Chapter 26: Breathe...Just...Breathe…

August 11, 2558
0710 hours
Somewhere 185 miles southeast of Ottapaw

The team had hid Rainbow Dash in the brush of the oasis as they hid the bodies. Jenkins was dragging the last one under a large, low-lying plant when he saw her on her knees facing a tree trunk, clutching her head with her hooves and rocking back-and-forth.

“They’ll never stop,” Rainbow repeated between sobs. “They’ll never stop…they’ll never stop…they’ll never stop…”

Jenkins just placed a hand on her shoulder.

“I hate seeing you like this,” was all he said.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what? You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“Yes I do!”

She spun to face him, eyes clearly full of tears.

“Your friend died because of me!” she cried. “I’m just a burden on all of you!”

“Hey! Stop that! That isn’t fair to you,” he said, grabbing her face. “It is not your fault that you were captured! So how in the universe could it be your fault that he’s dead? Huh?!”

The traumatized mare just continued to stare.

“Listen to me,” the PFC continued. “Breathe!”

She started to inhale.

“As deep as you can, in through your nose and out your mouth, like you’re blowing into a straw,” he continued in a more soothing voice. “Just focus on your breath and follow me back to our foxholes. Alright?”

She nodded feverishly, shakily breathing in-and-out as instructed. Jenkins wasn’t sure if this would work on a pony, but by this point he knew he had to try!

She did appear to start calming down though, indicating that it was probably working. So with that, he stood up and began walking out of the oasis with the pegasus in tow.

When they reached their makeshift encampment, they were met with some angry faces.

“How?! How did it happen?!” said Shifty. “I swear I’m gunna kill’em all!”

Though the entire squad was feeling the same way, they could understand Eugene’s distinctly high levels of frustration. Everyone knew that the two Privates in particular were quite close.

“I should’ve gone with him!” he continued. “I should’ve-OW!”

Sergeant Alex Thompson hit him over the head with one hand before his subordinate could finish.

“Quit thinking about what-ifs for fuck’s sake!” Alex barked at him. “You were following orders and there was nothing you could do! What? You think Ogden over there didn’t try his best?!”

“No sir,” said Shifty somberly.

“The last thing we need right now is to be pointing fingers. Now focus the fuck up, man!”

“The Sergeant’s right,” said Alvarez. “Changelings will be swarming this area any minute now.”

He then looked directly at Shifty while still addressing everyone present.

“We lost a good warrior,” Gunny continued. “But he wouldn’t want us to lose our focus over him! We’ve still got a mission to complete and he’d want us to see it through, do you all understand that?”

“Aye sir,” said Corporal Marcus Williams as the rest of the team nodded.

“Good. Now, taking inventory of our situation, we’ve hidden the bodies as best we could. Yes, the changelings will be here soon, but our priority is still to rest-up. We had a long trek last night and it won’t be our last. Are we all tracking on that?”

Everyone nodded again.

“Okay, so we’re going to try and sleep through the day. We’ve at least got a little bit of shade to work with, so definitely try to get proper rest. Marcus? Were all three foxholes finished?”

“Only two out of the three, sir,” the Brit responded.

“That’s fine. That means then that we’ll have three men per completed foxhole, or rather mine will have two men and one pegasus. Keep your heads down, asses lower, and rotate watch amongst yourselves, but make sure only one of you is awake at any given time. Oorah?”

“Oorah!” came the ODSTs’ unified voices.

August 11, 2558
0730 hours
Manehattan Streets

8 A.M.

They had to wait until 8 in the morning for the docks to reopen, and it was painful.

The two of them sat together on a roadside bench, overlooking the very space where hundreds of their own kin were slaughtered less than three days prior.

Cinder Pine, straight-faced and exhausted, solemnly munched away at one of the few apples he and Greyblade had “borrowed” from Applejack’s farm. He looked to his right to see his companion holding hers virtually untouched.

“C’mon Princess,” said the black-and-green-maned earth pony. “We’ve been travelling all night with no sleep. You should eat something!”

The Dalepony mare slowly took a bite without looking his way.

“I may be your princess,” she said after swallowing. “But you don’t need to keep addressing me as such. I’m also just your friend.”

“Would you prefer ‘Grey’ instead, your highness?” he said endearingly.

She smiled, still looking at the lake.

“That one I’ve reserved just for you,” she said.

Their lightened mood didn’t last long, as their thoughts once again went to the trauma they now associated with the very spot they were now looking at.

Cinder suddenly heard a sob choke up from his right. He looked to see Greyblade starting to tear up.

“Can we walk to another bench?” she asked though her tears.

“Sure! Yeah,” the brown-coated stallion replied almost instantly.

“I-I just don’t think I can be here right now.”

“Yeah, whatever you need.”

The two of them got up from the bench and began walking into the city. Greyblade had to practically lean on Cinder Pine as they went.

Cinder knew her combat skills were far superior to his, but he also knew that, despite having been taught by the best professors in the known world and trained by Gildedale’s best warriors, she lacked the most important piece of the puzzle: experience.

Experience is always the best teacher, which explained why, despite the disparity in training and skill, he was still taking the loss of their battalion far better than her. He had watched many of his own kin be killed by Prairie Drakes in front of him before, but she had not, at least not to the same extent.

He was battle-hardened. She was not.

It wasn’t long until they found another roadside bench to sit on, this time surrounded by the tall Manehattan buildings. Some still had their lights on, still anticipating morning.

Though the cityscape around them was quite beautiful, the grey earth pony mare and her brown stallion companion were only aware of each other.

They held each other, keeping warm against both the chill of dawn and the chill of the sea-breeze coming off the lake, as Greyblade continued to cry softly in front of Cinder Pine.

“Bad things happen, Grey,” said Cinder after some time. “It’s okay.”

“How are the deaths of so many of our own okay to you?!” she replied, just above a whisper.

“Because,” he started with an assertive tone. “Our people are killed all the time, to the Komaga! Hundreds every year. You’ve just been too sheltered your whole life to see it.”

Her blue eyes locked with his brown ones.

“We don’t normally go out in these numbers, but it’s all the same to me,” he continued, brushing aside some of her blonde mane. “As cold-hearted as that may sound, that’s the truth.”

She didn’t want to admit it, but he was right. In fact, she hadn’t just grown up sheltered: she grew up privileged!

“It wasn’t fair for you to be thrown into that,” he finished.

She ripped her gaze away from him, pulling the brim of her cap down in front of her face with her hoof. Cinder took no offense, as he could tell she wasn’t trying to be rude.

She was feeling shameful. He placed a consoling hoof on top of her head and let her have her moment.

“Everything alright here?” asked a passer-by.

“Yes,” said Cinder before looking up. “We’re alrigh-”

He trailed off. This caused Greyblade to look up at him, then towards whoever he was talking to.

She froze. A human, a patrolling UNSC marine, was standing before them.

The very species that had wrought destruction upon their countrymen.

“You sure?” he pressed, showing a smile. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”

He was an older-looking human, wrinkles adorning his face, but still looked as tough, if not tougher, than the rest!

“Wha-what do you want?” asked Cinder fearfully.

The marine gave him the benefit of the doubt, seeing as it was a little chilly out. He shook his head.

“Nothin’. I just saw that you two looked distraught about somthin’,” he said plainly. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“N-not really,” said Greyblade dismissively. “My coltfriend and I have just been through a lot recently and…”

“And that’s all you need to know,” Cinder Pine completed. “We’d rather not discuss the details of it.”

Greyblade nodded at this, noticing the subtle blush on Cinder’s cheek, probably because she’d just called him her “coltfriend”.

“Fine by me,” said the human, shrugging. “I didn’t ask.”

After saying that, the marine did something unexpected: he sat down on the ground beside the bench and placed his rifle in his lap.

“But d’ya know what helps me get through tough times, tough situations?” he continued. “If you don’t mind my askin’?”

As weird as this was, the two Daleponies were curious, and this human’s timing was almost too perfect.

“Not at all,” said Greyblade with a forced smile.

“No,” said Cinder. “What?”

“I breathe,” he said simply. “Except, I think about it.”

Now the two Daleponies showed their genuine intrigue, physically leaning in to listen.

“Rapidly in through your nose and mouth, then out through the mouth like you’re blowing through a straw. You can do it at any time, no matter how you’re feeling,” the human continued. “Like a form of...meditation.”

“It’s that simple?” asked Greyblade.

“Yeah! Though, I mean you may not feel happy after a few breaths, but you’ll at least stop feeling sad, mad, or anxious…because now you’re not focused on whatever it was that made you feel that way in the first place!”

After guiding them through the technique a couple times, the Greyblade and Cinder Pine did it on their own for about half a minute.

To their surprise, it was actually working! As the human stood up, Cinder came to an amusing realization.

“What’s your name, kind sir?” he asked with a smile. “I don’t think we even asked!”

“Master Sergeant Mark Stacker,” said the marine with an informal bow. “At your service.”

“Thank you,” said Greyblade.

“Don't mention it. I just thought I’d add a little bit of value to your day,” said Mark with a wink. “Free of charge!”

He then began to run back to his patrolling squad.

“It should warm up soon by the way,” he finished. “Don’t you worry!”

The two Daleponies now sat in what they could only discern as shock, but in a good way.

“Weren’t we taught something like that in training?” asked Cinder, finally breaking the silence.

“I’d be lying if I told you I remembered everything from mine,” said Greyblade.

Another pause. They had to admit, they were feeling different, better if anything.

“Maybe, humans aren’t all bad?” Greyblade posed after some time and thought.

“Yeah, I agree,” responded Cinder with a nod. “And I was the one they tried to kill!”

“Kind of like how we attacked Equestria, but we’re not all bad…”

Cinder Pine looked over at Greyblade with a sly smile.

“You know, Grey,” said Cinder. “Now you’re starting to sound like a princess!”

She smiled back at him.

“Thanks,” she said.

She took one more breath before hopping off the bench.

“We should start walking back to the docks,” she suggested. “They should open soon.”

“Good Idea,” said Cinder with a nod.

As they walked, the brown stallion thought he’d acknowledge something.

“You know, Grey,” he started. “I’m glad you recognized and admitted that you were quite spoiled in your youth!”

“You’re right. I was only there because my dad’s the King!” she deadpanned. “I wasn’t qualified.”

“No you weren’t,” he said. “But give yourself some credit! Based on the orders we were getting, it didn’t seem like you were totally incompetant! You were the one who figured out that the human's faces were the only exposed part of their body, after all...”

“Stop!” said Greyblade, breaking a small smile. “I’m no General or Field Marshal.”

“Well, probably not anymore.”

This cracked her up, soon breaking the blonde mare into laughter. She leaned on him slightly, continuing to giggle while giving Cinder a few love-taps on the chest.

Finally, they reached the docks yet again, except this time they were no longer bothered by their memories. The human named Mark had given them a trick that actually worked!

They both then looked past the water toward the horizon. In the morning light of Celestia’s sun rising behind them, they could just barely see the golden fields in the distance, fields that were so familiar to them.

“You can almost see it from here,” said Cinder. “Home.”

When Greyblade heard this, she unexpectedly felt a wave of relief come over her. After a moment of thought while still looking at the distant fields, she realized: whether a grand welcoming party awaited her, or punishment for treason, she was ready.

She looked over to a small boat where a fishing-pony was reading his boat.

“Looks like that one’s ready to set sail,” she said, pointing.

“We still have bits to pay him, don’t we?” asked Cinder.

“Yeah,” said Greyblade with a nod. “Let’s go home.”

August 11, 2558
1031 hours
Somewhere 185 miles southeast of Ottapaw

Rainbow was lying down on all fours in the newly made foxhole across from Gunny and Jenkins. She sat quietly, expressionless.

The two across from her were fiddling with some kind of device with a screen on it.

“So,” she started. “When do I stay up?”

“Excuse me?” asked Gunny.

“For the watch?” she continued with feigned eagerness in her voice.

“Oh no, we’ll handle that,” said Jenkins. “You get as much rest as you possibly can. You need it the most out of any of us.”

“I’m overjoyed to hear that you’re so willing to do that,” said Gunny. “But no, you get your sleep, you hear?”

Rainbow just rested her head on her forehooves in silent agreement.

“So, Rainbow,” said Gunny tentatively after some time. “We just need to run a quick scan so we can analyze your vitals.”

“What does that mean?” the mare asked.

“We need to see how healthy you are, so we’re going to point this thing at you for about a minute.”

Unexpectedly, Rainbow’s eyes widened and her pupils shrank, indicating fear.

“What’s wrong?” asked Jenkins, holding up the device. “It won’t hurt, if that’s what you’re wondering?”

“Oh no, nothing’s wrong!” said Rainbow, quickly shaking the look off her face. “You guys do what you need to do.”

Jenkins held a mildly skeptical look. He was aware that Rainbow was withholding some truth and the mare knew it.

Regardless, he seemed to shrug it off as he activated the device. Gunny sat behind him, holding a PDA and a stylus to take notes to send up to the Infinity.

“Oh-kay then,” he said, pointing the device at the ground. “We’ll just need you sit up before we can get started.”

There’s no way it’ll find out, right? she silently dreaded as she sat up onto her haunches. Right?

As the gadget continued to whirr and buzz to life, Jenkins first held it up to her face.

“Alrighty,” he said, beginning to read off the screen. “Brain-waves look pretty hyperactive, but I’d say that’s normal given the situation you’re in.”

He slowly began to move downwards.

Oh gosh! thought Rainbow, getting even more nervous.

“Blood pressure is higher than normal,” the PFC continued. “But again, I’m pretty sure that’s okay for the same reasons. I think we inputted Equestrian data into this thing, so that’s how we’d know what’s normal and what isn’t normal for a pony.”

“So, vital signs normal?” asked Gunny behind him.

“Yes sir,” Jenkins answered.

Rainbow then coughed up some flem.

“Apart from an unhealthy buildup of bacteria in her system, she’s alright so far,” he continued. “Those burn marks don’t seem to be healing very quickly though, but there’s not much we can do about that.”

“How many are there?” asked Alvarez. “Two?”

“No, four. There’s two underneath the bandage I wrapped around her, one on her chest and one on her back, while the other two are on her...flanks.”

He held his hand up in shocked realization.

“Oh god! What did they do?!” he asked, attempting to be tactful. “Isn't that…where your cutie marks are supposed to be?”

“Yes,” she said sadly. “They, had these branding irons-”

She held a hoof up to her mouth, interrupting herself.

“I’m sorry,” said Jenkins after a moment. “I didn’t mean to make you relive that.”

“It’s okay,” she said, still anxious for what was about to come next.

The PFC then moved the device down to her crotch.

Rainbow watched his face through his helmet visor as it shifted from mere worry to outright horror. He looked past the screen to see that the area between her legs was still bruised and reddened, and she knew exactly was he was deducing in his head.

She shut her eyes as tears began to roll once again. All she could do was scream on the inside as Jenkins asked her the very question she dreaded having to answer.

“Rainbow…were you…” he started, genuine concern in his voice. “...raped?...”

She continued to breathe anguished and shaky breaths with a disturbed look on her face as her human friend just looked on.

She finally gave into her emotions as her controlled breathing once again became uncontrollable sobbs.

“Oh my god,” said Jenkins. “How did I not notice earlier?”

The PFC tried to pull her into an embrace, but she smacked his hands away, instead opting to face the wall of the foxhole and bury her face in her forehooves.

Still Jenkins placed a hand on her shoulder, the pegasus not resisting this time.

“Rainbow,” he started slowly. “I’m...so sorry...I don’t know what to say…”

“Then just leave me alone!” she snapped.

“We can’t do that, Rainbow.”

“Bucking leave!”

She showed her angry face, eyes bloodshot in rage. Jenkins was taken aback by this.

“Ogden! It’s alright,” said Gunny as he hit ‘send’ on his PDA before stowing it away. “Let her be.”

Jenkins slowly crouch walked away, looking almost dazed.

“I don’t know what to say,” he whispered to Gunny as they both climbed out of the foxhole.

“You will,” Alvarez responded. “In time.”

“But I’ve never had to deal with something like this before!”

“Jenkins, we both know she’s been through a lot. Give her some time, and give yourself some time. You will know what to say. Trust me!”

“...Aye, sir…”

“I know you. You’ll be fine man, both of you will.”

Alone now, Rainbow continued to sob into the wall of the foxhole. Finally, she managed to calm herself enough to catch her breath.

Pulling her face out of the dirt, still teary-eyed and breathing hard, she looked down at one of her forehooves and watched as her tears slowly dripped onto it, saturating the fur.

She shut her eyes again and let her hoof hang at her side, before resting the top of her head on the dirt wall.

A sudden, loud hum coming from behind her caused her to shoot her eyes back open.

She saw a green glow reflecting off the wall she was resting on, and that was enough for panic to start setting in.

Still facing the dirt wall, she slapped her hooves onto the back of her head to protect herself, now regretting having told Jenkins to buck off!

“Turn around!” said the changeling behind her.

She obliged slowly, nearly hyperventilating as she began to face him.

But when she had gotten halfway, the hostile used his staff to force her all the way around, before pinning her back against the wall with it nearly on her neck.

Because her hooves were already up, she could attempt to push the staff off of her, but as she tried resisting, her attacker let off and punched her in the crotch. She squealed and grabbed the area with both hooves.

“Not there,” she croaked. “Not now!”

The changeling then pinned his staff on her neck and pushed her back against the wall yet again. However, due to the circular geometry of the foxhole, the two ends of his staff dug themselves into the dirt, leaving the cerulean mare stuck with the rod just under her chin, but still able to breathe.

The two were now locked in a staring contest for a few moments, before Rainbow acted first.

“Jenkiiiiins!” she yelled. “Heeelp! Help meee!”

No response.

“Fool! You drove him away!” the changeling chuckled.

Rainbow’s heart sank. He was right, and to her horror, his next words were spoken in General Hives’ voice.

“No one, human, or pony, or any creature,” he said as more changelings began to appear behind him. “Is coming to rescue you.”

With that, his snake-like tongue slithered out of his mouth and stuck itself down Rainbow’s throat!

“No! No! Aah! Aaaaaaaaaaa-uck! Ack! Uhhhck!” she choked as her main airway was blocked.

Before she could try breathing through her nose, the changeling placed a forehoof over her nose, then slowly started sliding her down into the corner.

Squirming in resistance and pure panic, she tried multiple times to slap his face with one hoof while pushing back at his staff with the other.

It was no use. The world began to fade to black, and the last thing she felt was her hooves falling limp as the darkness and silence engulfed her.

...rainbow?...

“Rainbow?” said Jenkins, shaking his pegasus friend awake. “Wake up! You’re having a nightmare!”

With a long, drawn-out gasp, Rainbow Dash awoke in a cold sweat. She felt her chest with her hooves, then her crotch, then her neck, and finally her face as if checking that her body parts all still existed, before looking at Jenkins with the most sorrowful look he’d ever seen.

“Hey! Hey! Calm down!” he said before she grabbed his helmet, making sure that he was real too. “You were squirming and whimpering, so I-”

He was interrupted by the mare hugging him tightly.

“Oh my gosh! I’m sorry for what I said!” she cried. “Never leave me alone again...please…”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down,” said Jenkins. “None of us would ever abandon you!”

He returned the hug.

“I’m the one who should be apologizing,” the ODST continued. “I was being too confrontational about the whole thing.”

Rainbow just looked up at him.

“I’ll never ask you about it again, ok?” he finished.

“Thank you,” she said, smiling.

Jenkins could tell her smile was pained, but it was a smile nonetheless.

“Don’t mention it,” he replied. “Really."

Author's Notes:

"I win or I learn, but I never lose." -Marie Forleo