The fallen soldier

Chapter 35

This chapter switches POVS, also I've re-written this chapter several times. This style is the one I wrote with, I hope you don't mind.

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A man sat alone in a cafeteria meant to hold dozens more. He was sitting at a table, drinking water and browsing the contents of a laptop placed before him. He was tired, kinda annoyed, kinda angry, and slightly happy. Tired because the ship took a long time to get running, annoyed because he didn't know what to do, angry because he didn't have a working shower, and happy because he felt at home.

The man sighed and closed the laptop, he rested his back on the seat and looked at the metal ceiling. The glass shielding the LEDs in the cafeterias ceiling was shattered and or missing entirely. He wondered if he should start repairing parts of the ship, then he wondered if it was worth it. Why fix something if you're not gonna stick around to use it? Maybe he'll start living here, that'll give him a reason to fix the place up.

The man turned on his side and stared at the pile of armor laying on a adjacent table. Each piece was strewn about, the man obviously didn't care about his million dollar suit. He had a thought, the thought was nothing special, just something he'd like to do so he can look back one day and laugh. The man stretched and reopened the laptop, he clicked the camera app and started tampering with the video setting. Once satisfied, he pressed the record button.

The camera clicked on, revealing the face of the man.

"Hello." He began, taking a deep breath before continuing. "This is Staff Sergeant Scott Anderson-" there was a pause "-and I'm making a video journal to keep track of everything that's gonna happen in the future."

The video feed showed the man scratching his head.

"I don't do these often, and I usually typed my reports, but there's a first time for everything. So, uh, I guess this is where I talk about everything that's happened so far today. I... Where to start?"

The man looked away momentarily and scratched his chin.

"I accidentally scared a friend, who threw a priceless book in the air, it proceeded to land in a water-filled sink, therefore ruining it. I was then kicked out, and told to get a new copy of it. I traveled to the local bookstore and asked about the book, I found out that said book was one of few, and that it was priceless. I was told where I can get another copy on the terms I give a letter to the bookstore owners daughter, I agreed and learned of the books location. I gathered needed materials for a heist and illegally boarded a train. I delivered the letter and waited until I arrived. Upon arrival I robbed several stores while revealing a perverted man and his hidden watcher room. I discovered the address of a prince named Blueblood, and set up camp a couple buildings from his residence. I examined his home from a distance and learnt of a pretty dangerous flaw, his windows had metal bars that formed a ladder. I used this flaw to my advanced and broke in, I searched each room and eventually found the replacement book in the basement. It was guarded by 2 mages but they proved to be no threat, I stole the book and escaped. I missed my train ride back and ended up staying the night, thought I didn't do any sleeping, I robbed half the fucking city and made away like a bandit. I rode the train back the next day, got some lip action, and returned with the book. Then Twilight apparently fixed her copy of the fucking book, I kinda got angry, then I asked her out on a date. She declined and asked that I leave the residence, I didn't argue, it was never my home in the first place."

The man took a deep breath, "I guess this is day one of... I don't even know."

The man eyes glanced downwards, "It's 8:48Pm and I'm currently sleeping in the cafeteria of the crashed ship Locus. The reason? This is the only room that has working air conditioning, every other room makes me feel like I'm being roasted alive."

The man rubbed his nose.

"I'm not sure of my future plans, so I guess I'll set a alarm for 8:00Am... And I'll start getting rid of the scratches on my four-wheeler. It'll occupy me for a couple hours at most, then I'll check the nuclear engine for any problems. I still don't see how the engine is so well preserved, I don't like it, so I'll be keeping a close eye on its activities. And then I'll make another update on this video journal, I'll probably update around 9:00Pm. So... This is Scott Anderson signing off."

The man clicked the END RECORDING button, he watched the clip over and weakly smiled. He started to laugh, before he closed the laptop. He stood up and walked over to a table he turned into a pathetic looking bed. He stepped onto it and situated himself, the metal table was making him feel nostalgic. He turned on his side and closed his eyes, he hummed a lullaby and fell asleep.

THE NEXT DAY

The man sat down at the table and opened the laptop, he clicked the camera app and started recording.

"This is Staff Sergeant Scott Anderson, it's currently 9:34Pm, and my right arm is sore from all the body work I've done. I did some sanding and buffering, then got annoyed of it all. I spent a couple more hours closely examining the ships nuclear engine, I still don't trust the damn thing, and I really don't want it to randomly explode so I'll keep watching it. Uh... That's really all that's happened today, I 3d printed a loaf of bread and some synthesized butter and made a sandwich. I'm gonna put off the four-wheeler for now, tomorrow I'll tinker with my guns and maybe explore more of the ship. This is Scott Anderson signing off."

THE NEXT DAY
The man stumbled into the cafeteria, he had a white bandage wrapped over his military fatigues. He sat down and hissed in pain as he stretched his leg out, he gently rubbed his leg while flipping the laptop open. He clicked the camera app and started recording.

"This is day 3 of my vacation. It's 7:31Pm, and I'm doing well enough. While I was... Modifying my handgun in the firing range, I had a accidental discharge -- Into my left thigh -- but I'm okay! Just some bleeding and... Yeah, bleeding, lots of bleeding. I managed to stop the bleeding and clean myself up. I'm not gonna be able to do much for a while, but I'll monitor my health and I'll clean the wound again tomorrow, I can't afford to get sick. Also, I finished the four-wheeler, it's scratch free now, so that's good."

The man drank from a flask.

"These pants are ruined, It's got a hole in the shape of a .45 and I don't know how to sew. So now I've got to see if Rarity will patch it, I'll go ask in a few days. And I've also managed to sketch a rough schedule of my future plans. I'm gonna chill a few days and let my advanced healing take over, I should be good in 4 days, and I'm gonna take some time and look at the damaged VTOL. I don't know how the fucker works, but I'm sure I can wing it.. see what I did there? It's missing a wing and my joke was about the- Nah whatever. Im sure there's a manual somewhere!"

The man looked at his leg, "This is Scott Anderson signing off." He clicked the END RECORDING button and closed the laptop.

He didn't bother getting back in bed, he sat back and closed his eyes. He fell asleep to the sounds of a quiet humming.

5 DAYS LATER

The camera clicked on, revealing a man with a rugged beard.

"Today is day number 8 of my lovely vacation!" He cheerfully announced.

The man was now in the vehicle bay, the laptop was sitting on a wrecked Humvee. The man no longer had a bandage wrapped around his thigh. The vehicle bay was also void of nearly every motor vehicle that once occupied the room. The man took a few steps back and threw his arms in the air.

"Like what I've done with the place?! I've opened the place up a bit!" He hollered while twirling in circles.

The man pulled a office chair from off camera and sat in it, he used his foot to push himself off a wall and across the video feed. He suddenly appeared on camera, "Boo! Hahahaha!"

The man broke into a drunken fit of laughter, he wiped his nose and looked into the camera.

"Anyway, it's 4:34Pm and yadayada. I know I haven't made a video journal in a while... But! I've been busy! Yeah! I really have! Future me is gonna look at his video and probably think something along the lines of I gotta stop drinking!" The man rolled his eyes and got really close to microphone, "But let meh tell ya something... I work so much better when I'm fucking wasted."

He sat back and started giggling.

"Anyway, After walking around the ship, I discovered more AMAHS suits! Isn't that amazing!? I sure as hell think it is! Though there's only one empty suit, the rest are gone. And this one suit is a juggernaut suit! It's got 3 times as much armor than my current suit and its energy shields are 4 times larger thanks to the big motherfucking battery on the back! I can't put it on though, it's too heavy and the machinery used to put it on is broken. I didn't really wanna fix it, so I kinda just left the AMAHS suit in there."

He pulled a whisky bottle from off screen, he brought his right hand up and whistled. A Timberwolf appeared from behind a wrecked Humvee in the background. It ran up to the mans side and started wagging its wooden tail. The man pulled the cork out, causing the wooden wolf to open its mouth, soon after a waterfall of whiskey filled its mouth. The wolf closed its mouth and swallowed the contents.

The man looked back into the camera, "Surprised? I sure as hell was! I was ripping metal from the Humvees and this one wolf suddenly jumps into the vehicle bay! I had the blast door open to help air circulate, seeing as there's no working air conditioning and I was using a plasma sword. The little fucker scared the shit outa me! I ended up knocking my whisky bottle over, the wolf sniffed it and started lapping at it! I found it really weird, seeing as it's wooden and this worlds whiskey is pretty volatile."

The man turned and bent over, he started scratching the wolfs ears. The wolf suddenly jumped on the man, who proceeded to joyfully laugh and hug the wolf. The two playfully fought on camera, before the wolf calmed down and laid its head down on the mans lap. The man smiled and looked back at the camera.

"I've known the wolf for 3 days now, I haven't thought of a name yet for him." The man used his thumb to point at the VTOL behind him. "I've finished 3d printing a new wing for the VTOL, it took a days worth of metal ripping, and 2 days worth of printing. The only thing stopping me from getting the thing in the air is my lack of a working crane. I've got every tool to do the job, but I can't hold a 350 pound wing while messing with power tools. Ive been trying to setup a makeshift pulley, but I can't get my hands on the materials to 3d print a strong enough rope. I've been considering a rope of vine, but I've never worked with it before. I actually have rope, but not enough, I need 20 feet worth of rope and I've only got 8 feet. There's some handheld grappling hooks meant for AMAHS use, but it needs a power source. I've got nothing, but on another note, I haven't been as lonely since this Timberwolf showed up. And admittedly there's nothing keeping me from going back to Ponyville, but I've started this project, and I wanna fucking finish it."

The man looked down at the Timberwolf on his lap.

"Anderson out."

THE NEXT DAY, 9th DAY, 12:34Pm.

The camera clicked on, the man had a large genuine smile on his face.

"It's done!" He shouts, before stepping back and jumping in the air. "It's fucking done! I can get airborne!" The mans face with beaming in pride.

He stopped jumping and quickly picked the laptop up. He rushed to the VTOL and used the camera to zoom in on the fixed wing. He jerked the laptop left and right, causing motion blur to distort the message that was obviously carved in with a knife.

It read, "ANDERSON WAS HERE."

There were tally marks next to this message, the top 4 meant the amount of days it took to fix the wing, while the bottom 6 meant that amount of whiskey bottles consumed by the man and his wolf.

The man ran around the VTOL and started shouting at the obviously sleeping Timberwolf. The wolf whined and turned on its side.

"Come on boy! Get up! We'll be able to fly pretty soon!" The man kept on moving the laptop camera forwards and backwards from the resting wolf.

When the wolf didn't move, the man sighed and lazily added, "I'll be bringing whiskey."

The wolfs ear twitched and the wolf shot up, it looked at the man with a expression that yelled, Well, why didn't you say so!?

The man chuckled and stood up.

"Wanna see what she can do?" The man looked at the wolf with a suggestive waggle of the eyebrows.

The wolf growled, a sign of agreement between the two.

"Alright! Alright! Let's get this show on the road!" The man closed the laptop and clapped his hands.

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PRESENT TIME. ALSO, POV CHANGE.

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You grazed your hand against the top of the wooden wolfs head. The wolf leaned into your touch, you grinned evilly and removed your hand. You replaced the feeling by placing a helmet meant for a human on the wolfs head, the wolf shook his head and gazed at you through the eye protection.

"Protection." You simply state, "Now come on, jump on the wing and I'll get this thing open."

The wolf nods and leaps onto the previously broken wing.

You grin and climb on yourself, the VTOL slightly tilts, you pull a little switch. Causing the glass canopy to pop open, the wolf jumps in the back seat while you hop in the pilot seat. You press a button that closes the glass canopy.

You turn in your seat and strap a oxygen mask to the wolf, you strap him in and tell him to try to not pass out. Then you remember the wolf lives through magic and magic only, so he'll probably be fine. But you don't run off magic alone, so you situate yourself and strap your very own oxygen mask on.

You start flipping switches, the engine cuts on.

"I haven't really flown one of these in a while, bu-"

The wolf whimpers.

"BUT." You continue, "I would never forget the controls. Now! You ready to fly boy!?"

The wolf growls.

"Okay!" You whoop.

You flip a few more switches and pull a lever down. The VTOL jerks and starts to slowly lift off the ground. You flip a switch that bring the landing gear in. You look back at the wolf and quickly pull your oxygen mask down, revealing your shit-eating grin. You release the mask, it recovers your mouth and nose as you flip the visor down on your helmet. You raise 3 fingers and slowly start counting down.

"3!"

"2!"

"1!" You push a lever forward, "Blast off bitches!"

The VTOL suddenly stalls before switching from Hover mode to Thrust mode. The VTOL jumps forward with a amount of speed that only raises as it flys on.

POV SWITCH

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From a distance, all one would see is a strange black object appear from the trees of the Everfree Forest. The VTOL slowly gained altitude as the man pulled the lever towards himself.. He didn't wanna risk compromising the wing in any way that would cause damage. He took it slow, he took the safe route.

Not to say the view was any different, one look out the window and he saw, with his own two eyes, how beautiful Equestria truly is. When one looks back at all the worlds humans have touched, this one has to be by far the most... Non-tainted one he's ever seen.

And he has seen a lot of different planets in his time.

The man couldn't look back, but that's why they got helmets.

"You enjoying this boy?!"

There was a growling sound in his left ear.

"Great!, what do you think about the view?"

The wolf growled again.

The man sighed, "Right, forgot you couldn't talk. How about we land this sucker in Ponyville? I've got some people I'd like to meet you."

The wolf whimpered.

"Oh come on you big baby! As long as you're with me, ain't nothing gonna harm you, if anything, I'll make sure YOU harm them!"

The wolf growled and stopped, then growled and stopped.

The man raised a brow, "Was that supposed to be a laugh?"

The wolf growled.

"Hmm. Okay then, I'll land this bird outside Ponyville and you can sit inside here all you want. I'm getting sick of baked bean and flavorless pizza, I'll pick up some food and more whisky, you eat anything?"

The wolf growled.

"Right! Again, forgot you can't talk. You can laugh at a joke, but you can't tell me what you like to eat? That's fucked up."

The wolf growled.

The man sighed and began to turn the VTOL in the air, the VTOL started to dip downwards and lose altitude. He stopped once he broke through the clouds, and begin to apply the air brakes. He flew over Ponyville at a rough 231Mph, he pulled a lever and cut Thrust mode off and switched to Hover mode. His speed drops quickly, before bringing the VTOL in for a landing on the plains just outside Ponyville.

He brought the landing gear out and gently lowered the VTOL on the grass. It hit land with a muffled thud, before the man shut the engines off entirely. He pulled the headset off and removed his oxygen mask, he twisted himself in order to do the same to the wolf.

He open the glass canopy and jumped out, the wolf follows after.

The man turned and crouched to face the wolf, "Alright boy, this is our final stop together. You're a wild one and can't be tamed, you should return to your family and go do wolf things or something."

The wolf whimpers.

"I know I made it sound like I was keeping you around, but i'm not planning on staying in those woods forever you know? And when I return here, I won't be able to take you with me cuz you're so afraid of what'll happen. I figured I'd might as well end it here before I get too attached to you."

The wolf approached him and nuzzled into his neck.

He smiled, "I wouldn't mind keeping you around though if you'd prove to me you ain't scared." He grabbed the wolf by its face and stared into its eyes.

The wolf growls and snarls.

He raised a brow, "The snarling is new! I'll take that as enthusiasm for this quest into town."

The man stood and turned, he motioned towards town with his head and whistled. The wolf growled and rushed to his side.

As the two walked towards town, the man looked down at the wolf, "If I'm gonna show you off, you'll need a name."

The man looked away and rubbed his chin, he snapped his finger and quickly looked at the wolf.

"What about whiskey? It's suits your love for the killer drink."

The wolf growled.

The man nodded in agreement.

The only friend(s) he needs are his newly fixed VTOL and his newly trusted canine buddy.

Author's Notes:

Hey guys! Thanks for the comments, you get a chapter quicker than usual, because you done made my heart grow! (This chapter was finished two days ago, I just never took the time to polish it.)

Also, here's your chance to HAVE a reason to comment!

I'm gonna let YOU guys name the Timberwolf! Just comment a name and I'll choose the best one!

Also, here is a picture of what the VTOL essentially looks like. This Isn't EXACTLY what it looks like! But just change a few things here and there, and we're all good.

I hope the VTOL made sense, I'm obviously not a pilot and I've never flew in the air. I prefer staying grounded.

See you all next chapter, stay golden ppl.

Oh, the picture above does not belong to me, I WISH I could draw like that though!