Additional Chapter)727 words

Snake in The Grass

'I just don't get it, why does everyone I meet treat me like I'm an old grandpa?'

The Sergeant was still outside, slumped beside the tree with the Lieutenant, but he had drunk too much wine and was now intoxicated.

The Lieutenant stared at the Sergeant, trying to gt him to calm down.

'Sarge, you need to calm down. She didn't mean anything by it, she was just winding you up. You really need to stop taking things too seriously.'

Lieutenant Parker knew more of the Sergeant than meets the eye, he out of his whole squadron probably knew more of him than anyone else.

They had been battle to battle and ambush to ambush side by side, not abandoning each other to become a confirmed kill to another soldier, maybe he could also talk some sense into him, but possibly not if he is drunk...

'What did you say to me..?! 'Don't take things seriously?!' I have no problem taking things personally and seriously...ugh...Parker? I think I'm gonna pass out...' The Sergeant passed out soon before Parker had chance to respond.

He fell to the floor with a loud thud, making Parker, jump back a little.

'Oh, Christ...' Parker rolled his eyes in annoyance. 'Great...I guess I have to drag you back to the library...'

Parker grabbed the Sergeant's arm as he knelt down and pulled him onto his back, around his neck, being careful not to hit his head on the tree as he got up.

'Jesus Christ, Sarge, you REALLY got to cut down on the booze...' He muttered under his breath as he began to walk for the library.

On the way back to the library, Twilight was outside with Rarity, talking to each other but soon stopped upon seeing Parker carrying the Sergeant on behind his neck.

'Oh my Celestia! Is he alright? Does he need help?' Twilight called as she rushed up towards Parker with worry in her eyes.

'Twilight, don't worry, he's had too much to drink and passed out. He'll be fine. He's going to be out cold for a while. Do you have someplace I can set him down?'

Twilight raised a hoof and tapped her hoof a few times as she tried to think.

'Hmmm...Yes, follow me, we'll take him to my bedroom.'

Twilight walked towards the wooden door to her house and before she could open it, Rarity stopped the Lieutenant in his tracks behind Twilight.

'Darling,what are those from?' Rarity looked horrified at the state of Parker's combat trousers and pointed a hoof to three small bullet entry holes.

'Um...I was shot three times in the leg before I arrived here. Don't worry about it, it's not such a big deal.'

'Yes it is! Come by Carousel Boutique in town and I'll fix them up for you. I'd even do it free of charge for a friend.'

'No, Rarity, It's fine. I couldn't possibly let you sew it up free of charge. Especially since I'm a soldier.'

'I insist, darling, it's the least I can do. If you ever get scraped up and your clothing gets ruined, come to my house, I'll fix them up for you.'

Rarity said, tilting her head a little and giving the Lieutenant a beaming smile and a flicker of her eyelashes.

'Thanks, Rarity, I owe you one.'

Lieutenant Parker continued to follow Twilight to her room, not saying another word about anything.

For once in his life, he seemed....peaceful, like he had nothing to worry about, no dangers, no worries and no more warfare.

'Okay, place him down on the bed. He can stay there until he wakes up.' Twilight motioned for Parker to lay Edwin down.

Parker gently placed Edwin down on the bed after grasping him off his own back, creating a small squeak in the bed springs as he set him down.

'You know, I actually prefer him like this. At least he isn't moaning like a granddad who missed his medication time.' Parker chuckled to himself as he looked over at the unconscious Sarge.

Twilight herself was laughing. 'Yeah, he seems better this way.'

'Wait...Twilight, have you seen Ann or Rainbow lately?'

'I don't think...I mean, I haven't seen them since last night. I think they are still at the graveyard.' Twilight said, tapping her chin a few times.

'Is it alright if I leave him here for a while? I'm gonna go and see if they are still there. They have been out all night.'

Parker looked at Twilight as he scratched his head at the thought and got a slight nod from Twilight, and with that, he left the room and the library.

He continued down the path that lead through town wearing his beret, patched with the First Lieutenant symbol, that reflected like a gem with its silver plated finish.

Ponies watched as he walked down the streets, whispering and chatting so he could not hear what they were saying.

Eventually he reached the graveyard, and noticed it was rather quiet, yet colourful, The graves were marble and clean, with no traces of decay or cracks, almost as if they have been polished everyday.

As he entered, he saw that the graves were those similar to memorial graves, with the exact type of poppies on the burial top that gently swayed in the wind.

Among the sights in front of him, he noticed something rainbow coloured at the corner of his eye and began to walk towards it.

As he got around the corner, he saw that it was non other than Rainbow Dash who was sat next to Ann.

'Ann? Rainbow?' Parker called over but got no response.

'Ann! Hey, Ann you two okay?'

Ann and Rainbow jumped. Startled by the Lieutenant they both turned around to face him, both of them had tired eyes that had big black bags hanging beneath them, not to mention their hair was frazzled and all over the place.

'Oh..Hi, Lieutenant..' Ann replied with a yawn, Rainbow doing the same with a stretch.

'Ann...you don't need to call me 'Lieutenant' anymore, my name is Parker. Also how long have you two been out here? Ugh, you know what, it doesn't matter, lets just get you two back.'

'Not me...I gotta get back to Cloudsdale.' Rainbow yawned as she gave her wings a test flap.

'Rainbow, I'm not sure thats a good-' Before Parker could finish his sentence, Rainbow had already taken off.

She wasn't flying for long, she had already started to fall asleep in mid flight and eventually rammed herself into a wall and falling to the ground.

'Ann. You look like shit. Have you two been out here all night?' Parker asked in a concerned tone as he placed a hand on Ann's shoulder.

Ann's eyes slowly began to slide shut.

'Private? PRIVATE! Wake up!' Parker slapped Ann in an attempt to wake him up, making Ann be startled a little bit.

'Huh? What?! What time is it? Wheres Rainbow?'

'Bish...you um....you need to come with me. I'll take you back to the library.'

LATER ON AT THE LIBRARY

'Paul? Are you awake yet?' Twilight softly said as she nudged the Sergeant on her bed.

There was no response, so she tried again, but still no response.

She didn't bother trying again. Only Celestia knows what his reaction would be, so she left him in her room and went downstairs to join her friends.

Ryan, and Curtis and Louis were sat together trying to get a signal from their radio to see if they could contact their base, but had no luck in doing so.

Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity observed as they tried to get a signal.

They spent ages tinkering with its components and communication knobs, but it made no difference.

'Base, this is Omega 3, Spec Ops team, do you read me? I repeat, Base, this is Omega 3, Spec Ops team, do you read me?'

Major Louis spoke trying to get a response, but the only thing he could hear was the static growing slightly louder.

'DAMN IT!' 'Why can't we get a signal?!' Curtis burst out loud as he slammed his fist down on the table, making it shudder and make the ponies jump a little bit.

'This CAN'T be happening! Why is there no signal!?'

'Calm your ass down, Curtis. There must be something wrong with the components or transceiver.' Ryan told Curtis, shushing him.

'Don't tell me to calm down! We are in the arse end of nowhere with no clue where we are, how we got here or where the rest of our team is!'

Curtis protested at Ryan.

'I said shut up.'

'Don't. Tell. Me. To. Shut. Up.'

Curtis ranted as he lifted his rifle at Ryan.

'Curtis. Put the gun down.'

'NO! I can't take it anymore! I just wanna go home! We have no signal or communication equipment to get in touch with our team, over than that little shit box, and you want me to calm down?! FUCK YOU RYAN!'

Curtis got closer to Ryan, aiming the rifle at his face.

'Private! You know better than to aim a weapon on a teammate! Lower your weapon, that is an order!'

Major shouted in his face at Ryan's defense.

Curtis looked them both dead in the eye, but mostly at Ryan. Just then in a split second, he aimed his gun at Ryan's collar bone and fired, causing Ryan to drop like a stone as blood splattered the smooth wood behind him.

Now was Curtis's chance to run, so he ran for the door and ran out the library as fast as his legs would allow him.

The three ponies watched in horror as Ryan held a hand up to his bloody wound, instantly coating it in a red, oozy liquid.

Louis and the ponies ran to his aid.

'RYAN!' Louis yelled

Ryan coughed small pockets of blood out of his mouth, making a small line trickle down his lip.

'I...I never thought it would end like this...' Ryan said through gritted teeth as he looked Louis up into his eyes.

'Your not dying! Not on my watch!'

'Fluttershy, look around see if you can find some medical supplies!'

Fluttershy nodded and flew around the house in search of anything she could take to Louis, meanwhile, Pinkie pushed her hooves onto his wound, creating pressure on the sides in an attempt to reduce blood loss.

Twilight hurried over to help Ryan who was growing closer to death. Louis began to tear up and helped Pinkie Pie pressurize his wound.

'Ryan! Keep your eyes open! Don't take them off me, try to concentrate on me, ignore the pain!' Twilight instructed Ryan.

'Fluttershy! You have to hurry! He's losing too much blood!' Ryan yelled for Fluttershy to hear, but was nowhere in sight.

'Major...*cough*...kill him...for me...' Ryan's eyes closed and his breathing ceased.

Everyone in the room froze. Louis began crying openly and the ponies couldn't believe what they had just witnessed.

There was only five of them left...Ryan had died, and now Louis wanted one thing: Payback for his friend.

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