The sun burned us mercilessly (Original version, one-shot.)
A walking relic
The sun scorched the few men mercilessly, the scolding sand blew into their faces as they continued on the dirt road. They rode down the poorly paved Afghani roads, holding onto the old BTRs with their rifles in their laps.
They were a motorized rifle platoon, some of the best in their company. They were tasked with guarding a convoy of trucks that were delivering heavy munitions and fuel to Kabul.
The sergeant, a man named Alexi Novgroskiv, was holding on for dear life. His rifle hanging off his shoulder like a leather messenger bag.
And while the local weather was atrocious,
and the area they were patrolling had hardly ever been patrolled before. All seemed to be going well, no traps have been triggered or mines detonated. And the mujahideen seemed non-existent, even though there were a few hostile tribes nearby.
"Alexi!" Vasiliy shouted.
"What do you want?" Alexi patiently inquired.
"Did you hear the news, man?" Vasiliy loudly questioned.
"No, why? Did Kino release a new album?"
"No nothing like that," Vasiliy replied, shaking his head vigorously
"Well, what then?" Alexi asked as Vasiliy spiked his curiosity.
"I heard on the radio that there are talks about us coming home. I think they're going to pull out and we'll all get out of this hellhole!" Vasiliy answered.
Ivan snorted, he sucked in a breath and spoke his mind.
"Yeah, sure. Moscow will just completely abandon this puppet state and all of its natural resources. Giving it up to its two largest rivals; China and The west. Just because some rebellious kids got doped up on Kino. Hell, maybe they'll personally help those kids smash the Berlin wall to pieces! Then we'll all just bend over and everything will be hunky fucking dory." Ivan lamented condescendingly, acting like the grade A asshole he was known for being.
"Calm the fuck down, man. I was just fucking saying what the damn news said, you don't have to be a condescending asshole about it."
Vasiliy retorted, Ivan turned around to face the younger man, his face was tomato red with pure rage. Smoke was almost coming out of his ears.
"Calm down?" Ivan said calmly. "Calm!?" He shouted, slamming his fist against the metal outside of the BTR. "I'll show you calm in a minute if you fucking speak to me like that again!"
"Fuck off, Ivan! Stop busting Vasiliy's balls because you're angry that everyone knows you're a condescending intolerable asshole who is only helpful because you can drive vehicles." Alexi sternly defended his subordinate against someone who was on his level in terms of rank and respect.
"Well, now looky fucking looky. I think I just found the platoon's first faggot of the year! Because why else would someone defend that retarded gullible piece of shit?"
"Because he's my fucking friend; and you're a godamn cowardly cocksucker beneath me in rank and most certainly respect!" Alexi answered immediately, catching the dickish driver off guard.
"Well, shit fire and save matches, that saves me a lot of shit to do," Ivan muttered as he got back to work. Alexi sat down next to his friend afterward, the two shared a few words.
"Thanks, man. I can always count on you!" Vasiliy cheered after thanking his savior, "Anytime."
"Heh. Ever fateful, eh?" Vasiliy responded sarcastically.
"Semper fi, do or die. Gung-ho! Gung-ho!" Alexi put on his best USMC impression. Vasiliy howled with laughter at the display, almost pissing himself in the process.
"Hahaha! Oh man, Jesus! Are you sure you aren't actually a Westerner?" Vasily asked, not expecting anything except an obvious no. "Hell if I know, but I can say that I probably am not from there."
"How can I be sure?" Vasiliy pressed.
"Well if I start taking really long trips and people who know too much start 'shutting up' then I'm probably a spy." Vasily chuckled at the response, slapping his friend on the back.
"Oh, man! You always what to say, it's almost like a superpower!" Vasiliy said.
"Heh, I certainly have my moments."
"Well, that's something we can agree on. Except that Ivan's a dick and cherry pie tastes like cat piss."
"I heard that, assholes! And fuck you, cherry pie tastes great!"
The men continued as normal for quite a while, occasionally sharing words dripping with venom as they traveled alongside the caravan. Thankfully, their vehicle had some music from back home. So there was something good to listen to. Everything went according to plan for quite a while. Then Alexi turned his head, only to see a rocket zip in front of him and strike a KAMAZ filled with diesel and oil barrels.
The convoy truck in an instant exploded violently and set ablaze, the molten shrapnel decimating any unfortunate soul that was hit by it. Alexi was knocked back when a massive metal chunk that was a part of the exhaust hit him in the head. His helmet barely protected him from that massive piece, whilst his fragmentation vest protected his vital organs from the other bits. Sadly though, Vasiliy wasn't so lucky and had the mangled license plate stick out of his exposed chest.
"Oh god... Vasiliy!" Alexi shouted, shaking as he tried to keep his friend alive. But this was a difficult task, he wasn't a medic and didn't have a clue on what to do about this. Sure he knew to not rip out the crimson-hot piece of metal. However, he didn't have a medic come along with him, the nearest one was riding in the KAMAZ. Now that the guy is dead, Alexi was left without the tools or training to help his friend.
As Alexi was attempting to keep his friend awake, he heard the clopping of horseshoes. As he looked behind himself, he could make out a large group of mujahideen riding on horses. They were armed with rusting Lee Enfield and Chinese assault rifles. Fucking traitors.
Alexi quickly shouldered his rifle and began firing rounds at the group of raiders. He only killed one man but managed to knock another off his horse and injure two more. The fighters started to fight back, grabbing their rifles they proceeded to blindly fire at the lone sergeant.
One of the rounds hit the young sergeant on his shoulder, "Fuck!" He screamed in pain.
Alexi returned fire, aiming at the guerilla fighters armed with the Chinese assault rifles. If he could end those pricks, the ones with bolt actions could be picked off easily.
The young sergeant managed to kill several of the self-proclaimed holy warriors with a grenade and critically wounded a few others. Three more were killed by his rifle and another two bleed out. The man laughed victoriously at his fine handy work, many of the bastards had been killed.
"Ha! Vasiliy! Hey man, did you see what-!" Alexi stopped dead in his tracks as his eyes fixated on his friend. The round that went through Alexi's shoulder had gone through and ripped his friend's head off his body. Leaving a bloody mess behind him.
"Oh no... No... no..." Alexi stuttered, tears gushing out of his eyes as his lip trembled. His heart sunk into his chest as realization set in. "Vasiliy!" He roared in agony "NO!"
Alexi laid his head in his hands, he softly cried and sobbed. He should have listened. They said that he should have brought more people in his vehicle. In case something like this ever happened.
Alexi nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a loud, ear-piercing roar to his right. When he turned around he saw a thoroughly tanned man charging at him with an old rifle that had a bayonet on the end. Alexi barely had time to act before the spear-like weapon stabbed at him. Though thankfully because of quick thinking, he managed to get out of the way and get some control over the weapon.
The old man tried to strike alexi, but he was met with Alexi's elbow across his jaw. Alexi then yanked the gun out of his opponent's hand, before slamming the butt of the rifle into the old man's stomach. Sending the poor man reeling from the extreme pain.
The older man tried to punch the Young Sergeant but missed. The Sergeant used this opportunity to stomp on the old man's groin before sticking the bayonet deep into his throat with all his might. The old man yelped in pain but it rapidly turned into a sickening gurgling as Alexi pulled the bayonet out and brought it down again. And then again and then again. Until Alexi's adversary had drowned in a pool of blood.
The Young Sergeant, now coming down from his powerful adrenaline rush, huffed and puffed as he had exhausted himself from all the strenuous fighting. Alexi pulled out an old canteen and ripped the lid off, before putting his lips around the top and tilting back. He drank the water like an alcoholic would drink a bottle of raki or vodka. His lungs burning and his heart pumping like a car engine or a horny teenager pounding a pussy. Eventually, the Sergeant cooled down and finished the entire canteen. Looking down, his heart stopped as he at the downed fighter's corpse.
The guerilla fighter was in a bloodied mess, a powerful all-encompassing metallic smell took over his nose as he looked at the body. A look of immense fear plastered across the old man's face as he stared into space. Blood was still gushing out of the acute wounds as alexi could only watch in absolute horror.
Oh God, what have I done? I-I'm a murderer!
A faint whistling could be heard coming from somewhere, alexi didn't know where though. Eventually, though, he did find out what was causing the noise when he saw a rocket coming at him. His pupils became huge like dinner plates as his heart stopped beating entirely. The rocket slammed right into the earth with a massive explosion, sending the young man flying into the dirt. Now fatally wounded.
The Young Sergeant collapsed onto the dirt road, his vision was rapidly becoming blurry but he could still make out the mess. His legs and lower torso were completely blown off, his entrails were spilling out like water from a bottle. He would have shrieked but he was too weak to do anything. His mind quickly became clouded as a faint sense of nirvana took over. The world was quickly fading, a dark black haze covered his peripheral vision. His body felt as light as a feather, everything slowed down as he faded deep into nirvana.
He can't remember anything, but he is no longer bothered by it, or anything else for that matter. Warmth spread throughout his entire body; like a warm blanket straight out of the dryer. Except, this was no ordinary blanket. This was death. But the boy was fine with it; he had gone through so much pain and suffering over the years that he didn't care.
The last thing he heard was a man screaming his name. Ivan was his name? What?
As the oozing black darkness filled his vision and everything went completely silent. Not even the sound of his lungs filling with air and exhaling carbon monoxide. It was death, and he could live like this for all eternity.
-
The sun was high in the morning sky, it had just risen above the clouds. The wind gently blew as the distinctive smell of grass and freshly bloomed floors filled the young man's nose. The smell caused the man to awaken from his slumber. He was surprised to see that he wasn't in the scorching Afghani desert or a burning crimson hellscape. He expected to be in hell, or at the very least stuck in Afghan for the rest of time. Certainly not in heaven of all places, murderers don't get past the pearly gates. The climate was temperate too, although this IS heaven so obviously, you won't freeze your balls off or turn into the human torch here.
Slowly, the man stretched out and began to rise onto his feet, his immense exhaustion was all but gone now and he felt well-rested. Believe it or not. Which was a welcomed surprise as he hadn't slept well in four years. But again, this was heaven, not hell. Although you would think God could at least fix his back. Because carrying over fifty kilograms of equipment for almost four years straight doesn't do wonders for your spine. It does more harm than good, shocking I know.
Now standing on his feet, Alexi looked around the area to see if anyone was there or if it was just him. It probably was, but he didn't want to rule that out yet. Alexi spotted a large structure in the distance. It looked like an old fortress or castle, maybe there were people inside the building? He didn't know where he was and what had happened, he wanted answers and his only lead was that fortress-like castle. So he began his journey.
-
It had taken alexi several hours of continuous walking to get here, but he finally made it. There was a massive city inside the walls. But unfortunately, they weren't people, they were ponies. At least that's what one of them told him. Thankfully nobody paid any mind to the young sergeant, which allowed him to transverse the streets without any problems. They did, however, stare at him with awe and curiosity. After all, it isn't every day that you see an armed (but they were unaware of that) foreign soldier walk through your city.
Eventually, though, alexi got tired of walking and managed to find an old park bench. Tossing his gear and rifle next to him, he sat down on the old wooden bench. It creaked and moaned because of the extreme weight. Since it wasn't built to accommodate a six-foot-tall, two-hundred-pound man. However, it managed to not cave in beneath Alexi.
Alexi watched the ponies do their jobs and their daily activities, completely numb to it all.
I-I'm a murderer!
No, I'm not
You BUTCHERED a human being!
I swear it was in self-defense! H-he was going t-to kill me!
You didn't have to stab him to death!
I wasn't thinking!
YOU SICK, PERVERSE LIAR! YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN BORN.
I-I-I'm s-so sor-sorry
Alexi was pulled out of his horrid thoughts when someone tapped on his shoulder. He turned around to he who it was. Behind him stood a large pony with a pristine snow-white coat and ethereal multi-colored hair that sparkled in the sunlight. She had both a horn and wings, that'd make her a pegacorn, right?
She had magenta eyes and on her flank was a sun tattoo. Although Alexi didn't get a good look as he wasn't going to visually grope someone, his mother taught him better than that.
"Are you alright?" The pony asked, her tone gave off an aura of safety and trustworthiness.
"Erm, y-yes I'm f-fine." Alexi lied, it was not a very good lie. He attempted to hide that he murdered someone in hot blood.
"Are you sure? You were staring off into space and you were crying." She said, her motherly voice filled with worry. Sadly, Alexi didn't think he was going to be able to lie his way out of this encounter.
Alexi sighed, looking down at his old knee-high combat boots. "Two of my friends just died."
"I'm sorry that happened." She replied.
"Yeah. They died when... A projectile slammed into a large vehicle and blew it into a million pieces. The debris killed my friend and sent another into hiding. Then these men, these... highwaymen came out riding on horses-" She looked at me quite strangely, with a tinge of anger.
"What'd I say?" He asked the ethereal mare.
"You said whorse." She stated like it was a matter of fact.
"No, I said horse," Alexi said
"That's what I just said." She replied
"No, a horse is an animal from where i'm from," Alexi stated.
"You keep saying it and somepony may just kick your flank." She said calmly, although he could sense some anger.
"Ugh. Jesus. We don't spell it with a 'W' we spell it with an 'H'. The 'H' is silent or well it sounds like a 'W'." Alexi explained.
"Oh. Then I apologize, I thought you were calling somepony a whorse." She apologized.
"It's fine. But what does that word even mean?" He asked the mare.
"Well... It's a word used to call somepony a prostitute or a hooker. Essentially, unfaithful and perverted swine." She explained to the young sergeant.
"Oh. So like calling someone a whore, just with an 'S'." He said.
"Precisely." She answered.
"So back to what I was saying. These... Highwaymen were riding on horses, which are pack animals from where im from. But they come out and attack the remains of our caravan. I managed to... Kill a few of them, but one of their shots goes straight through my shoulder... And... It killed my best friend." Alexi choked out, "It... Took his head off and splattered his brains all over my clothes."
She looked upon the young man with sadness in her eyes. It has been many years since her nation has gone to war with another, mostly thanks to her. And while she was quite hardened by the many horrific things she has born witness to. She still felt a pang of sorrow for this poor being.
"Then..." Alexi barely choked back his tears, "I-I had to... Fight this man." He forced out, making a sound that resembled a hiccup. His voice broke in two as he bounced back in forth between a whisper and a pained shout.
"I-I di-didn't want to kill him..." He spat out in a hushed tone, his voice carried a wall of pure suffering. He lifted his head and took in a breath, before looking into her eyes.
"But he was going to kill me." He whispered to the motherly figure that sat beside him. She looked into his dull grey eyes, they were filled with unimaginable pain and suffrage. She nearly broke, but the things she went through kept her intact. How could a being survive this long without losing the last shreds of his sanity or ending his life?
Alexi sobbed into his bloody hands, the warm tears felt like warm crimson blood flowing through his broken fingers. The empty feeling of apathy was gradually replacing his crushed soul's pain. He felt cold, numb, and lonely on that bench, all his friends were dead in a sand dune or dying in a hospital bed. He failed, he had abandoned his friends to grizzly fates. He doesn't deserve to live.
The princess couldn't handle it anymore, she couldn't leave this broken being to decay and widdle away on some park bench. She wanted to wipe all his pain away, to end this dreaded madness. It was alarmingly similar to the pain she felt after losing her own flesh and blood. And, like that devastating tragedy, she could have screamed in pain.
Moving closer to the broken alien, she wrapped her forelegs around his body and pushed him into her chest. He feebly protested against his soft prison, but the sheer warmth crushed his resistance. She shielded him with her wings, tightly wrapping him up in a cocoon of warmth and safety. He melted into the hug and sobbed into her soft furry chest.
"I-I..." Alexi stuttered.
"Shh..." She hushed the crying man, holding him gently. She tightened her embrace on the devastated creature, trying her best to calm him down. The two of them just held each other in total silence, both content on staying there forever. But the two of them knew it had to end eventually.
The creature stopped crying after a couple more minutes of being in her embrace. She began to undo her handmade feathery cocoon and let go of the creature.
"T-thank you." The creature sniffled, still affected greatly by his trauma.
"You're welcome." She spoke softly.
"Hey, can you t-tell me your n-name?" He asked quietly, "Celestia. Princess Celestia." She answered.
"Thank you C-Celestia." He sniffled, stuttering when pronouncing that last part.
"You're welcome, my little pony." She replied softly. "But I'm not a pony."
"Well then what are you, if you don't mind me asking." She asked.
"I'm a human, your majesty," Alexi answered.
"Hmm. I never heard of your species before. What's your name?" She politely pondered.
"My name is Alexi Novgroskiv, your highness. I'm a citizen of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. But the west just calls it the Soviet Union." He answered. "That's... Intriguing. I've never heard of this union. It's not on any of the maps and we would know if it did exist."
"Well, since you're from a completely new species and are a citizen of a foreign government. It would only be right and logical to provide you with food and shelter until we can send you back home." She said.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"You're a part of a completely alien species and are the only one of these species here. Simply put, you are a critically endangered species and a citizen of a possibly very powerful nation." She explained.
"And?"
"I want to provide you with food and shelter for the time being. So I can keep you safe because you are the only one of your kind here. And I don't want to start a war with several different countries." She replied.
"So, where will you be housing me?" He asked.
"Well, since there aren't any available properties in canterlot at the moment. I guess I'll give you a room in the castle." She said.
"Well, uh, thank you. Your majesty." Alexi thanked the large pegacorn.
"Your welcome, Alexi. Ahem, now let's get going, it's almost dusk and I need to prepare for the night." She said, getting off the bench and walking towards the castle. She motioned for the man to follow her which he did after grabbing his things.
Alexi grabbed his webbing and rifle before catching up with the princess. He was finally happy to get out of that sandy hellhole that he gave four years of his life to. And while his friends may all be dead and he might never recover from the atrocities committed by his hands. It's safe to say that he won't be alone during this process, unlike many other veterans who have nobody left.
He now has someone and by the looks of it, he'll have a home. It's just unfortunate that his friends will never get to enjoy this pleasure and that their families will never see their children grow up past young adulthood. At least there are two fewer people alive to suffer the bloodied hands of Afghanistan.