Author's Notes:

Hey there fella(s), nice to see you're still reading.

Lost a LOT of views, guess you guys finally quit on me?

Can't really blame you.

The fallen soldier

Chapter 8 ( I'm losing track )

The vertibird

------

"So.. Ya gonna show me what your doohickeys can do?" Rainbow stated.

"Oh yeah! I wanna see too!" Pinkie bounced from her chair and stood next to Rainbow.

Most of them seemed interested in seeing your gear, Futtershy and Rarity? Maybe not so much, but they were willing to play along.

"So Twilight" You say as you open the door. "What do you think the townsfolk will do?"

"Depends, I can't speak for everyone but-"

Rainbow interrupted her, "it's probably gonna be like the Zecora incident."

Twilight momentarily glared at Rainbow, "anyway.. Yes it will most likely be like the 'Zecora incident' but it will probably help if you take off... Whatever it is you're wearing."

You shake your head, "I'm afraid I can't take off my AMAHS suit, it requires a specific machine or tool."

"I believe that's the first time you referred to your clothing as an AMAHS suit." Rarity stated.

"Yes, Yes it is." You nod.

"Can you at least bring your helmet down so they can see your face? That might help them trust you more." Twilight stepped in front of you and rapped her knuckles on your helmet.

Her actions were rewarded with voltage of electricity, she jumped back from the shock and held her hand.

"You shouldn't touch me like that. The suit doesn't like it when it's touched while in combat mode." You state, ignoring the fact that she was just shocked.

"Doesn't like it? Combat mode? Are you expecting danger anytime soon?" Twilight quickly switched from 'pain mode' to 'curious mode' in a blink of an eye.

"Wow, You really like asking questions don't you." You stare at her for a bit before stepping into the outside world.

After one step you stop and face Twilight, "Hey will you show me the location of my crashed vertibird? I'd like to search the crash site as soon as possible, and I'd be happy to give some details on certain things."

"Hey!" Called Rainbow, "what about the doohickey you were going to show off?"

"Don't worry." You respond before you look at Twilight expecting an answer.

"Well since it involves getting first hand knowledge.. Yeah I'll show you. But I can't think of how we'll be able to sneak you through town without causing some kinda panic." She brought her hand up to her chin and began thinking of ideas.

"Don't worry about it. Remember? I'm capable of cloaking myself, so come on, you lead and I shall follow." You raise your left wrist and a holographic screen appears, you start pressing buttons and adjust your cloaking to be as energy efficient as possible. And with a final button press, you disappear in front of the group of women.

"You know your cloaking creates a disortion effect." Twilight's points out.

"Yes I know, but people who really aren't paying attention could easily look past me, so it still has its benefits." You reply.

"Now come on, lead the way guys, I'll be right behind you."

-----

After a short walk out of the village and into the nearby forest that Twilight claimed to be named, "Everfree forest." She broke off the built path and led the group through a crudely marked path of scorch marks in the shape of arrows.

Deeming it far enough from prying eyes you deactivated your cloaking, your sudden appearance scared no one as you were lagging behind everyone.

You begun jogging to catch up with Twilight, once beside her you pester her with a question, "Twilight how long ago did you find me?"

Twilight puts on her thinking face, "somewhere around 4 days ago, it was also around mid-afternoon."

You nod and began jogging ahead of her, your helmet allows you to easily spot the crude marks in the wood, twilight calls after you but you ignore her calls for you to slow down and continue on your way.

Moments later, Rainbow appears beside you, you glance at her before returning your attention to the path ahead of you. As you jog you ask her a question, "so Rainbow.. You wouldn't happen to know how far I crashed in this forest would you?"

She shakes her head, "Nope.. Sorry, I was just living my day like any other when Twilight suddenly appeared and asked me to get Applejack, apparently 'aliens' crash landed in the forest and she couldn't drag it out from the crash herself."

"But she was able to use a telekinesis module when we were all in her giant treehouse." You ponder the thought of why she couldn't drag you out from the wreckage with it.

"Telekinesis module? You're talking about magic right? Well apparently she tried to drag you out with her telekinesis module but your body kept... Uh, How'd she say it?.. Eating the magic like some kinda starving man."

"Magic? That kinda stuff isn't real, but..." You started thinking about the paper and quill that Twilight was somehow able to levitate, Twilight wasn't wearing a engineer suit, she wasn't wearing any kind of modern soldier uniform, and she wasn't wearing a AMAHS suit.

So how was she levitating it?...

You were rather ignorant about their generation of technology.

You'll have to look into it later, your current goal it to fetch any intact supplies from the Vertibird. Not worry about.. Magic.. Though if what Rainbow says is true, then this could be a revolutionary develop in human evolution.

You suddenly hear someone shouting you name, you blink back into reality and look around your surroundings. You were surrounded by the eyes of 6 women who were staring at you, Twilight stopped saying your name when you finally acknowledged their presence.

"What happened Anderson? You didn't respond to me and kept jogging!" Rainbow asked you.

"I was thinking some stuff over, nothing you gotta worry about though. Now Twilight how far to the crash site?" You stare at her, waiting for an answer.

"Really Anderson? It's literally right behind you..." Twilight walks past you.

"Twilight, I'm sure I'd notice"- you turn around-"oh.. Uh.. There was something wrong with helmets live video-feed processor."

"I don't even know what that is, but that was one shit lie." Rainbow walked towards the crash site, her arms behind her head, as if she was stretching.

You face palm, if one of your superiors was here, you would have just gotten chewed out for not paying attention.

He'd also scold you for telling a bad lie.

You pull yourself from your thoughts and exam the crash site.

The grey metallic paint of the vertibird was smudged with dirt, the vessels name could not be fully read, seeing as half of the ship was buried beneath the ground. You approach the ship and rub your hand against the exterior.

This ship was the last (And only) hope you had at returning home, while you were busy admiring and thanking the ship for saving your life from the fall. Applejack approached you from behind, she made no effort at sneaking and crouched down beside you.

"The way yer petting this ship means that ya must have some kinda history together?" She ran her hand along the ships gritty exterior, wiping large amounts of dirt from the letter 'K' that was painted on.

"You're correct. I've gone on at least 4 separate missions with this thing, it's a shame to see it like this. All broken and covered in dirt." You sigh and stand up, your helmet lowers and you place your forehead against the cold steel.

You whisper a quiet thanks for its loyal service, this ship would never fly again, that much you knew.

Applejack stands beside you and takes her Stetson off, she lowers it to her chest and brings her head down. As if she was honoring a fallen comrade, soon after she places her hat atop her head and nods at you.

You return the nod and start walking around the ship, leaving Applejack to wiping dirt off the letters that happened to be above ground.

You find Twilight examining a large hole in the ship, you approach her and begin your conversation with a question, "is this were you found me?"

Twilight snaps outa learning mode and gives you a quick nod, "the ship was on fire last time I was here, I had to quickly extinguish the flames before things got much worse."

"Uh thanks?" You begin examine the hole yourself, memories of how your ship was pulled into a giant vortex of swirling colors flashed across your mind. You vaguely remember the sheer vacuum of the vortex ripping the ship apart, the loud screeching noise as the metal was ripped from its place, the sound of men screaming.

Suddenly when you think of the screaming of men, you remember the squad you was assigned to work with, you instantly rush inside the wreckage, intent on finding survivors, or at least body's to bury.

You knew they couldn't survive the fall from space, but something inside you kept you in denial of their death.

Too many died on your watch...

You refused to accept even more...