A Soldier's Memoir

by Green Hills

Epilogue

Lucky sits silently in the backseat of the Humvee, staring endlessly out through the muddy armored window as they move swiftly on a bare open road in the middle of nowhere, Afghanistan. He turns his head to see the boots of his fellow officer, Trigger, manning the turret up above. Just sitting next to the SEAL, is Sonny, hugging his M4 rifle like a child holding a stuffed animal. Up in the front is Dragon behind the wheel and Thumper sitting next to him talking to a radio. Everything feels silent, too silent. Even to the SEALs, their guts tell them there is something off. This is hostile territory. And they know they will be ambushed soon.

“Solid copy, Leader. Team Two out,” Thumper finishes, and sets the remote back on the radio. Just before he could say anything, a deafening ‘boom’ strikes the whole crew about ten meters in front of them. The road lifts upward from below the Humvee in front of them in a tremendous explosion.

“Shit!!” Dragon slams on the breaks, but they are soon caught in the blast’s shockwave and intense pressure and heat. Plumes of dust and smoke surround all around them, and Lucky is shoved back from an invisible force, nearly knocking him out.

“IED! IED!”

In a moment’s flash, Lucky sees the damage that has been done after one of the most frightening events he had ever seen. The hole is a meter deep, and five meters wide. Bombshells, probably timed, or phone detonated. The SEAL turns right to what remains of the Humvee; only the rear half is still intact, while the rest is completely obliterated. There is no sign of the other team members within or around the area. Lucky can hear the footsteps of Thumper walking up to him, but chooses to not even bother turning to him.

“We found Tucker,” he says after a moment of silence.

“And?” Thumper shakes his head. The sad and frightened facial expression is all that Lucky needs. “He was one of our best.”

“We promised his brother as well.” Lucky turns and walks back to his vehicle, not just to stop looking at the scene, but to get rid of the mixed stench he has been inhaling for the past few minutes. Explosives, burning wreckage, charred flesh.

*****

Princess Cadance struts through the hallway, making her way to the destination she needs to be. It has been a six months ever since Lucky arrived, and the alicorn has learned much about himself and his culture. Not only that, the SEAL has become more interactive with both her, Shining Armor and other ponies in the castle, even though he has been cooped up in the castle for the entire time. However, the nightmarish dreams never ceases to haunt his mind. Her guards continue to report of screams coming from his room, though less frequent now. Even to this day, Cadance can still feel the pressurizing loss of Lucky’s friends through violence and war, and it makes her shiver to the very core.

Cadance shakes her head out of the scary thoughts as she reach arrives at the SEAL’s room. She takes a deep breath and prepares to knock, but stops when she hears something on the other side. Music? Curiosity gets the best of the young princess, and slowly, she moves her head closer until she can make out what it is. Concentrating, she hears the sound of a guitar being played. He’s practicing, isn’t he? The princess smiles. She pulls her head away, waiting patiently until the strumming stops. Luckily for her, it lasts for a brief thirty more seconds until it finally stops. She then raises her hoof, and knocks three times.

“Lucky?” Cadance calls. “It’s Cadance.”

“Come in.” The princess opens the door with her magic, and enters Lucky’s room. To her surprise, the bedroom is still as neat as ever. The only things that are not are the bed and the desk, where she sees Lucky sitting with his tactical vest still strapped on to his body, and a guitar resting on his lap. The desk is littered with his ballistic helmet, a couple crumpled up pieces of paper, and his journal.

“How are you doing?” Cadance asks giving him a warm smile.

“I’m doing good, thanks,” Lucky replies. The princess walks over to him as he places the guitar back in its case, and rests it against the desk’s leg. She looks over at the desk, noticing two oddly shaped, thin boxes stacked up on each other lying behind Lucky’s helmet. Both of them has several, if not more bronze tubes inside; all of them have a pointed end. The princess rolls her eyes down to his journal, recognizing some music notes written on both pages, with test above each line. The first thing she sees is the last line written on the very bottom.

“ ‘Well the devil’s won some battles, and he may win some more. But, don’t he know, the American soldier will always win the war.’ ”

“Are you ready for the event?” she asks comfortingly. The SEAL rises to his feet, closing up his journal, and packs up his items.

“A little nervous,” he responds as he straps in the two boxes in one of the dozens of pockets on his vest. “They’ve been rehearsing, right?” Cadance nods, knowing what the human means.

“They’ve been a little skeptic about who will be performing. And, I’m pretty sure they’ll be in for a surprise.” Lucky takes a deep breath as he swings his rifle on his back, and grabs his helmet and guitar case. He’s showing some signs again. “Will you be alright?”

“Don’t worry,” the soldier nods. “I’m a SEAL. SEALs always get the job done.”

“But sometimes, you have your limits. We all do.” Both of them smile and remain silent. The princess turns to look at the clock, noticing it’s almost time for the event. “It’s almost time.”

“So it is,” Lucky replies, and raises his arm to the door. “Shall we?”

Though I may not return home, or if I do, I am glad I get to meet her. Or them. Even though I’m in a world filled with talking horses, it is she who guided me through my drastic times. It is she who understands my pain. I am a U.S. Navy SEAL, and SEALs always get the job done, no matter the cost. In the end, she is the one who taught me there is more to life than being just a soldier, to sacrifice your life to protect your country, your family, and your brothers; in a different approach. But, there are some things you can’t let go. Not for a very, very long time.

The princess and the SEAL walk through the hallway of the Crystal Castle. The two exchange glances from time to time, until Princess Cadance finally builds up the courage to speak.

“Six months, hasn’t it?”

The SEAL nods. “Yeah. Went by a bit fast.”

“Oh, also, we finally managed to hook up your film to our projector. Took a little longer because… well, your camera seems a little complex.”

“Thanks.” As they walk past an open window, a loud ‘bang’ enters Lucky’s ears from a firework going off. The SEAL nearly jumps out of his uniform, turning his head to the general direction of the sound while his heart rate spikes, nearly surprising Cadance.

“Lucky?” she asks worriedly.

“I-I’m fine.” He’s not. The princess slowly picks up the pace, and they both make a left turn to the next hallway.

“Here, let’s take a different route.”

*****

“Greetings, Your Highness,” Captain Shining Armor bows to Princesses Celestia and Luna as they enter the castle.

“A pleasure to be here, Captain,” the sun princess returns the favor. “How is your guest?”

“Doing very well, actually. Cadance has been helping the human a lot, and he’s pretty helpful around a lot of things.” The Captain starts escorting the two princesses.

“That’s good. I’m actually interested to tonight’s event.”

“Well, from what Cadance told me, he’ll be performing about some issue she has helped him on. She is on her way to get him now.”

The three ponies enter another room, the size roughly larger than a dining room. At the far end is a platform with four musicians, a pianist, a drummer, a violinist, and a cellist; all are setting up for tonight’s event. To their left, is a medium sized white screen. In the center of the room are two round tables. One is already filled with Shining Armor’s little sister and her friends. Just a few meters to the right, is a pony operating a projector.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight calls with excitement. She and her six friends hop off the table and bow before the Royal Sisters.

“Hello, my faithful student,” Celestia greets. “How are you?”

“We’re good, Your Highness. We’re all excited for him to show up and perform.”

“I see. When was the last time you saw him?” Twilight thinks for a moment, wondering when was the last time she saw the human.

“I think… a few months ago?”

“I haven’t seen him before,” Spike raises his hand. “I’m actually excited!”

“Well then, let us get ready.”

*****

Princess Cadance and Lucky approach the large fancy door that leads to their final destination. With a quick look, the alicorn princess nudges her wing on his elbow.

“Are you ready?” she asks.

“Hooyah,” the SEAL replies, making the princess slightly giggle. He checks on his gear one more time to keep his boggled up mind going, when the Cadance’s wing extends and wraps around him.

“I’ll be there if you need it.” Lucky turns his head to the smiling princess. Once again, his mind is suddenly cleared from all the stress. His thoughts on how this night will end, his memories of his comrades, gone in an instant.

“Thank you.” Cadance’s horn lights up, opens the door, and she walks out, leaving it ajar for the SEAL to peak through. Before continuing on, the princess turns around.

“I’ll be waiting on the stage,” she winks, and leaves.

Lucky takes a few deep breaths, before taking out the guitar and moving his HK416. Once completed, he now has the instrument on his right hand, and his rifle close to his left side. I can do it. I can do it. He reaches into one of his large pouches, and takes out his journal, nearly full of the things he wrote since his first deployment over two years ago. Memoirs. Memoirs of my life as a soldier, and here I am, in a world filled with talking horses. If only they were here. If only. The more he thought about it, the more agitated his body becomes. And the more he thinks this is all a dream.

Before long, Cadance reappears through the door.

“Lucky. It’s your turn,” she says softly. It’s time now. Time to tell your life as a soldier. The SEAL nods, and follows her out the door. The first things he sees are the two tables next to each other. The first one has three ponies, two alicorns like Cadance, and Shining Armor. The other contains six ponies he had seen before and a small reptile. Immediately, all of them have surprised looks as he steps up to the stage. As he looks, the four musicians have their eyes as wide as the moon itself. And sitting right at the very front of the stage is a stool big enough for him and a stand.

With Princess Cadance still by his side, the SEAL settles his assault rifle beside the stool as he takes a seat, and opens his journal to the page he wants. A quick tune check with his guitar, and he raises his head to the pony on the projectile. With a nod, the pony turns the machine on, and flashes the first footage from his helmet camera.

The images of his fellow comrades and his wife become visible again in his head as Lucky stares down at the written lyrics and notes in his journal. Can I do it? Can I do it without breaking down? Without remembering what happened before I came here? Lucky turns his head to Cadance, who smiles at him and nods.

The Navy SEAL lifts up back to his audience, which is nothing but two tables of ponies. He twists back to the pianist who is still wide-eyed staring at him. With a nod, the pony shakes his head, and begins playing the piano. Lucky returns to his journal, the confidence within him as high as he never felt before since he was first deployed. She’s the reason why I’m still alive till this day. She knows how I feel, even if she never experienced war. She gave her heart to help me back to my feet. Just like my brothers did. In less than a few seconds after the piano started playing, Lucky starts strumming the guitar. Thank you.

(Ver. 1) (Ver. 2)

Author's Note:

After a few months, I decided to put in one more chapter, even though I said earlier this is a one-shot story. It was after I edited and fixed the first chapter, that I've come to loving this story a lot, and debated whether or not to put in an epilogue. So, I did. Again, thank you so much for all of your support and likings in this story. And thank you to our troops serving overseas if you ever read this story.

Comments

[Eternal Aviator]

"Sometimes we refuse to release memories, sometimes memories refuse to release us."

[Shadow-Dancer]

This story along with the song almost brings me to tears good job and God bless America and protect those that fight for our freedom they will never be forgotten

[rainbow dash 647]

THE FEELS thank you for making this story

[Mcstuffins]

Very nice epilogue, summed everything up nicely.
Thanks for the great read!

[ReapersinMLP]

Omg, this story deserves a Favourite and a Like 2million times, reason, It actually made me cry a bit

[Godiswithus3]

Excellent. Well written.

[Eternal Aviator]

78 weeks and 4 days ago I posted my comment on this story after reading it and never read it again. Jesus, that's more than a year and a half ago if I did my math correctly. Going through my page again I saw this story sitting in my "Top Favs" section and I remembered what it was about so I read it again.

After a year and a half, this story impresses me as much as it did the very first time I read it. If I could upvote a story more than once this would be one, bravo, amigo.

[Admiral_Gravleos]

Everything seemed rushed to me. Idk why.

[Galaxy of Equestria]

7019493 so many question. too rush.

[Admiral_Gravleos]

7587482 I wrote that, a while ago. Also to the Creator... The site stopped supporting Imgur...

[Lysander Shadowheart]

A lovely Epilogue. Really summs up the story, good way to end. Once again, awesome story.