved you, too,” Duke said with certainty.
Amel bit her lip. “I’ll never forget him. Or you.” Amel leaned forward into Duke and hugged him. “You both changed my life forever.”
Duke hugged back. “We were more than happy to,” he said. He disconnected from the hug and stepped back. “Aprotelese, Wolf, get to Princess Twilight and report to her that Frost has passed. Tell her that there will be a funeral on the runway.”
“Why?” Aprotelese asked.
“Because the only ponies in the world with a right to be here for this are Amel and the two of you,” Duke said. He knew they couldn’t be worthy of blame here.
Aprotelese nodded. “Understood.”
“Mislead them as long as you can,” Duke said. “Amel?”
“I want to be alone for a while,” Amel said. She knew what Duke was doing.
“Will do,” Aprotelese said. “Come on, Wolf.” He and Wolf walked off, too tired in the wings to fly. When they were gone, Amel looked back to Frost’s grave and lowered her head.
“How do you plan to get to Canterlot so quickly?” Amel asked.
“The train,” Duke replied. “I trust those two to keep the ponies distracted long enough. They might show up, but I'll already be there.”
“The princesses may deny knowing about it,” Amel said.
“They won’t,” Duke said. “I’ll make sure of that.”
“They might view you as the enemy if you confront them there,” Amel said with a warning tone.
“They better be ready for heavy losses, then,” Duke responded coldly. “Will you be alright?”
“I’ll be fine,” Amel said. She felt her mane; the knife Frost gave her in Saddle Arabia was still there. “I just… I need time to myself.”
“Alright then,” Duke said. He turned to go back into the house and change again, on last time. “It’s been good, Amel.”
“It has been,” Amel said back. But Duke was gone, into the house, gathering everything he would need. He was intent on ending this in the coming days, and he would be damned if anyone stopped him.
Amel sighed. “Why can’t the good times last?”
And so, Amel was left all alone, with nothing but the grave of the man she loved and silent tears and the biting winds of change to accompany her through the long, hard times to come.