"WHA?!"

I shot up from my resting position on the couch. I was dripping with sweat, and I was in complete shock.

"What? But, I was back in Afghanistan, and Rainbow..."

I quickly bolted up from the sofa and sprinted in full speed towards Rainbow Dash's room. I threw the door open, and I found her, still asleep, and hugging a pilow.

She looked so...calm. After the nightmare that I-

"No, it couldn't have been a nightmare. It was too real. I felt pain, and sorrow."

After I spoke the word: sorrow, to myself, I realized something.

Rainbow Dash was involved with the nightmare because, even after two days, I cared about her. I walked over to her and gently stroked her mane. She smiled through her closed eyes, and I couldn't help but smile also. After I smiled, I quickly cringed my face as my nose stung with the terrible stench that wafted around me.

"Aw jesus, I smell awful."

I walked around the rather large house build entirely from clouds, and emerged unsuccessful. I sighed as I applied some deodorant that I had found in my duffle bag. I sniffed myself, smiled at the cover-up, and tried to look for something to eat. As I strode into the kitchen, I heard a knock on the door. Turning around, I raced towards my duffle bag and put on two random articles of clothing. I found myself wearing my combat fatigues, and walked over to the door, which the knocking began to get more rapid, yet still remain solid. I opened the door, and I found two Pegasi in golden armor and one was holding a small scroll. They did not seem alarmed by my presence, and they then handed me the scroll without a word.

"Uh, thank you?"

The just nodded, and flew off. I shrugged as I closed the door. Right there, I realized I was still wearing my boxers.

"Well, that was embarrassing."

I then turned myself to see Rainbow Dash, with her hair ever so ruffled, and looking a little tired and disturbed from her sleep. I immediately gathered she liked to sleep a ton.

"Uh, who was that?"

"Two Pegasi in golden armor. You know them?"

"Oh! Those must be royal guards! What did they say?"

"They really didn't say anything. They just handed this to me.", I said as I held the scroll up to Rainbow Dash.

She seemed to scan it, and she told it to me in a nutshell.

"Well, Princess Celestia wants me to come to Canterlot (Wow, Camalot rip-off) for a while. She says that we are going to have lunch there, and she said to 'Bring the Human'. Does that mean she knows that your here?"

"Wait, wait, wait. Who is Princess Celestia?", I asked finding the name a little hard to say from its girlishness.

"She is the current ruler of Equestria, along side her sister, Princess Luna. Twilight told me she controls the sun, and Luna controls the moon."

I considered these facts for a minute. It is impossible to control the sun. The rotation of a planet around the sun was of gravitational pull. But, then again, I have seen many scientific laws broken on this planet.

"Well, thank you for the information."

"Ben, I think if we are going to eat in Canterlot, I think we should skip breakfast. The amount of food they give you is enormous."

"Ben? I guess you're giving me my own nickname now."

Rainbow Dash blushed again.

"Aw, come on rosy cheeks, how long until we go to this 'Canterlot' place?"

Dashie asked what time it was, so I booted up my laptop, and looked at the time in the bottom right.

"It is about 9 o'clock."

"9?! Wow, I usually get up at 11 or 12."

"Well, I do want to show you something else."

Rainbow Dash perked up at this comment, and she raced over to me and I booted up the laptop and looked through the game library.

"Okay Rainbow Dash, I'm gonna play a really good game."

She looked with interest at the laptop and at me.

"So, what are you going to play on that?"

I scrolled down the list until I came to one of the best games ever invented.

"Battle Field 3."

"Battle Field? That sounds cool!"

"Okay Rainbow Dash, I need you to listen up about what I am about to tell you."

Her smile of excitement disappeared as she took a look of more seriousness.

"Okay, this game is very violent. The objective is to usually capture points on a large map in order to win. But, you have to kill people to get to it."

"Why would you play a game like that?! That's so...evil! What other things are you doing on this game?!"

I smiled.

"What?"

"Well, it is actually really fun. Here, let me summarize what I actually do in this game on a regular basis."

Rainbow Dash was in hysterics. She was practically laughing her head off from my description of playing Battle Field 3.

"Like a boss?! What does that even mean?!", she snorted in the middle of a giggle.

"Like a boss."

She calmed down a bit and looked at me with exited eyes.

"So, are you going to show me what this game is like?"

"Of course Dashie."

I booted up the game and in no time, I was staring at the server list. I scrolled down the list until I came down to a server that was hosting the map, Metro. I grinned as I selected it. Right as I came on, it appeared they were starting a new match. As I finished selecting my kit like a boss, I turned to Rainbow Dash, who seemed confused at the high-tech appearance of the game.

"Okay, this is what it will seem like in the middle of a battle field in a major war. Okay? There will be a lot of killing."

"Uh, okay."

"Also, I have my headset on. It allows me to talk to other people who are playing this game."

"Wait, you're actually playing with other people right now?"

"Yep."

"And you can talk to them?"

"Yep."

"That's awesome!"

I selected the support class and the match was just starting up. I saw Rainbow Dash scanning the surroundings of the dark Metro station. I saw the rest of the players spawn as we all charged down the station. For a little while, no fire came, until we headed up the escalators, one of the most dangerous zones in the whole map. Immediately, I was shot down.

"What happened?", rainbow dash looked at me with concerning eyes.

"I just died."

She let out a gasp as I continued.

"Remember, it is just a game Rainbow Dash, no one is actually dyeing or getting hurt. It's just for fun."

She seemed to lighten up a bit, when the view suddenly came back to my downed character.

"Wait, I thought you just went down."

I noticed another player with defibrillators out in the back of me.

"No, someone just revived me."

It seemed like Rainbow Dash was about to ask how, but I quickly thanked the medic trough my headset.

"Thanks bro."

"Your welcome. I need you to lay down suppressive fire with your M240."

"Roger that."

I smiled as I drew my machine gun and mounted it on the ground while in my prone position.

"Wait, what's suppressive fire?"

"It's this."

I began emptying round after round in the enemies' positions. Rainbow Dash jumped a bit from the loud noise of the M240. She began questioning what 'suppressive fire' really meant.

"Ben, you didn't answer my question before, and how come you're just shooting so fast without hitting anything?"

"Suppressive fire is when you lay down bullets on the enemies' presumed position so they get into cover, allow your team to move up, and gain ground towards the objectives."

Right as I killed someone in the barrage of bullets, I saw two Assaults, and an Engineer rush ahead and start assisting in the fire. After a few lobbed grenades, and another reload, the enemy was forced to fall back, and we began gaining ground.

"You see, teamwork is key to success. Have the other classes assist you around your weak points and help the others when they need it."

"Oh, I see."

I smiled at Rainbow Dash as I pushed on and took control of another objective. It was a tough fight, but eventually, my team took all of the objectives, and won shortly after. Rainbow Dash brightened up at the sign: Your Team Won!

"Wow! You won Ben!"

"I sure did Dashie."

She threw her arms and hooves around me and pulled me into a hug. I gently stroked her mane once again as she softly nuzzled her cheek against mine. I loved the feeling of it. We embraced each other for what seemed to be forever, until Rainbow broke away. She blushed again, and I found myself blushing too. Yes, mister hardened Marine as getting rosy cheeks from a rainbow maned horse with wings.

"So, uh, what do you wanna do now?", Rainbow Dash asked a little nervously.

"You wanna see some of my other drawings of Mecha?"

"Sure!"

We looked trough the whole library of Mecha concept art, and I admit, she is getting really interested in this. After a while, I began to get sweaty again, and Rainbow Dash noticed.

"Uh, you smell awful!"

"Aye, I know. You got a shower at all here?"

"Oh! Just wait a second!"

Rainbow Dash quickly zoomed out of the house and arrived back with a cloud. She pointed me to go into a room. I obliged, and I went in. I noticed that the room had nothing in it. It had high ceilings, a small drain at the bottom, but no shower head. To my amazement, Rainbow Dash tugged tugged the cloud over my head. She got to one side, and bucked it with her legs. The cloud began to get darker and thunder clapped inside the cloud. The sudden noise made me jump quite a bit. She got to another side, and bucked it again, producing the same results. She then got on top of the darkening cloud, and began hopping on it, causing it to rain. She flew down next to me and smiled.

"See? In a second.", she said triumphantly,"Also, it's gonna be a little cold. You think you can handle that?"

"Of course. I've been through really cold showers in the Marines."

"You really got to tell me what this whole 'Marine' thing is about soon. I'm starting to get impatient about you always mentioning it."

I grinned as I put myself under the shower. Rainbow Dash was right. The rain water was FREEZING. I nearly went into a state of shock as I entered. After a while, I found myself washing my body and scrubbing down my hair. Only then, I realize that I was absolutely filthy. Sand came out of my hair and in other places (some that I should not describe).  I found that the water had run out, and the cloud was returning to its state as it was before. I quickly began to dress up again as I walked into the hall way. I was now wearing a shirt that said "In case of zombie apocalypse, follow me." and it also had an image of a bloody chain saw. It just looked fucking bad-ass. I walked into the living room and Rainbow Dash noticed my shirt.

The questions shall fly.

"Wait, what is that?"

"It's my awesome shirt. You like it?"

"I don't even know what most of those words even mean. What is a 'zombie apocalypse'?"

"Well, basically, a zombie is a walking dead body that feeds on live humans. They see one, they will head towards it to eat it."

Rainbow Dash was, once again, in shock.

"Oh my gosh! That sounds dangerous! I know what a zombie is in Equestria, but what you mentioned seems real and at least 20% more dangerous!"

"Oh Dashie, it's not real. It is just something cool to think about. Just imagine, in the darkness of night, a lone human is trying to find supplies to aid him in the apocalypse. When suddenly, a ton of zombie appear out of no where. The inexperienced survivor finds himself out numbered and is too late to notice the walking dead and draw his gun. Immediately, the undead close in and devour him. His screams could not be heard in the darkness and isolation of the country side."

"Humph! I think I could take on a zombie!"

"Oh, I believe you could easily defeat a whole hoard!"

"Why do you think that?"

"Because, you're brave, cunning, fast, awesome, and to top it off, zombies have never fought a Pegasi."

Rainbow Dash smiled at the comment.

"Gee, thanks!"

"Hey, I know! Maybe we could watch a zombie movie!"

"Are they scary?"

"Some really are quite horrifying, but there are some that really have some humor in them."

"That sounds cool!"

I was about to reply as I looked at the time on my still running laptop.

"Oh shit, we gotta go soon."

Rainbow Dash flinched at my dropped S-bomb. I was quite obvious, that in this peaceful world, swearing was never heard.

"Why do you say that?!"

I sighed.

"Because, where I come from, swearing was considered cool. You used bad words to let others know that you're in charge by forcing dirty language out of your mouth. It shows that you really don't like to follow rules, and that you were your own minded being. But, in public, it is usually not accepted, as it is very rude."

Rainbow Dash kept nodding at every point I made. I then had a few questions for her.

"But what I want to know is, what is that mark on your flank?"

"Oh, that's my cutie mark! I got it when I pulled off my first Sonic Rainboom! And the funny thing is, that if I hadn't pulled off the Sonic Rainboom, my friends wouldn't have gotten their cutie marks either!"

"So it's like a mark that you get for a special achievement. That's pretty interesting. I still don't follow up with the name: cutie mark. It sounds a bit too much suited for girls. What about males, do they have the same name for their mark?"

"Wow, I never saw it that way, and uh, yeah, it is still called a cutie mark for colts."

Derp.

"Also, I noticed a poster of these Pegasi in blue jumpsuits. They seem to be in a squadron of sorts. What's that all about?"

I could see Rainbow Dash's face light up as if it were about to explode out of pure joy. I braced myself for the following explosion of description.

"Those are the Wonder Bolts! They are the awesomest Pegasi flying force in all of Equestria! They do all sorts of stunts and tricks at their shows every few months! And, you're looking at a future Wonder Bolt!"

I suddenly got what she meant by "Future Wonder Bolt".

"Wow, you're a Wonder Bolt?"

"Uh, not really, I want to join so BADLY! But, I could never make a good impression. Ugh, not after what happened at the Gala."

I could tell that she was getting a little disappointed now, so I altered the subject.

"Wonder Bolts huh? You know, that sounds a lot like the Blue Angles, an elite group of airshow pilots who fly blue and yellow striped planes at airshows. I really got to show you a video about them. They're amazing."

Rainbow Dash was about to say something as I looked at the time.

"Ya know, we REALLY got to pack up and go soon."

With that said, Rainbow Dash zoomed off and was most likely packing her things. I just shrugged as I began doing the same. Over and over, images from the nightmare kept playing in my head. Just seeing her whisper my name through the barrel of the gun, right before she died. It should have been me, after what I had gone through in my life.

I just want to forget it all.

Even though it was a little late, I got this done on Friday like I promised, and of course, more shall come!

Quote: "The more you love something, the better you must protect it."-Anonymous