Chapter Five
The night air made me shiver as I clutched my rifle in my hands. Looking over my shoulder, I saw the Humvee gently rolling along. While Gonzales drove, Jones manned the big gun on top. The rest of us walked alongside it. Well, Smiley and Kilborn did. I was ahead of the Humvee by a couple yards. The headlights were on low but, even with them, I couldn't see all that far in front of me.
Knew I should have brought my NVGs with me on that damned patrol, I thought to myself as I scanned the dark desert in front of me. That's when I saw something glint in the darkness. Throwing up a closed fist, I heard the brakes screech as they brought the Humvee to a halt.
“What is it?” shouted Kilborn, as he scanned his sector.
“I don't know!” I shouted back, “I saw something reflect the light though!”
“Jones! Send a flare up!” ordered Kilborn after a short silence. I didn't hear the response, if there was one, but soon I heard a soft thumping noise. After a couple seconds, which felt more like an eternity, a loud pop sounded above me and a greater expanse of land was revealed by the bright light as it slowly fell to the ground.
The sight in front of me made me freeze. There were hundreds of pony-like creatures. All were black as night but wore a sort of blue armor. They seemed to be staring right at me as their holey legs prepped for a charge.
“Open fire!” I heard Kilborn shout. As the Fifty began to roar, the creatures charged. I was caught off guard as one slammed into my chest and tackled me to the dirt. Putting my hands against it's shoulders, it took all my strength to hold it back. Even so, the thing snapped it's teeth at me, trying to tear me apart. Each snap of teeth brought forth a familiar voice,
“Get up Tyler! Get your lazy ass up and help out!”
Finally realizing it couldn't bite me, the thing reared back quickly. Losing grip of it's shoulders, I watched in horror as it brought up a hoof and sent it smashing down at my face.
My eyes snapped open and I found myself looking up at a clear, blue sky. That view was blocked as Gonzales' head appeared in my field of view.
“Wake up Princess. We need your help.”
A flapping of wings and a the sound of hooves landing on dirt sounded to my left.
“Princess? You guys are weird.”
“Yeah, yeah. You said that last night too when we started playing Blackjack,” Gonzales replied, looking over his shoulder at the cyan pegasus that I knew would be there. Lifting a hand, I pushed Gonzales back as I sat up and stretched. Looking over, I saw that Rainbow Dash was standing a couple feet behind Gonzales.
Last night, I had returned to the clearing to see the Kilborn and Gonzales playing Blackjack while Smiley just cleaned his gun. Rainbow had been watching both activities closely. She had given me a small smile when I showed up but went back to watching the two activities. Later on, she had left for her home, vowing she'd be back tomorrow morning.
Getting to my feet, I looked over as Gonz did the same.
“What the hell do you need my help for?” I asked, stretching some.
“We're gonna try to get Athena back on her feet. That's what we need your help for,” he replied with a smile. I saw Rainbow give a confused look from behind the medic, to which I gave a small chuckle at.
“Good. Hopefully she's still kicking.”
With that, I followed Gonzales over to the Humvee while scratching my bare forearm. I had taken off my vest and blouse the night before, opting to sleep without them. However, I ended up using the blouse as a blanket as it was cold.
Going to the side of the Humvee that was the actual top, I saw Kilborn and Smiley waiting for me. While Gonzales and Kilborn has also shed their vests, helmets, and blouses, Smiley only shed off his vest and helmet. As well, Smiley still wore his facemask but had his goggles resting on his forehead.
“Glad to see you're awake,” stated the Sergeant with a smirk.
“Let's just get her back on her feet, alright? Twilight's coming to bring me to town so that she can introduce our kind to the townsfolk and I'd like to have cleaned my uniform by than.”
“I'm sorry,” interrupted Rainbow Dash, stepping up behind us, “but who in the hay is this 'Athena' you're talking about?”
The other three looked towards me. Looking at the cyan mare, I smiled, “Athena is the name that we gave our Humvee.”
To reiterate what the Humvee was, I patted the metal skin of the vehicle softly. The pegasus looked at all of us, confused, before simply laughing and saying, “Ooookay.”
Shaking my head at her, I just turned to my squadmates and nodded. Without saying a word, the four of us put our hands against the top of the vehicle and pushed. The Humvee slowly began to sway as he pushed, stopped, and pushed again. We timed our pushes just right so that it went further and further toward the wheel-side. Finally, the great machine went past it's small balance point and began to fall over. With a loud 'THUD' the left wheels hit the ground and the vehicle bounced slightly from the impact. Behind the rear passenger door on the, now visible, right side was the word 'Athena' is black lettering.
“Hell yeah!” shouted Gonzales, I went up and through himself against the side of the vehicle, his arms outstretched as if trying to give it a hug. “I've missed you so much,” he said. Before he did anything in front of Rainbow that he'd regret, I gave the man a soft tap to the shin with my boot. He glared at me but I just nodded to where Dash stood, both amused and confused at the same time. When he saw her, a soft blush came to his cheeks before nodding to me.
“Right, well,” he began, coughing slightly, “Let's see if she wakes up or not, shall we?”
With that, Gonzales hurried around to the left side of the vehicle and climbed into the driver seat. A few hoofsteps and Rainbow Dash was right beside me.
“What was that all about?” she asked me.
I chuckled, “Gonzales there loves this Humvee more than most things. He's never truly happy unless he's behind the wheel of this thing.”
Before Rainbow could reply, the most ungodly grumbling started, causing the pegasus to shriek and take flight. The entire Humvee shook as the engine tried to start over. Looking at the tailpipe, I saw some smoke coming out and frowned. Using the Humvee will pollute the atmosphere around it, however, before restrictions could be placed we did need to know if it even worked.
Finally, the engine coughed and roared as it fully came to life. Gonzales pumped the accelerator a couple times, making it roar louder as more fuel entered the engine.
“We're back in business boys!” I heard Gonzales shout before Kilborn motioned for him to shut it down. Begrudgingly, the medic complied and, with some sputtering, the Humvee quieted down again. The medic stood on the lip of the Humvees floor to look over the roof at us, “Why'd you make me shut her down Sarge? She just got used to breathing again.”
Kilborn motioned around to the trees. I looked around myself and saw that even the widest path wasn't wide enough for the Humvee to fit through. Of course, coming down that one trail was Applejack and Big Mac.
“What in the hay was that?” Applejack asked as she came sliding to a halt.
“Ma'am,” I started, trying to suppress the smile on my face, “I apologize for scaring you. It's just that we got our Humvee here,” I pointed at the vehicle, “back on it's wheels and we wanted to see if it still ran. The noise you heard was the engine starting up.”
She looked at me, before looking at the Humvee with astonishment. “That thing works?” she asked incredulously.
“Of course!” shouted Gonzales, “My Athena here has taken worse before!”
Applejack looked confused, “Athena?”
I chuckled, “That's what we've taken to calling it-”
“Her,” Gonzales amended. I chuckled again and rolled my eyes.
“Right, you crazy bastard,” I said looking at him. I looked back at Applejack, who still looked confused, “See, miss...” it was than that I realized she hadn't yet told me her name, “I'm sorry but, what's your name again?”
“Applejack,” she said blankly.
“Well, Miss Applejack,” I started again, “us Humans sometimes personify our vehicles. We give them names and genders and treat them like another sentient being. We named our Humvee Athena, who was the goddess of knowledge and tactics in an old Human religion. So now instead of saying 'it', we say 'her' and 'she'. Makes sense?”
“Kinda,” was her reply as the confusion gave way to amusement. That was when a visibly shaken Rainbow Dash drifted down to a landing beside Applejack. After a moment, though, she shook herself out of it.
“Wait,” she started, putting a hoof to her chin in thought, “if your 'Humvee' is a she and you have to get inside it to use it, than-” A soft blush came to her cheeks as she finally drew up her conclusion. Applejack looked at her friend, confused, until realization came upon her face and, she too, blushed slightly.
I just laughed, “Sexual innuendos, gotta love 'em.”
This caused the other three to laugh, Smiley's low laugh echoing around the clearing.
“Of course,” began Kilborn, “Athena here is the only woman that will allow Gonzales inside her.”
This caused Smiley, Kilborn, and me to laugh harder as Gonzales just glared at us. Looking over, I saw the three ponies looked briefly at each other before joining in the laughter. Applejack and Rainbow fell to the ground, they were laughing so hard.
“Oh, hardy har har. Get a good laugh at Gonz's expense,” Gonzales said as he glared at everyone. After about a minute of laughter, I wiped the tears from my eyes and smiled at the medic.
“You have to admit, Sarge got you good with that one,” I said, trying to soothe things over. Finally, Gonzales smiled again and chuckled.
“I guess you're right there.”
After another minute, everyone had stopped laughing and were just sitting and smiling dumbly. Finally, I remembered my predicament and turned to Applejack.
“Miss Applejack, I-”
“Just Applejack, 'nough of this 'Miss' stuff.”
I smiled, “Right. Applejack. Is there anyway we can wash our clothes?”
She nodded, “I can get ya a tub or two and point you to the stream nearby.”
“That'll do,” I said with a smile. She nodded before her and her brother turned to head back down the trail. I followed close behind them, again viewing the orchard with awe. I smiled wider as I walked along.
“You look happier than Dash after she met the Wonderbolts, you know that?”
I broke out of my semi-trance state to look down at Applejack. “I'm just trying to wrap my head around where I am.”
“What ya mean, sugarcube? Hasn't Twilight told you?” she asked.
I shook my head, “No. I know where I am. It's just-” I stopped myself, sighing and looking down at the pistol still strapped to my thigh.
“Just what?” she asked, coming to a stop, which caused me to stop also.
“Just... I'm sure you've realized that my friends and I are soldiers, right?” a nod, “Well, in our world, soldiers aren't just known for guarding certain places. We humans fight amongst ourselves. Wars are a common part of human history. The area that my friends and I were, was an active warzone. Everyday, we would think to ourselves, 'Are they gonna hit us today?' 'When's the next mortar round coming down? Whose it gonna hit?' 'Will I be able to get home alive?'”
I paused as I looked at my hands, opening and closing them, as if making sure they still work, “I've seen more than a few good men die. Some I held in my hands as they breathed their final breath. I've also taken a few lives. Luckily, I don't know most that I've taken because it was in the midst of a chaotic firefight where a lot of guns were going off. However, I've dispatched a few that I do know about.” I could feel a few tears now but I still stood straight. “Have you ever had to comfort a kid who was crying because his dad died and yet knowing that you had been the one who killed the kid's father?”
I looked at her to see her slowly shake her head. A few tears had also come from her eyes and a hoof was to her mouth.
“Of course not,” I continued, “and I hope you never do. My world is hell, Applejack. A good quote that I have always remembered is, 'The strong take what they want. The weak suffer what they must.'”
There was silence as I wiped away my tears. Without looking up, I muttered, “Can we continue to the tubs please? I'd like to get this blood off of me.”
There was no reply, only hoofsteps. We continued along the path in silence, Big Mac not having said or really done anything but stare straight ahead. Unclenching my fists, I sighed deeply. I knew that saying any of that was probably the wrong thing to have done but the more I looked around at the perfection of this world, the more I knew that my friends and I did not belong.
Stats
Page generated in 0.02 seconds
Total duration
1,003 users online
1,439,945 hits today, 2,167,270 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
“Of course not,” I continued, “and I hope you never do. My world is hell, Applejack. A good quote that I have always remembered is, 'The strong take what they want. The weak suffer what they must.'”
This is kind of stupid a world without suffering and war would be terrible sometimes it's good to fight for what you believe in and without sadness you could not be happy
Gotta love them sexual jokes
i'm just imagining tucker saying "bow-chicka bow-wow"