Jaze was crouched in the trench. The Cye had been advancing all day. His shoulder was sore from firing his gun for the better part of the day and his eyes were starting to droop on him. He looked down the line to his left to see two of his friends, Shelby and Vincent, crouched as he was, standing every now and again to let of a burst from their assault rifles then dropping back down as the bullets flew through the area they had just occupied. To his right, Evelyn was staring at him, grim determination shining in her eyes. The line that they had held all day was threatening to fold, and they were the cause. They, the invincible Angel team, were going to lose this battle. Jaze and Evelyn looked to each other. Not on their watch would they lose this world to these Cye bastards. He reached down and touched Sairugi, heaved a deep breath, and nodded to Evelyn. As one, they stood and began firing their assault rifles in staggered bursts. Shelby and Vincent followed suit and soon the four of them could see gaps in the Cye ranks. They were pushing them back.
As Jaze looked behind the Cye line to see what appeared to be a sniper, a human sniper. He looked to where the sniper appeared to be looking to see Evelyn. She had moved a few feet away so that a single burst would not take both of them out. Jaze knew the sniper was aiming at her. He took off running, knowing that he would be too late.

He reached her just in time for the sniper to fire. The bullet passed through Evelyn’s heart, a mortal wound. Jaze’s vision went white and his last conscious thought was to kill that evil bastard.

Jaze felt searing pain on his right cheek. His vision came back in a rush. A Cye trooper was impaled on Sairugi, which could not remember drawing. The trooper had lost its hands which created a sharp edge that it used to cut Jaze’s cheek. He was standing were the sniper had been and was surrounded by Cye that had been hacked to pieces.

“Evelyn,” Jaze whispered, and then he turned and sprinted for the human lines.

Jaze found her lying on her back, her arms crossed across her breast in a peaceful pose. Shelby and Vincent were standing next to her crying in each other’s arms. They turned to Jaze with tear stained faces. Jaze merely stood looking at… he could not think of her as Evelyn, not his Evelyn. He knew he should be screaming at the sky, tearing at his hair, or at least crying. He just could not find it in himself to show emotion. He just felt cold and dead. That was it, Jaze was dead and this was his hell, his atonement for past sins. He slowly bent down, scooped the body from the hard earth, and then began to walk back to base…

“NOOOOOOOO!” Jaze screamed as he bolted upright in bed. He looked outside to see the sun had not yet risen.

Jaze stared at his hands, a dream like that had not visited him for two years, not since the day Evelyn had died. Why now? Jaze thought, Why is it rearing its head now that I’ve found peace?

Jaze went about his day as normal, deeply absorbed in his thoughts. While he was helping out at the farm, Applejack and Big Macintosh noticed his taciturn demeanor. They did not want to risk upsetting him, so they did not ask what was wrong. They still worried for their friend, however. After he was done with the work on the farm, he slowly walked back to his house.

“Today is the day,” Jaze thought aloud, “today I have to face that memory.”

Jaze walked in to his kitchen and grabbed an apple cider from the fridge. He sat down in the living room and stared off into space for awhile. Despite his belief that he was ready, he did not want to visit that time again. He felt that he had to come to terms with this pain if he wanted to live in peace in his new life. Jaze took a deep breath and lost himself in the past…

Jaze stood at the edge of the grave. As hard as it was he forced himself to read the inscription on the headstone.

Jaze refused to believe it. Evelyn wasn’t dead, and if she was it was his fault. He could not live with that. Face it Jaze, she’s gone, Jaze thought bitterly, you failed again and the ones you love had to pay. The depressed soldier continued to stand staring at the grave thinking such harsh thoughts about himself.

He heard three people come up behind him. When he turned to look he saw Shelby and Vincent standing beside Jaze’s oldest friend, Admiral Gaston. It was Gaston that had pulled him from the waterless, crime ridden planet that had been his home since birth and had given him a purpose. Really, Gaston had been more of a father to him than anything; the first adult to really show a young boy any respect.

The four stood in silence for several long minutes. Shelby and Vincent still had tears in their eyes from the earlier service. Gaston was staring at Jaze waiting for him to make the first move. None of the four were sure of Jaze’s mental state, Jaze wondering why he wasn’t crying, Shelby and Vincent wondering when he would break down, and Gaston just watching them all. The awkward silence was finally broken by Shelby.

“Jaze, would you like to hear Evelyn’s last words?” she asked cautiously.

“No.” was Jaze’s deadpan reply. They waited for him to say something else. The wait was quite long until Jaze finally said in the same emotionless voice, “I don’t want to hear them until this war is over or I’m dying myself.”

Gaston spoke up, “Jaze, can I talk to you alone?”

Jaze snapped a smart salute, “Yes sir.” The two walked a few feet away from Shelby and Vincent. Gaston turned and handed Jaze a small black box. Jaze opened it to reveal a major’s pin.

“Congratulations Jaze, they promoted you for your outstanding service in the battle.” He said as they stood shoulder to shoulder.

Jaze looked to the Admiral and back to the box, “I see,” he said dispassionately, “I don’t deserve this.”

“Jaze…”

“No, don’t say it wasn’t my fault. I know it was. If I had been paying attention, Evelyn wouldn’t be…” Jaze could not bring himself to say it, for that would make it true. Gaston glanced over to see silent tears flowing down Jaze’s face, the most emotion he had shown in days. Gaston looked away, but was suddenly yanked around to face the heart-broken soldier.

“Jaze, is there something you need to say.” Gaston could see the anger and hate in Jaze’s eyes.

“The sniper, he was human.” Gaston stood in shock; he was the first person Jaze had told, “Sir, I’d like to ask dispensation to search for this man.”

“For what purpose?” Gaston asked flatly.

“To find out why he is working with the Cye.” Jaze’s expression darkened, “And then to kill that bastard for what he’s done.”

Gaston sighed, switching from friend to superior officer, “Permission denied Major Armand.”

“Sir yes sir.” Jaze said stiffly as he gave another salute.

“Jaze,” making the switch from officer to friend again, “You’re needed here. You, Shelby, Vincent, you’re all heroes in the eyes of every soldier in the Coalition, and indeed, in the eyes of every human man, woman, and child. I can’t risk losing you, any of you, on a fool’s errand.” He looked into Jaze’s eyes, “I’m sorry.”

“I understand.” He drew Sairugi and held it out to the admiral, “But I’m telling you now, if I find him, I will do what I must to kill him. This sword will not be drawn again, not until the day I can sheathe it in his heart.”

Jaze shook himself from the past. He had not forgotten his promise to Gaston. Jaze had just slowly pushed it further and further into the back of his mind until it had all but passed from his thoughts. But he had never stopped looking for the mysterious sniper. He was always watching for man that had stolen so much from him. Screw this; Jaze thought suddenly, I’m going to go hunting. It was still earlier in the day but nopony had needed him for anything specific.

Jaze grabbed his bow and knife from his closet, and set out the door for the Everfree. He had not gotten far when he heard somepony calling his name. He looked around to see Dash calling from a tree. He walked over and pulled himself into the tree next to her. They sat in silence for a moment as Dash appeared together her thoughts.

“Sooooo, AJ said that you were acting kinda funny. What’s up?” She asked as she rubbed the back of her head.

Jaze stared at the ground, “I thought she’d notice.”

When he failed to continue, Dash prodded him along, “What’s wrong Jaze?”

“Nothing is wrong.”

“You realize you can trust us, right? What’s wrong?”

“This isn’t something I can talk about.”

“Why not?”

“Because,”

“Because…?”

“Just drop it please.”

Dash pulled Jaze around to face her, “Stop avoiding us, we’re your friends, you can tell us anything.” She seemed to be getting frustrated.

“Not this, okay.” Jaze snapped. Dash sat staring at him; she had never seen him angry before.

“If that’s how you feel…” She started to fly away.

Jaze grabbed her, “Wait,” when she turned to look at him he continued, “one day, I can tell you everything. But not now, it’s too painful and you wouldn’t understand.”

She gave a small smile, “If you say so.” She flew away, leaving Jaze feeling worse than he had felt in several weeks.

He jumped down from the tree and walked into the forest. He started out fairly close to the edge but he slowly moved deeper and deeper. Soon he was deeper than he had ever been before. As the forest closed in around him, Jaze wondered why he was really here. He did not need food or anything, so why was he taking this risk?

After a few hours, he found why he was here. It took the form of a large trench dug into the ground. The bottom was littered with pieces of something, a something Jaze recognized. They were pieces of his ship. He had found where he hit the ground so many weeks before. He cast a glance around to find the rest of his fighter, but it was nowhere in sight. He followed the trench for several hundred yards before he found it.

It was a mangled wreck. The only thing left mostly intact was the cockpit. Jaze stood next to the plane wondering at the miracle of his survival. On a whim he checked to see if it still had some semblance of power in its systems.

When he looked in the seat, his heart nearly stopped. “Oh my god…” he whispered as he picked up a small velvet box. Inside was a small ring, a ring Jaze had carried for two years.

“I thought I’d lost you.” His voice was barely audible as he cradled the box in his hands.

Jaze decided to finish checking the fighter over. “If the ring survived then maybe…” He reached his arm under the console and felt around until he pulled out an old photograph. The picture showed Jaze, Evelyn, Vincent and Shelby, all looking relaxed and happy surrounding the very fighter that now lay destroyed at Jaze’s feet. At the top was a small hand written note that said “We are the Angels; we bring hope to those who face the howling dark.” A small wet splatter hit the photo. Jaze looked up, expecting rain, but noticed that his cheek was wet. Jaze rubbed the unexpected tear off his face and stood up straight.

“I should go back and tell everypony I’m sorry.” Jaze spoke softly, “Maybe I can ask Princess Celestia at the Gala next week if I can disclose to my friends just who I am. I’m sick of lying to everyone that cares for me.”

It was then that Jaze heard a sound. The slightly nervous soldier checked the tree line around him, but saw nothing. It had sounded far away anyway, but caution had always saved his life.

“Maybe I imagined it?” Jaze said with confusion. The sound was repeated, “No there it is again, sounds like,” he strained his hearing and his features took on a worried cast as he finally placed the sound, “screaming.”

Jaze took off at a dead sprint in the direction that the screams were coming from. He could not hear words, only the terror in the feminine voice. He would run, and then stop to listen and make sure he was still heading in the right direction. Even moving in such a manner it did not take too long to find the source of the screams.

Jaze came up behind a large manticore viciously tearing at a small thicket, from where the screams were emanating. Jaze could not tell who, or what, was the target of the manticore at first. Soon, he saw a figure pushing herself deeper and deeper into the thicket were the monster could not get her.

Jaze made a split second decision, “This is so stupid!” He yelled as he drew his knife and gave the manticore a light slash on the hindquarters. It roared as it turned and swung one of its large lion paws at his head.

Jaze rolled to his side, avoiding the potentially fatal blow from its inches-long claws. It took another swing which Jaze ducked. Then its tail whipped over its head as the manticore tried to stab Jaze with the toxin-laced stinger. Jaze jumped away from the tail, but was intercepted in mid air by one of the things paws. The swipe threw him into a tree and landed him amongst a patch of pretty blue flowers.

Jaze stood, his back and shoulders severely bruised and a few shallow gashes on his chest, holding his knife before him like a sword. The six inch blade was woefully inadequate against the rampaging beast, but it was the only option left to him. He tried to draw the manticore away from the thicket in hopes that the trapped soul could escape, but the scorpion tailed monster would not buy it. It kept taking swipes at Jaze as he tried to get closer, and occasionally it would strike with its tail. Jaze, on the other hand, was staying back for the most part. He would strike with his knife when the beast’s paws were in reach, then nimbly dance away from the manticore’s retaliatory swipes.

It was beginning to look hopeless, Jaze was already wounded and the beast would not follow him so he could lead it on a merry chase, ending with him in a tree till the beastie moved on. Just when Jaze was going to try and get close and try to deal it a fatal wound, and probably receive one in the process, a small thunderhead formed just over the creature’s head, giving it a nasty shock. The manticore had had enough, and it took off into the forest to treat its many cuts.

Jaze collapsed with relief, breathing heavily. He began to slowly check himself for broken bones and other serious injuries. The most problematic wounds were the cuts on his chest; Jaze had no idea if its claws were venomous, and the only way to find out may have been time. As he collected his thoughts after the encounter, he remembered why he was here. The weary soldier went to check on the pony he had saved.

She was a dusky blue unicorn pony with a white mane. She too was puffing as she tried to catch her breath. Jaze waited for his heart to slow down, then waited longer still for his as-yet-unnamed companion to finish recovering.

“Thank you,” she said between breaths, “your arrival could not have had better timing.” She looked to Jaze with gratitude filled eyes, “You saved my life, why did you do that?”

Jaze smiled, “Well, I thought that you might like to keep your life and I was in the neighborhood so,” he shrugged, “it was no big deal.”

“It was to me.” she retorted.

“Hey, you saved me with that raincloud; I was on the verge of doing something stupid.” Jaze shot back.

She gave a small life as she raised an eyebrow, “More stupid than trying to take on a manticore?”

Jaze laughed as well, “Yeah, probably.”

The two were reduced to fits of relieved giggles as they came down from the high of survival. As they calmed down, Jaze realized he had not caught the pony’s name.

The pony seemed to realize this as well, “So, may I know the name of my rescuer?”

“Indeed, my name is Jaze. And you are…?”

She stood a little straighter, “I am the Great and Powerful Trixie.” Her posture slowly changed into one of defeat, “Or at least I was.”

“You were? What do you mean?”

“That was my stage name; I traveled all over Equestria performing amazing feats of magic. Eventually, I got popular and I loved the attention. But it wasn’t enough for me, and like a fool, I began to make up stories. I wanted ponies everywhere to adore me, not just enjoy watching the show.” She turned away from Jaze.

“So what happened next?” Jaze prompted.

“Like all lies, it got out of hand. I had started small, saying things like I had single hoofedly pushed back an invasion of parasprites in some made up town. But as I got more and more into the lies, they grew bigger. Not too long ago, a unicorn more powerful than I exposed me for the fraud I was. I have been shunned by everypony since. I had been chased into the forest by some younglings today. I had walked far into the forest before I realized it, and I suddenly found myself attacked by that horrid monster.”

As she concluded her tale, Jaze sat in stunned silence. “It was wrong of you to lie just to make yourself look better,”

“I know.” She sounded on the verge of tears.

He walked over and gave her a hug, “But it was also wrong of them to treat you so poorly for it. Don’t worry; you have a friend in me.”

This was the final straw, and she broke down and cried in Jaze’s arms. He let her have her release and thought of how badly she needed had needed it, to cry on the first offered shoulder. He was pained to see somepony so badly in need of a friend. Her fit of tears lasted a solid half hour. As Trixie quieted her sobs, she pulled away from Jaze’s embrace.

“I’m so sorry for that.” Trixie said as she wiped the tears from eyes.

“Don’t worry; it’s one of the duties of a friend.” Jaze offered a reassuring smile.

This managed to bring a smile to Trixie’s face, “If you say so.”

“Haven’t you ever had a friend?” She shook her head, “Well you have one now, so deal with it.”

Tears welled in her eyes again, “Th-thank you, that’s the nicest thing anypony’s said to me in a long time.”

Jaze looked to the sky, “It’s going to be dark soon, too soon to risk walking back to town. We should find a cave or something to spend the night in.”

“Here, in the forest?” Jaze could hear the fear in Trixie’s voice.

“Would you rather walk through the forest at night?” He raised an eyebrow, “With an angry manticore that may still want us for dinner?”