The fallen soldier

Chapter IDK

I should explain. You have been stuck on Equestria for a good 7 months. When you first arrived, I tried to get a introduction in, but let's face it.... It was shitty. Anyway, there was a (unmentioned?) time skip of 4 months. Afterwards, everything up till now happened.

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It was quiet. But that was expected, after all, it's just you going on this trip. The only company you're expecting is your gang, and even then, they're supposed to arrive a few days after you do.

So now you wait, the flight to Griffonia won't be a long one. Those oversized birds are only a ocean away. And you made sure you had enough fuel for a trip there and back, including the heist. You'll be there in 4 hours.

So... What to do? All you can do is sit and wait. You brought your VR headset, so video games are a option. And you've got a decent selection to choose from. Open world zombie survival, stranded on a empty planet survival, racing, hunting, trapped in the woods survival, that really odd romance game?

So many options.

Wait....

You forgot to charge the headset.

Fuck.... Well, time for a nap. You sigh and rub your face while groaning. You shift in the seat and stare at the passing clouds. You find sleep quickly overtaking you. You dream of past events.

1/4 "A close call." (AMAHS suit is on!)
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Today you're visiting Fluttershy, you're gonna help her with a small problem. Maybe she'll replay you with.... No, Fluttershy's gentle nature is a likable trait, but she is far too fragile for your tastes. Mentally at least, as when it comes to physically you're unsure. When pushed to her limits, she gains superhuman strength, or that's what Rainbow says.

Hard to believe.

As you circle amongst your own thoughts, you step onto Fluttershy's small bridge. It passes over a tiny stream and saves you from wet socks. Not like it'd bother you anyway. You step up the path leading to her home and rap your knuckles against the wooden door. There is a short pause, and a moment of silence. You hear faint steps from the North-West, those very same steps get louder and louder until they stop at the front door.

Then the door creeks open, a eye could be seen for a faint second before it vanishes again. The door quickly opens afterwards, it's Fluttershy in her full glory this time.

A pair of tight fitting jeans and a green sweater.

"H-hey Anderson, I'm glad you could make it." She speaks and only stutters once. This is a sign that she's slowly getting used to you.

"Yeah, Twilight told me about the Manticore you saw. I came as soon as I could." You glance behind her, a small rabbit flashed through a distant doorframe.

"Did she? Well.. Yes, I'd like your help in scaring it off." Fluttershy put heavy emphasis on 'scaring.'

You roll your eyes, "Of course. Care to show me where you last saw it?"

Fluttershy steps aside and invites you in, with a gracious bow, you step inside. The vibe immediately changes, it's peaceful and welcoming, makes you feel at home. But the lack of a large TV upsets you.

"If you'll follow me to the backyard." Fluttershy asks as she turns and leads you through her house.

You follow silently, your eyes sometimes drifting to Fluttershy's lower figure. For someone who doesn't exercise often, she has a great figure. How? Maybe she does exercise.

You bluntly ask, "Do you exercise often?"

Fluttershy nonchalantly answers while opening her back door, "I run sometimes." Her response was simple, and kind of unlike her.

You hum in response, stepping out onto her backyard lawn, which is a large fenced in area. It even has animals. You gaze beyond the fenced area and examine the distant trees, you don't see any Manticores.

As you and Fluttershy walk to the end of her property, you pull your handgun from its holster. This didn't go unnoticed by Fluttershy.

"Anderson..." She warns.

You stop at her fence and stare at the Everfree.

"What time did you see the creature? Night? Day? In-between?" Your questions run on and on, but Fluttershys gaze is still on the handgun.

"We're gonna talk to it.. Not hurt it." Fluttershy stares daggers.

"it ain't for me, it's for you." You reply without skipping a beat, you rack the slide and switch it over to your metal arm. You flip the safety on and hold it out to Fluttershy, who simply stares at it.

"I am NOT taking that." She claims with a new found ferocity, all while looking into your eyes.

You raise a brow, "It's to be used ONLY if talking doesn't work, I don't lend my handgun out often, but if it ignores my pleads and attacks, I expect you to at least shoot at some tree, you don't have to shoot the Manticore." You shake the handgun, insisting she take it.

Fluttershy glares at you, refusing to take the weapon.

"Alright, alright." You holster the handgun and look out into the Everfree. "When is it going to arrive? Any ideas?"

Fluttershy slowly shrugs, a blush began to creep into her face. Her strong front had melted away, she looked as if she talked her way out of a murder.

"W-well, it came out during the afternoon. I don't know when or even if it'll comeback." Fluttershy looked down at her feet

"Hm." You hum. "Guess we'll have to wait. Got anything we can do while we wait?" You ask, looking at the clock in the bottom left of your vision.

"W-we could play some games. I-if you'd like to at least." Fluttershy offered.

You pondered the thought, then replied, "Any board games?"

"I have a... Few, not sure if you'd like them though." Said Fluttershy.

You wave your hand nonchalantly, "Gotta be better than standing here for hours on end. Let's go take a look."

Fluttershy leads you back to her house and she shows you her small collection of board games. She has some odd version of Equestrian style Monopoly, and some form of Chess and Checkers. You ended up picking Checkers.

Mainly because you didn't know how to play Chess, and didn't want to admit it.

Fluttershy set the game up on a table located outside in her backyard, a nearby tree provided protection from the beaming sun. All the while, you quickly poured Fluttershy and yourself a glass of water. Fluttershy seemed pleased with how everything was going.

Hooking your foot on her backdoor, you closed it behind you as you walked outside. Fluttershy smiled and waved you over, you happily obliged and approached the table. You sat her glass of cold water near her end of the board and placed your glass near your side. You pulled your chair out and sat down.

Your armor made this situation kind of weird, but you put up with it.

"I do hope you don't mind, but I went ahead and put Red on your side." Said Fluttershy.

You shrug, "Don't mind." You get comfortable and rest your forearms on the table. "Who's going first?"

Fluttershy looks at you.

"Right." You announce, calmly pushing one of your pieces forward.

Fluttershy pushes one of her own forward.

You quietly push another one of your pieces forward.

Fluttershy does the same.

"So how's life been Fluttershy?" You ask, breaking the silence, all while moving your game piece up.

Fluttershy shrugs, grabs one of her pieces and jumps over yours, she places your piece on her side. "It's okay... I guess." She eventually replies.

You jump one of her game pieces and place it on your side, making it even. "How's Angel?" You ask, trying to start some form of a conversation.

"He's okay." She admits. "Still gets cranky about his salad though." Fluttershy moves a game piece over.

You nod, while jumping another one of her game pieces and placing it in your side. "Angel is a whole different story compared to Whiskey... Ami-right?"

Fluttershy smiles, "He is isn't he... A wooden wolf. A Timberwolf. I still wonder how you tamed the creature."

You chuckle, "Love of alcohol, hence the name."

Fluttershy frowned, "Alcohol isn't good for him you kn-"

She was interrupted by a distant roar.

You quickly jump from your seat and stare at the Everfree Forest, a lone manticore stepped out from the foliage and revealed itself. He started approaching Fluttershy's home. You look at Fluttershy, "Got your plan for talking to this thing? If not.. I'm taking care of it."

Fluttershy nodded and stood up, she approached her fence and took up a defensive stance. From the short distance between you and her, you could see her body trembling. A short sigh escaped your mouth, before you walked and stood next to Fluttershy.

From the corner of your vision, you could see Fluttershy look up at you. She smiled and looked back at the approaching Manticore, who by now, could obviously see you and Fluttershy. It roared and broke into a trot, slowly gaining speed.

As your hand rested on your handgun, Fluttershy tensed up and raised her hand.

She defiantly yelled, "Stop!"

But all that came out was a squeak.

You blinked and looked down at Fluttershy, you coughed and pointed at the manticore. Fluttershy tried to yell and gain the creatures attention, but all she managed was another hoarse whisper.

You sighed, before grabbing her arm and lowering it to her side. You straightened your posture and cleared your throat.

"I ORDER YOU TO HALT UNDER THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT." Your voice transformed into a loud weapon that pierced the heavens.

The manticore slowed it approach and looked at you, before opting to walk towards you.

You grimaced, but then a simple but ineffective plan hatched in your head. You bent down and grabbed a rock hidden in the blades of Fluttershy's uncut grass. You stood up and brought your arm back, before launching the rock high into the air. Where it hit the manticore right on the head.

Afterwards, you shouted, "GO AWAY!"

There was a moment of silence, Fluttershy stood away now, and the manticore was giving you the stink-eye. You decided to add an extra word.

"GO AWAY ASSHOLE!" You screamed that vulgar word with so much passion, the mothers in Ponyville covered the ears of their children.

The manticore smacked its lips together, before blowing air through its nostrils and turning to walk back into the forest.

And that's... How you solve a manticore problem.

You call the damn thing a asshole and throw a rock at it.

THE END

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Part 2 of 4 (No amahs suit) ( also before you were kicked out )

"Sick."
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Twilight was sick. She caught some cold after staying out late examining the sky for any trace of alien activity. Ever since your arrival, Twilight has been nagging you about talking about your life and sharing your knowledge. And since you claimed there is more to the universe than humans, she has gone crazy about discovering alien life.

Honestly, she starting to sound like that woman who thinks pony's used to rule the world. It's getting bad.

The sound of the hissing kettle brought you back from La-la land. You jumped up from the seat and shut the stove off, the hissing slowly died down and you picked the kettle up. With careful precision, you poured the hot water into a coffee cup, before adding a teabag. The water changed colors as the tea added flavor.

You slowly picked up the cup and placed it on a silver platter, next to the bowl of chicken noodle soup. You then picked the entire tray up, and made your way upstairs to Twilights room. Using your foot to knock, before gently pushing the door open.

The first thing you heard was Twilight stifling a cough, before breaking into a fit of sneezes. You whistled and caught her attention.

"Oh! Anderson!" *Sneeze* "Thank you for making me the soup and tea, I'd normally have Spike but do it... But he isn't here." Twilight smiled and graciously took the tray from your arms, placing it on her overloaded desk.

Seriously, she has so many different projects going on at once.

Taking a look at some of the projects, you read one aloud, "Reasons behind Everfree's erratic weather. I could name the reasons, it's not exactly rocket science y'know."

Twilight rolled her eyes, "Since when did you become someone acute with how Mother Nature works?"

You shrug, "Could be the fact I've got a library's worth of knowledge stored in digital form on a little HDD somewhere in my skull. Real helpful you know, especially when I forget how some of these guns tick."

You swear you saw a small twinkle in Twilights eye, "You say what now?"

You squint and slowly start back tracking for the bedroom door, "You know how I spent my first few weeks here doing nothing but exercising and reading books?"

Twilight nods and rises from her seat, her mind ignoring the cold affecting her body. The thirst for knowledge was too great. Your back touches the wood wall and your hands start sweeping it for a door handle.

"Yeah, I do recall such a thing." Twilight replies.

"Well." You continue. "As part of my training, I've discovered that knowing even the smallest amount of information on your foes can lead to your victory. So reading was my way of getting to know this world before I set out in a attempt to find a way home."

"So how does it copy onto the HDD in your skull?" Twilight asks, stepping even closer.

"Uh, as I read the book, the contacts on my eyes scan the page and translate it into digital data. It goes into the HDD, and if I ever need to recall anything, I just search through the catalogs." Your hand touches a metal shaft.

Heh.

You twist and step forward, opening the door, you then step out of the room and into the hallway. Twilight steps toward you, her eyes thirsty for knowledge.

"Oh wow that's really nifty. I wouldn't mind taking a closer look you know. Maybe you should let me. Come on. Hey, where are you going?" Twilight holds her arm out.

As you began to close the door, you remind her of the cold she has. "I made that soup and tea so your body could fight that nasty cold. Now you're not gonna let it go cold?"

Twilight stops in her tracks, "Cold?" She questions, before sneezing. "Oh right! Your right Anderson! What was I doing again?" She turns and quickly approaches her desk, taking a seat, she starts shuffling through her papers.

You close her bedroom door and step downstairs. A quick turn later and you were back in the kitchen, with a sigh, you pull a cold can of beer out from the fridge. The kitchen chairs looked welcoming, and the rainy night was a thing to behold.

You grabbed a chair and angled it to face the kitchen window. You sat down and stared out into the stormy night sky, the surrounding world seemed to quiet down, the only audible thing being the rain smacking the treehouse and its windows. You leaned back into the chair and propped your feet on the counter.

As you sat alone in the dark, the only light coming from the moon, you focused on the everlasting appeal of Ponyville during a dark stormy night. You opened the beer and took a sip, savoring its watered taste and the calming view.

This.. Short moment brought peace to your mind for once, no more did you think of everyone you've killed, the faces of your dead friends. And for the first time in a long time, Rachel didn't cross your mind.

It was just you and the rain.... Oh and this shitty can of cheap beer.

The end

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Part 3 of 4 "Karate."
(No amahs suit) (before Twilight confession)
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You were on the Apple family property, in some kind of treehouse meant for kids. Well, it was meant for kids, there is no denying that. Anyway, the CMC talked you into teaching them how to fight.

Apparently, they believe learning some kind of foreign martial arts will give them a Cutie Mark. You assured them, that with their luck, it wouldn't. Of course they got all nit picky and started getting sad, you quickly changed your opinion. Mainly because you didn't want the wrath of Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity.

Now you face the consequences of insulting pubescent teenagers. Which mainly involves sitting in a incredibly small treehouse sipping at some tea as 3 girls set up some training area with mats they borrowed from their school teacher.

Yay.

"We're ready Andy!" Called the tender voice of Sweetie belle.

Speak of the devil.

"Yeah! I'm coming out!" You reply, letting a sigh of annoyance.

You gently push the wooden door open with a tap of the foot and step onto the patio, you stand up straight and stretch. After a good breath of fresh air, you jump off the patio and land with a quiet thud.

You quickly spot the CMC and their jury rigged fight mats. They were all sitting Indian-style, their youthful eyes stared at you, expecting a show of some sort. You scratch your head and step onto the mats.

"Uh.. So what do I show you guys?" You ask.

All three look at each other, before simultaneously shouting.

"How to Counter!"
"Ah wanna know how ah should handle a big critter!"
"How to not get hit!"

You chuckle, "Countering is easy Scootalo. And it honestly depends on the size of the critter Applebloom. And lastly, that's pretty easy Sweetie Belle, just avoid the fight all in all!" You clap your hands together. "And that concludes our lesson!"

Scootaloo booed. "Ah come on! Show us how to beat something up!"

You yawn, "No."

"But why not?" Asks Applebloom.

"Because I don't wanna be blamed for training 3 little kids to be killers!" You retort.

Sweetie belle.. Of all people, replies with, "What's wrong with that?"

As you stared into her innocent eyes, you shook your head in disappointment. Equestria needs to teach children what's wrong with certain situations. You understand shielding a child from the horrors of a battlefield, but you should at least talk to them the concept of death.

Then again, you ain't a father, so half of what you said could be pure shit.

"A lot of things Sweetie, a lot of things." You reply. "Couldn't you have brought some kind of older person? I don't wanna spar with a bunch of kids."

Applebloom raises her hand in which you nod, "Ah talked mah sister inteh comin and helpin."

"Applejack?" You immediately reply.

As Applebloom nods, you hear the distant stomp of feet. Eventually Applejack appears from behind a tree, she approaches you and the CMC. She stops a few feet away from the training mats.

"Now what in tarnation is goin on?" Applejack asks, stuffing two leather gloves into her back pocket.

Scootaloo answers first, "Anderson is showing us how to fight!"

Applejack takes a moment to process the information, "Yer what now?" She asks, twisting her head and looking at you.

You gulp, "I thought Applebloom told you?"

She shakes her head, before looking at Applebloom for an explanation. Upon receiving nothing, she turns and looks at you, her foot tapping the grass.

You frown in turn, eventually following with, "Uh, yeah. Applebloom asked you to come out here so you and me can spar."

Applejack hums and turns to the CMC, "Ah'll have you know, ah won't be fightin' anyone." Then she turns to leave, calling out, "Now Ah'll be goin back to work! Don't bother meh again!"

As she walks away, you face the three scheming girls and ask, "Why didn't you just get Big mac? I'm sure he'd help."

The three shrug and start whispering amongst each other. They come out from there little group chat and announce, "We have decided to go ask Rainbow Dash." In unison.

"She knows karate." Scootaloo adds.

You shrug and lay down on the mats, "Just make it fast." As you get situated, the 3 girls stand and run off.

You close your eyes and take a deep breath, a cool mid-day breeze swept through the land and tickled your face.

You sneezed.

"We got her! We got her!" You hear Scootaloo yelling from the distance.

You sit up and yawn, a little nap never hurts. After rolling over and planting your hands on the ground, you push and raise up, a knee comes out and supports you. You put pressure on that very knee and stood up.

Just as you did, a shadow begins to slowly cover the mats. You look up and spot a flying Rainbow Dash, her wings were spread wide and blocking the sun, relaying said giant shadow on the mats. You yawned and watched as she dove towards the ground at dangerous speeds, her wings opened at the last moment and her fall was cushioned.

She landed with a fist planted into the mats.

Rubbing your hand down your face, you scratch your back and ask, "Did you really just land like a superhero?"

Rainbow dash stands proudly, "Why yes I did... You jealous?" She teases.

You stare at her, "Dafuq you think? I've got a metal arm that can crush a man's skull in a single punch. And I ain't even gotta try." You retort, stretching all the while.

Rainbow rolled her eyes, "Yeah tough guy. We'll see about that." She challenges, before turning and waving at the returning CMC.

The 3 girls looked exhausted, running across Ponyville does that to you. The 3 stopped at the mats and collapsed on each other, they started complaining about all the running they had to do. Rainbow said something and Scootalop perked up.

You were too busy staring at some cloud that looked like a dolphin.

"Anderson!" Yelled Rainbow.

Surprised, your eyes widen for a moment, before you turned and nonchalantly asked, "Yeah?"

"We gonna give these kids a show or what!?"

"You feel up for it? I don't really like hurting the opposite gender, so please tell me you have some sort of protection for your face." You yawn again and smack your lips together.

"Don't worry." She confidently replies. "I'm a black belt."

Unimpressed, you reply with, "You realize I'm going to totally kick your ass right? Not only do I have a black belt in karate as well, I've mastered 3 other martial arts. And one of them doesn't even exist. Had some alien monk show me a altered version, I will never use the technique correctly though, I lack 8 arms." You crack your neck and take a fighting stance. "I'm going to use that exact version right now. It focuses mainly on dodging and countering."

"What's it called?" Asks Scootaloo.

"Untinothesnansrakans." You reply, before quickly adding. "It means become water."

"That's it?" Scootaloo comments, before trying to pronounce the alien version of the word, but failing.

"Couldn't understand half the crap the alien said." You announce. "Great teacher though, Now can we start the fight? My arms are getting tired."

"Oh, right. Uh, Fight!?" Scootaloo yells.

Rainbow immediately rushed forward and went for a jab, you easily moved your head and interlocked your arm with hers. You pulled and recycled the momentum to throw her onto her back.

"Boom." You announce. "I've been in way more fist fights, I've got years of experience with this stuff."

"Yeah, well I've only been taking Karate for a few years now." Rainbow chuckles as she stands back up. "Give me a break."

"At least you're a good sport." You reply.

Rainbow brushes her pants off, "Yeah, well now I'm totally going to kick your ass."

"Hmm." You hum.

Rainbow stands and stares at you, her fists raise but neither was being swung. You figured she knew how Untinothesnansrakans worked. So you discreetly switched stances and bent your knees. When Rainbows eyes switched to look at something you shot forward and locked your foot behind Rainbows.

Within the next few moments, she was laying on her back.

This was too easy.

The end

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Part 4 of 4 "Inevitable."
(Amahs suit is on) (After Twilight Confession)

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You sat on a stool, Whiskey was laying down in front of you. His glowing green eyes seemed to focus on you, it was hard to tell however, because his entire eye is green. His wooden body looked more majestic than the other Timberwolves you've seen, it's like the creator put a little more time into building him.

You've only been with the wooden wolf for a few days now. He doesn't talk.. At all, and he likes to lay down and drink alcohol. Sounds familiar.

Whiskey stirred in his slumber, a warm breath of air escaped from his open mouth. You ogled his chest, it hid a gem that kept the wolf together. But Whiskey isn't like other Timberwolves, besides his superiorly constructed body, he hides a intelligent brain inside that wooden head.

Technically he doesn't have a brain, but he's smart for a wolf who lacks one.

Getting on task, how does one take care of a wooden wolf? What does it eat? How does its immune system work? Does it shit? How does it diet work? Does he have any diseases? Can he get fleas? Or will he get termites?!?!?! Does he even have to use the bathroom!?

Alas, as a owner of a rare species of Timberwolves, you're tasked with going off gut feeling. Whiskey is gonna be a great companion, you can already see it. But as you think of the possibility's. You hear a faint fart. And It wasn't you.

Whiskey turns over in his sleep and his leg twitches and swipes at the air. You chuckle and breath in a gust of freshly cut wood. Whiskey has decent smelling farts.

That is the stupidest sentence you've ever created.

Yawning, you sit back and rip the cork off a glass bottle of whiskey. Taking a gulp, you smack your lips together and sip some more whiskey. If you didn't have that thing stuck in your gut, you would have already been killed by alcohol poisoning. You'll admit to it, you're a alcoholic. But come on, without your alcohol, you'd be seeing doubles. And probably shooting innocent people while in a delusional state, stuck with the false belief that they're trying to harm you.

PTSD is not a joke, you've seen far too many friends get their entire lives halted by it. One major event and you're scarred for life. So you don't await such a fate, you know it'll happen someday, It's inevitable. But first, you've got to make sure you've a home to return too, a Griffin king and his army awaits you.

And you've got of pain to give away.

THE END

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Awaking with jolt, you're greeted to the sight of a morning sun. And a magnificent view of Griffonia. Vast fields as far as the eye can see, smoke could a seen coming from a distant mountain. And the city itself also had several fumes of it, it's probably coming from factory's. Otherwise, they're throwing one hell a Bonfire.

You spot a mountain far away from the city, you decide that it'll make a great place to hide. You switch off autopilot and change directions, the mountain has a perfectly sized landing pad. Your thruster might hang off a little, but it'll be fine as long as nothing pushes it. It doesn't have any sort of weather protection however. But that's why you brought the nuke!

Now hovering over the mountain, you drop the nuke on the landing. There isn't a Big Bang, but instead, it opens to reveal a mixture home!

What are the odds!

Author's Notes:

Been a while? Ready for my excuse? Yeah?! I took some some time to practice drawing. Yeah. Still can't draw faces worth shit though.

Moving on, I decided I didn't really have a use for the nuke. I THOUGHT I did, but I realized it was stupid! So I made the nuke a small home. Great writing, I know.

Anyway, something I felt like doing, I drew some new art! Did you like it? Took a while to make actually.

And last but not least, is it difficult to tell the short stories apart? Please say something if it is hard to tell them apart.

P.S.

Here are the ages of every main character we've met so far. Ranging from oldest to youngest.

Scott Anderson - 29 years old.
Colgate - 27 years old.
Rarity- 26 years old.
Applejack - 25.5 years old.
Rainbow Dash - 24 years old.
Pinkie -24 years old.
Fluttershy - 24 years old.
Twilight Sparkle - 23 years old.

I've always had their ages in my head, but I always felt they were too similar. Obviously none of them have even reached their 30's yet, and I feel as if Rarity would be the oldest. Hell, she owns her own buisness. Rainbow and Fluttershy are the same because they went to High-school together. ( In my lore at least. ) Twilight is the youngest, because reasons. And Pinkie is just Pinkie. Also Applejack is a little of it all, and Big Mac is in his 30's.

P.P.S- I changed somethings on the story's main description, if you check the section that describes the story's future story arks, you'll see I've changed one and named the others. So take from it what you will, if you think it'll spoil the story. Then heed this advice mi amigos, anything can happen. Especially with me as the author.