//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Thinking // Story: An Underground Mission! // by tmz112 //------------------------------// Truestrike gazed at the writing in the journal with curiosity. To her surprise, the writing was very neat and pristine, something she didn't really expect from her commander. The words were written in a deep shade of beautiful red. She was ready to dive into the reading but she paused and closed the journal. She stared at the journal intensely as she contemplated what to do. She didn't want to intrude on somepony's personal thoughts and writings. However, something about Ravenheart made Truestrike want to learn more about her. She could always ask her later but why wait? Also, maybe she could find something embarrassing about Ravenheart... or if she's been writing about somepony. Truestrike finally looked up from her staring at the journal and a look of shock appeared on her face. Her constant thinking about Ravenheart was slowly beginning to confuse her.'Why do I keep having these thoughts about her' she thought. 'Not that it's weird to be thinking of her like this...is it?' She sighed heavily and looked around the area. With the dim light of her horn's magic, she could see that there was still no pony out of their tents. As the thoughts of Ravenheart lingered in her mind, she closed her eyes and decided to revert to a method of calming herself and sorting out her thoughts. Talking to herself. Usually she wouldn't mind but with others around, she was slightly afraid of being heard. She really didn't want to be known as that white unicorn that talks to herself. She opened her eyes and looked around once more making sure the area was clear. She sighed and relaxed, allowing her upright posture to sink down. She closed her eyes and leaned against the rock wall. "Well, here I am again, talking to myself. Hello self!" She giggled quietly to herself as her methods of calming down were already working. Her thoughts returned to Ravenheart however and she remembered her reason for acting 'crazy'(as someponies would say) by talking to herself. "Oh Ravenheart, what do I think of you. Hmm...you're very pretty, very friendly, and very caring. Hay, you're the first person I've been able to actually talk to-, well kind of talk to anyways. We've been constantly interrupted by one thing or another. Well, I got to talk to you in my dream just a short while ago but that was in a dream." She opened her eyes and stared into the darkness of the rocky room. 'She seems so trustworthy and caring...or maybe I'm just misreading things.' She smirked at the word trustworthy as she looked down at the journal. 'First pony to really interact with and one of the first things I do is take something person from her.' She put the journal on the ground gently and returned to talking to herself. "Maybe I'm just trying to find companionship because of the current situation. Heck, I don't even know if I like mares... or stallions for that matter. I've never been on a date..." A stern look developed on her face as she realized how sad that sounded. "But that's only because of my lack of trying. I've never really been interested in anypony before. But I'm sure if I did ask somepony out they'd go out with me!...right? Hmm, I wonder if I'm attractive." She ran a hoof through her blue mane and played around with it for a minute. 'I think I'm attractive...I think. I wonder if Raven thinks I'm pretty.' Images of Ravenheart flooded into Truestrike's mind and she smiled as she thought of the beautiful pegasus. Her glistening emerald eyes, her beautiful, untied mane, her black fur so soft and warm looking... Truestrike coughed as she found herself sweating and blushing profusely. She took a moment to calm down and giggled. "Okay, so I definitely like her but I don't know if the feeling's mutual. Hay, even if she likes mares, would she even like me? I'm kind of a plain looking pony when I think about it." She closed her eyes and sat there for a minute thinking to herself. 'I could always find out...but I don't want to risk making things weird and losing my only friend down here.' Truestrike buried her head into her hooves and mumbled to herself. "What am I going to do?" "About what?" At the sound of another voice, Truestrike's face shot up out of her hooves and was met with a pair of familiar looking emerald eyes. Ravenheart was hovering in the air in front of Truestrike, her muzzle inches away from Truestrike's. Truestrike immediately looked away, blushing furiously and her thoughts began to race. 'What had she heard? How long had she been there? Why did she just sneak up on me? Why am I just staring at the ground?' She sighed, trying to calm herself down. Truestrike turned her gaze back to Ravenheart who had a look of concern on her face. "Is something wrong, Truey?" Truestrike's heart fluttered at the nickname and she found herself blushing again. "Oh, nothing's wrong. I've just been thinking about stuff." Raven gently landed next to Truestrike and giggled slightly. "Well than, we should talk about 'stuff' finally. I swear, everytime we've tried to talk, something has always interrupted us." Truestrike nodded with a smile on her face and giggled. Finally, she could talk to somepony! "Yeah, I know. So, I want to ta-" Before she could finish her sentence, Raven interrupted. "Actually, do you mind if we talk in my tent, it's so dark and cold out here." Truestrike sighed but nodded in reply. Both of them walked to Raven's tent. It was a decent size, slightly bigger than all the others. As Ravenheart began to light a candle, she motioned for Truestrike to lie down where she was before she had woken up. She complied and laid down on the wool blanket. The warmth was a welcomed feeling after the cold, dampness of the rock room. Ravenheart finished lighting the candle and took up a spot right next to Truestrike, slightly snuggling into her. She looked at Raven who was gazing at her with a warm smile. "Are you feeling alright after what happened?" Truestrike grimaced at the slight pain coming from her wounds. She sighed and responded with a brave smile on her face. "Yeah, I'm doing fine. Dang Diamond Dog caught me off guard. Not only that, I was so exhausted after already battling tons of them." Ravenheart playfully nudged Truestrike. "Good thing I was there to save you, right Truey?" Truestrike slightly blushed and replied in a gentle tone. "Yeah, I'm really thankful of what you did Ravenheart." Suddenly, she was pulled into a tight embrace by Raven and her eyes widened in surprise as her face became a deep shade of red. She hesitantly returned the embrace and felt the warmth of Ravenheart's soft, black fur. It was exactly what she imagined. Raven then spoke in a hushed voice coated with playfulness and care. "Well, I couldn't just let my favorite soldier leave me just yet, could I?" A smile of pure joy appeared on Truestrike's face at the compliment. 'Maybe she does like me.' "After those tears, I did kind of assume I was your favorite." Ravenheart broke the embrace and blushed. She ran a hoof through her own mane awkwardly and chuckled. "Oh, you saw that, huh? It's kind of hard to see somepony as young as you fall in battle. It really saddens me when I see a life so full of potential struck down in front of me. Truestrike nodded and her heart warmed at Raven's care and concern. "What happened afterwards?" "Well, once I recovered from my waterworks, I quickly rushed you to a medic unicorn. You lost a lot of blood and you've been advised to take it easy for a while as hard as that is to in this place. After you were healed and bandaged up and the battle was over, we sat up camp here and than I brought you to my tent." Truestrike smiled and nuzzled Raven. "Thanks for taking care of me." Raven nuzzled her back and returned her smile. "No need to thank me, just taking care of my favorite soldier. Okay, so are you finally ready to talk about 'stuff'?" Truestrike relaxed and nodded. Ravenheart draped a wing over her and pulled her closer. Truestrike felt so warm and secure in her commander's embrace. "I think I'm ready."