Hi everyone! Excited for Chapter 11 of The Lost Soldier? No? Well I'll still write it, sheesh, you guys are so mean. :'(. Also I changed the rating to mature for the upcoming content so that should give you a hint at what's coming. (Editor (jd896): It's not sex. Don't get your hopes up.)
Before Ray could respond to Celestia, Rainbow Dash flew in front of him, putting herself between him and Celestia.
"What are you gonna do to him?" she demanded.
Everypony in the room was as shocked as Ray from this sudden outburst.
"It's ok Rainbow Dash, I'm sure it'll be fine" Ray said, trying to calm his friend. He put a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look back at him with a concerned.
"But-"
"Rainbow Dash, please. Just trust me."
Rainbow Dash obliged hesitantly, landing on the floor and folding her wings.
"What is it Princess Celestia?" Ray asked.
"Did I not specifically say that you were to hurt no pony during your stay here in Equestria?" Princess Celestia began.
"Yes," Ray responded tersely.
The ponies shifted around nervously.
"So why is there a dead unicorn in my town of Ponyville?" she continued.
"I see word travels fast around here," Ray murmured to himself. "Well you see-"
"It's not Ray's fault that unicorn grabbed me!" Rainbow Dash snapped impulsively.
"Rainbow Dash, please. I know what I'm getting myself into," Ray said and she backed away towards her group of friends.
"I'm curious Ray, why do you keep saving Rainbow Dash even if it means risking your own life?" Celestia asked, beginning to pace around.
"Like I said previously Princess, I lost a good friend that was young and I don't want that to happen to anyone, or pony."
"You're going to have to be a little more specific," Celestia said, coldly.
Ray tried to think of anything he could do to avoid telling them what happened, to avoid horrible memories that had plagued him for half of a year, but there was no getting out of this one. He had to tell them about her.
"This is Cassandra Ohearn," Ray started as he pulled out the small photograph in his pocket. "She was thirteen when she died."
At this, a slight look of guilt came across Celestia's face.
"It happened almost a year ago."
One year earlier
"Well ma'am, what are we here to do?" PFC Nelson Cosey said.
"We are here to eliminate a high ranking Al-Qaeda terrorist," Cassandra said.
The stealth variant of the MH-60 Blackhawk helicopter shot over the desert landscape as it carried a team of six young operators. PFC Nelson was the team's medic and while all of the operators were trained to treat wounds, Nelson had specialized medical supplies to deal with more serious injuries and was the team's newest member. Lieutenant Cassandra Ohearn was the team leader for the best team of operators in the world. Corporal Hugh Steppe was the machine gunner and armorer for the team, so he was tasked with making sure the operators were well equipped and that the opposition was cowering behind cover. Corporal Corey Fuston was the explosives expert and was tasked with carrying and setting more advanced explosives. Corporal Janet Elise, aside from being Ray's spotter, was the squads CQB specialist. And even though Ray was the team's sniper, he was also one of the best all-around operators on the team, so he was selected as the sixth member of the assault team. The rest of the usual squad was back at base because this mission only required six operators.
"First of all, new guy, you will probably be told all the information you will need to know either at the briefing or en route," Hugh said "Only after the at base briefing and en route briefing can you ask questions."
"Oh ok…" Nelson said, still unsure of the process.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it after a few missions," Janet said.
"If everything has been covered, I would like to start telling you all about the mission we are on," Cassandra started.
"Yes ma'am," the five other operators said in unison.
"We will be assaulting a one story building. It has three entrances, one on the north side, one on the south side, and one on the west side. This means that we are going to split into teams of two. Nelson, you're with Hugh, Janet, you are with Corey, and Ray, you're with me."
"Understood," came the reply, again in unison.
"We will be arriving in half an hour so get you gear ready."
The operators sat in their seats, checking their weapons and gear. They were all armed with M4A1 and SOPMOD kits, MK23 MOD0 silenced pistols, along with flashbangs, M67 fragmentation grenades, and breaching charges. Cassandra was the only one whose load out varied slightly, instead of a MK23, she carried a Five-Seven pistol.
Cassandra noticed Ray had a far off look. She tapped his helmet and flashed two fingers at him, signaling to switch to another radio channel.
"Ray, you ok?" she asked.
"Yes ma'am, just have a bad feeling about this mission," Ray replied ominously.
Besides being highly skilled with the sniper rifle, Ray was also known how for having premonitions about missions that were usually correct.
"Okay, just make sure you do your job and we'll make it," Cassandra tried to reassure her friend.
"Yeah, I know. How much longer?"
"3 mikes."
Ray took a deep breath and calmed himself. He needed to be in total focus for what was about to happen and pushed his concerns into the back of his conscious, checking his weapon.
"Get ready, we're here," Cassandra said over the radio.
The doors opened and the operators pushed ropes out those doors. Before they even hit the ground, two operators were already sliding down the ropes. They spread out into a loose circle as they landed and checked to ensure they had not been spotted. Cassandra motioned forward with her hand. The young group of soldiers split into three different groups and proceeded towards the target building.
Ray and Cassandra spotted a guard leaning against the wall, asleep, next to the door they were to enter. Cassandra motioned Ray forward. He crept up silently on the guard and unsheathed his knife. He then shot his hand forward over the guard's mouth and plunged the knife deep into his throat. The guard struggled for a moment, but was too surprised to put up a fight. Ray removed the knife, letting the river of blood pour from the wound as the guard's eyes rolled upwards and letting him fall sideways. Ray then cleaned the knife and relieved the guard of his keys. He gave Cassandra the all clear signal and she moved up with him. They both stood on opposite sides of the door and Cassandra tried the door. Finding it unlocked, she opened it carefully and they both crept inside.
It was fairly well lit inside so the two operators did not need to use their night vision goggles as they swept towards the center of the house. They carefully checked each door they came to so they wouldn't have to worry about any targets on their way out. The first hallway contained five doors, the first two had no one inside, but in the third, a guard was cleaning his AK-47 assault rifle. Ray quickly stormed the room and double tapped the guard with his silenced pistol, due to it being quieter than the carbine. He fell over, dead. The remaining rooms were clear, but in the last one, they found what they assumed to be an armory. However, they had no need for the supplies kept inside and continued onward.
The two were in the second of three hallways. They proceeded to check the five doors that were spread across this hallway as well. All of them were empty so they proceeded onward to the third hallway. As Cassandra was reaching to open the first door, a shiver suddenly ran down Ray's spine. Cassandra opened it slightly, but then was forcefully yanked open. Cassandra stumbled backwards, surprised and came face-to-face with an armed Al Qaeda fighter. The tango had his AK-47 leveled at Cassandra from inside the room and pressed down on the trigger.
The first three rounds smashed through Cassandra's carbine, breaking it apart. More rounds then pierced through her vest, knocking her to the floor. Ray quickly raised his carbine and ran towards the room. He entered, but as he tried to get a shot off at the terrorist, but he was thrown into an opposite wall, crashing against it and dropping his carbine. The enemy fired his last round at Ray, but it only got stuck in his vest. It was enough to stun Ray for the moment as the terrorist charged him. He latched his hands around Ray's throat and pinned the operator against the wall. Ray quickly drew his knife and rammed it into his opponent's abdomen, followed by yanking it left, then out. Ray gratefully sucked in air as the man fell over, clutching the stab wound. Ray then proceeded to stomp on the terrorist's head, knocking him unconscious. Looking up towards the doorway, Ray quickly rushed towards Cassandra, lying against another wall. Sixteen rounds had connected with her chest armor, which held, but the next eight rounds punched through the armor.
"Cassandra…"
Her vest was littered with bullet holes. Most didn't get through, but others were stained red with blood.
"Ray, you have to hurry. They know we are here now," Cassandra wheezed.
"I'm not leaving you."
"You have to Ray. That's an order. Finish the mission."
She took off her dog tags and retrieved a picture from one of her pockets.
"Take these. Please…"
He stared at them for a moment before taking them with a shaky hand, then putting it in his chest pocket.
"I'll come back," Ray said as he gave her his carbine.
"If they try to come this way I'll stall them, but you need another weapon too. Take this," she said, giving him her Five Seven.
"Ok, see you soon," Ray said as he left. He didn't want to leave her, but he also didn't want her to die unhappy.
The next few rooms were clear. Ray approached the door to the central room that the target was supposed to be in. He placed a breaching charge on the door.
"Team one is in position," Ray called over the radio.
"Rodger, teams Two and Three ready. Wait, where's Cassandra?" Janet asked.
"Team. One. In. Position" Ray growled ferociously.
"… Roger that gunny."
Ray took a shaky breath. "5…4…3…2…1… EXECUTE, EXECUTE, EXECUTE."
The three breaching charges detonated simultaneously and Ray rushed into the room with the pistol. He shot one tango in the head, immediately falling over, then turned and shot the next one in the throat. The second one clutched his throat and slumped to the floor. The other two teams cleared their sectors as Ray rushed toward the target. Ray shot out both of his knees as he tried to flee and tackled him to the ground. He drew his knife and plunged it into his targets chest and punched a hole into one of his lungs. Ray stood up and watched the struggling man slowly die.
"Damn. That was… Gruesome," Fuston commented.
"Ray, there's a group of tangos over here, trying to get through. I need some help," Cassandra coughed over the radio.
"On my way!" Ray responded back to her.
"Gunny, is that Cassandra?" Janet asked.
"Yes, I need- Just finish up in here, please!"
"Gunny, what happ-"
Janet's question came too late as Ray was already running out the door. He huffed down the hallway quickly, hoping to get to Cassandra before-
But it was too late. There was only a pool of crimson blood where he had left her.
"No…" was the only thing he was able to manage.
"C'mon Ray," he thought to himself. "Stay strong. Now's not the time for mourning. Get the others out like Cassandra would have wanted, then you can mourn all you want."
He took several calming breathes before slowly getting to his feet. Looking up, it was evident that Cassandra shot down the tangos as there were more dead bodies at the end of the hallway. She bled out and then the terrorists took her body. Ray had knew some of the things they did with dead bodies and Ray was sickened by the thought that they would use her to kill more American soldiers. He took another long sigh before walking down the same hallway a third time, returning to the central room where the team was waiting to leave.
"Oka guys, we gotta head to the LZ for pickup," Ray said to them, tears still apparent in his eyes.
"Ray are you- What happened? Where's Cassandra?" Janet asked.
"Now's not the time. We have to move. This place will be crawling with tangos soon if we don't. Besides… She would've wanted us to," Ray replied in a more quiet tone.
The four other operators all looked at each other, but obeyed and exited the building carefully moving towards the designated area for pickup. When they arrived, they signaled for extraction via radio and the stealth Blackhawk touched down to pick up the weary operators.
One year later
Ray was struggling to hold back tears as he relived the event of that one fateful night When he finished, a deathly silence hung over the library.
"Stay strong Ray," he thought to himself.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know…" Celestia said.
Ray took a few deep breaths before speaking.
"How could you have known… What I've been through…"
"You told me you had lost someone. I should have known better than to push" she replied.
"It's all my fault," Ray said in a shaky voice. "It's my fault she DIED."
"No it ain't Ray!" Applejack said.
"Yeah, how could you have known that guy was waiting?" Rainbow Dash said trying to comfort him.
"I should have been faster, I could have saved her. She could still be alive if I had done something! If I had patched her up!" Ray nearly shouted.
Ray impulsively bolted towards the door and out of the library, leaving the ponies completely stunned.
"Why does everyone say that?" Ray thought as he ran. "Why do they always say it's not your fault when it is?"
He ran in no particular direction besides away from the library. He unconsciously went for the burnt-out area of the Everfree Forest where he had rescued Rainbow Dash a few days earlier. It was perfect place to be alone so he could collect his thoughts. Ray stumbled over burned logs and charred ashes until he came to a tiny clearing in the forest where he then sat down.
"Come on Ray, get a hold of yourself," he mumbled to himself "You gotta stay strong for everyone. You can't let them down like Cassandra."
His vision blurred as he continued to try to fight the tears that were threatening to start again. He thought about what Cassandra said when he was unconscious.
"Why? It's not your fault I'm dead."
"Are you ok?" A voice suddenly said, piercing through Ray's thoughts. Ray turned to see Rainbow Dash standing in the clearing with him.
"I've been better," he replied, somewhat jokingly. "So how did you find me?"
"Find you? I never lost you!" Rainbow Dash boasted. "I am the fastest flyer in all of Equestria you know!"
Despite the circumstances, Ray couldn't help but grin at the pegasus' cockiness.
"You know there is no way that it's your fault your friend died," Rainbow Dash said, trying to comfort Ray again.
"That's what I keep hearing, but no one else was there to see it. They don't know what it was like to see your friend get shot when you couldn't do anything. I could have been quicker to react though… If I had she could be alive right now."
"But you weren't and you can't change that. She's gone, but she wouldn't want to see you like this. It was a surprise attack. Please Ray, don't be so hard on yourself. You're a good guy and want to help everypony, despite being from a "violent" species. Come back to the library. You're making your friends worried."
Ray sighed and slowly rose to his feet. "Fine, let's go back."
They began to walk out of the charred forest, but Ray spoke again.
"And Rainbow Dash?" the pegasus turned towards the operator. "Thank you…"
She smiled at him. "Anything for a friend."
Hi all, hope you enjoyed this chapter, cause there won't be any more!
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I'm just kidding, I couldn't do that to you guys! Also if anyone wants to do some cover art or has found better cover art PM me. Thanks again to jd896 for editing this story and making it generaly better. This chapter is quite a bit better than the "raw" version