Sgt. Clare, Everfree forest:

“That was the last of the wounded, the next chopper will come to pick you up” the helicopter pilot yelled out then took the helicopter into the air and flew back to Canterlot.

I lit a victory cigar and looked to the battlefield, the battle had only lasted ten minutes yet it had taken the lives of so many. Hart walked up beside me, he too was smoking but he was only smoking a victory cigarette, though it wasn’t much of a victory.

Daffodil trotted up to my other side and he had a fat stogy cigar hanging out of his mouth. “Was this even worth their lives?” Daffodil asked and I shook my head, “Only freedom is truly worth someone’s life L.T.” I told him and he chuckled. “Well what kind of freedom did we save today?” he chuckled, knowing that he was going to have to write letters to the families of the ones who died today, informing the families of their deaths and he was probably looking for something to cheer them up like ‘You son died fighting for freedom’ or something like that.

“None… we only managed to kill and be killed, nothing more nothing less” I told him. My side still hurt like hell, but Hart had done a terrific job with the medical dressing and it had stopped the bleeding for now. I heard the rotors of a helicopter approach overhead and watched as our final Huey helicopter came to pick us up.

Hart and Daffodil embarked into the helicopter but I stopped for a moment and looked back to the battlefield where so many had lost their lives in such little time. “Come on sergeant, we don’t have all day” yelled the helicopter pilot. I let out a sigh and sat on the edge of the doorway and held onto a safety bar as the helicopter pilot flew us back to Canterlot.

I watched the treetops below as we passed over them and thought to myself ‘What were the last things going through those soldiers heads when they died?’. It was a question I would never know, nor would I let it trouble my thoughts.

I took the burning cigar out of my mouth and flicked it into a snowy field as we passed out of the Everfree. The cigar seemed to fall in slow motion as it fell to the snowy ground far below.

Sgt. Clare, Royal castle:

We entered the castle, the dead had already been brought to the morgue so they could be properly dressed for a funeral. The wounded had been brought to a hospital but I managed to convince the medics that I wasn’t injured that bad and that it was just a flesh wound.

Hart, Daffodil and I entered the castle and proceeded straight to the war room for debriefing. “So Hart, what are you doing this upcoming Hearts and Hooves day?” Daffodil asked and Hart simply shrugged. “Don’t know, marefriend dumped me recently so I’m single again” Hart informed us and Daffodil turned to me as we walked down the hallways of the castle.

“How bout you Sarge?” he asked, I hadn’t really thought about it until he brought it up. “Uhm, I don’t know. Maybe apply for holiday work or something” I replied casually. “Yeah, I would figure as much. There’s just no taking you away from the action is there?” Daff joked and I rolled my eyes. “Yeah well if you call standing outside a door for fourteen hours a day action then I guess there really is no taking me away from it” I laughed.

We entered the war room where Luna was looking over the field reports from the other soldiers. She looked up to us, “Ah Lieutenant, just the stallion I was looking for. Corporal you’re dismissed for the night” she told us.

Hart tapped me on the shoulder as he left. “See you at the bar” he said with a wink, most of the shadow guards got together after a mission and drank together at the local bar. “Ma’am, what are my orders?” I asked and she looked to me. “I need your report of the mission as well, after Daffodil’s” she replied and turned back to Daffodil as he told her the after action report.

“So that’s it ma’am, nine dead and six wounded. We managed to capture seven zebras though” he informed her and she nodded. “Dismissed Lieutenant, you may be on your way now” she told him and he gave her a bow then left.

Luna looked to me, “Report?” she asked and I shrugged. “It’s gonna sound the exact same as what he just said” I told her but I guess she wanted to hear it anyways. “Well I… ahh… shit… sorry ma’am” I groaned as my bullet wound seared with pain, I must’ve moved the wrong way or something. “What’s wrong?” she asked and I shook my hand, “Oh nothing, just a bad bruise is all” I told her and she raised an eyebrow.

“You’re a terrible liar. What’s wrong?” she asked again and I moved the duster coat out of the way and revealed the medical bandages which were now stained red with blood. She let out a terrified gasp and ran to my side. “Hey easy, I’m still sore” I told her but she didn’t listen and instead began to unravel the medical bandages with her magic.

“Hey! What are you AHH” I screamed in pain as the sudden movement of the bandages seared pain through my wound. “Hush now… oh my, this is awful. Why didn’t you go to the doctor?” she asked, half irritated that I didn’t go to the doctor’s office. “Uhm, cause it isn’t that bad” I replied with confusion, really it wasn’t all that bad. Well maybe a little bad but not terrible.

“This is a bullet wound! You’re bleeding” she told me. I was going to say ‘I ain’t got time to bleed’ but figured it wouldn’t be a good time. “Well I was told it was ketchup, I was actually going to dip my fries in it” I joked, but I guess it was a bad time to be joking because she shot me a cold glare. “What? It’s not like I’m dying. If I went to the hospital I would be taking up room from others who need it more, you should have seen Smithson, his friggin gut was torn open from a machinegun and he was in critical condition when we loaded him onto the chopper. I couldn’t really go to the hospital and get stitched up if there was a chance that I was getting treated before he was” I replied and she sighed.

“Please, never do this to yourself again. Please promise me that next time you have a wound like this that you’ll tell a doctor” she pleaded and grabbed me in a tight hug. The force of the hug tore opened the semi scabbed bullet hole and I began to bleed again. “Uhm… Luna, are you okay?” I asked as I hugged her back with an uneasy feeling. It wasn’t written in the laws of shadow guard code but everyone knew that the princess was off limits.

“Please… don’t do this again” she said and I could feel tears dripping from her face onto my shoulder. “Okay… but I kind of hate needles” I replied and she pulled back from the hug and gave me a curious look. “Really?” she asked and I nodded, “Yeah, I had to get a bunch of immunization needles before I went overseas… I never want to see another needle in my life” I told her with a pained chuckle.

She looked down to my bullet wound, “Well, I might be able to help you with that” she informed me and kneeled down. The tip of her horn touched my wound and it seared with pain but soon it felt icy cold and I watched in pure amazement as her magic healed my wound up, it was as if it was never there.

She stood up and looked at me. “If you ever have a wound like this, promise me that you’ll come straight to me and get yourself patched up” she told me and I nodded. “I promise that next time I’ll come straight to you” I promised and she grabbed me and hugged me tightly again. “I don’t want to lose you” she said, her voice was muffled by my shoulder, I rubbed her back uneasily and hopped that no one saw me.

She pulled back from the hug and looked to me as tears continued to trickle down her face. I wiped a tear off her face and smiled, “Well ma’am, if that’s all then I should really be going” I said and she nodded.

I turned around and was about to leave the war room when Luna called out to me. “Wait, sergeant” she called and I turned around as she trotted up beside me and held out her foreleg. “Would you please escort me to my chambers?” she asked and I nodded. There wasn’t anything else I could do, she was the boss and what she said goes. I slid my arm around hers and escorted her through the hallways, though why she needed an escort was beyond me.

We finally reached her chambers and I opened the door for her, “Thank you sergeant” she said and I nodded. “You’re welcome ma’am” I replied as I went to give a salute and she laughed heartily, “Please call me Luna, you’re off duty so you don’t need to call me ma’am or royal princess for now, sergeant” she laughed. I lowered my hand from my salute. “Oh well, in that case you could call me Clare, or Carl if you want” I offered and she nodded.

“Well Clare, are you interested in staying the night with me? Without a guard I feel rather exposed” she asked and I gulped, ‘Was that seductiveness in her voice?’ I thought to myself but quickly shook off the thought, there was no way in hell that she’d be interested in me. “It is my duty ma’am err Luna and I would be honoured to stand guard for the night” I replied.

Her face seemed to fade from happiness, “Oh… well I uhm… thank you Clare… I shall be in my bed if you need me, for anything” she said, it was like she put emphasis on ‘Anything’ I swear to god she was trying to seduce me but like hell I wasn’t going to risk losing my job because I thought that the princess was trying to seduce me. “Goodnight Luna” I said as she turned and trotted off towards her bed, her hips had sway in them and it was almost like they memorized me and I watched her flank sway back and forth as she trotted back to her bed.

Then suddenly her tail swished out of the way and I caught glimpse of her… I stammered and quickly spun around. I quietly closed the door behind me. There was no way that she really just… “The blood loss must’ve gotten to my head” I told myself as I loosened the sling on my Thompson sub machinegun and let it rest loosely in front of my chest. I sighed to myself and quickly subdued the thought, I mean really there was no reason that the royal princess of all ponies would want me.

I looked to my left and saw the balcony and figured maybe the cold air would help calm the nerves in my body so I looked both ways and figured even if someone or some-pony was stupid enough to come to try and hurt the princess I was only a few yards away and could easily cut them down with my Thompson before they even entered the room.

I walked out onto the balcony and looked out to the city of Canterlot, the night air was cool and sent sensational shivers down my entire body. It was a pleasant feeling, though not many felt my love for the cold night, I none the less loved spending the night in the cool breeze under the beautiful illumination of the moon.