08-30-2015, 10:13 PM
Onion was sinking. She didn’t know how much time it had been, felt like forever. It was like the weight on her soul was holding her down, slowly shoving her down below the waves. The water was already reaching her neck. Her mind constantly escaped the current predicament, bringing her to times in her past that she could wallow in.
-----
[spoiler]It was a year or so before. Her bags were packed, adorned with stickers advertising the boot camp she was travelling to. Her mother sat besides her on the couch in the house they shared most of their lives together in. Mother was never the talkative type. She just sat there, looking ahead. Raw did the same. She knew she had to say something to her mom. Who knows when’s the next time they’ll see each other. While she was a bit bitter that this woman essentially led her down this path, it was the only blood relations she had left anymore, and she was going to be alone in this empty house. She tried so hard to think up a single warm thing to say, but nothing could come to mind.
“I’m sorry.” Her mother said.
The words hit her worse than a wall of bricks. Being an expert flier, she knew what that felt like.
“What?” She said in response, not believing her own ears.
“I’m sorry to keep you.” Her mother continued. “I don’t want you to be late for your first day.”
Raw’s heart dropped like a bag of rocks. She felt so cheated. This is not the mood she wanted to start her new life in. Without a single word, she stormed out of the house and slammed the door behind her.
As she parted, she could hear another faint “Sorry” from behind the cloud walls. The young Pegasus figured it was her imagination.
That was the last time she saw her mother.[/spoiler]
-----
[spoiler]It must have been a good twelve months since that day. She wasn’t the one that kept track of time, the only indicator she had of how long it had been was the new Private First Class rank she had just been given just a week or so before. Many of the colleagues she started the program with were adorned with them too. She could barely remember that party.
However, the job never rests. She and her band of “heroes” were out raiding an orc encampment. According to her superiors, the place was meant to encroach on Pegasi lands.
The group did their thing, dive-bombing any orc or goblin that got in their way. The gang devised a game seeing how many green skins they could take down before the end of the battle, even going as far as the call out the number as they took them out.
“13!” “19!” “5!” Most of the vets had a laugh at that last one.
Raw never really participated in their games. In battle, she was serious and fierce; knowing the safety of her people was on the line. It gave her purpose.
Halfway through the battle, the goblins came out with their net launchers, shooting her comrades out of the sky. Thankfully, they all had knives to cut themselves loose, but it was only a matter of time before one of their own lands defenseless near an armed orc. Tactics changed and all remaining pegasi focus on taking out the goblins.
Raw saw one of the cretins standing idly on the battlefield, aiming carefully at the soaring troops. Ceasing the opportunity, she charged forward, her leg stretched out for a kick.
Connect! Her hoof collided with the goblin’s head. However, in her haste, she failed to realize that her flight path was off a little. The goblin travelled with her hoof and impacted with a nearby building, collapsing it around them.
Raw was only bruised, but trapped under some of the rubble. The goblin wasn’t so lucky. Despite his brain being exposed, he was still a bit conscious. His eyes dazed, glossing over a bit. He coughed violently, splattering blood all over his shirt. With all the air from his lungs expelled with that last cough, he just kind of sat there. He wheezed a little. From his expression, it looked like from sheer utter pain. She watched as what little life he had in his eyes faded into nothing as he took his final breath.
The sight was so familiar to her. She had seen colleagues fall the same way. Hell, many of her superiors showed videos of this happening to other pegasi. “Perspective” as they called it. However, she never knew any of their foes went out like that. She never knew she actually caused it. Usually she would just kick and run, she never knew any of them could have died from it.
It would be hours before the battle had won and the others had a chance to dig her out. That whole time, she had to spend with her new dead pal in the same enclosed space as her.
As they rode her around on a stretcher, it was the first time she was sitting still long enough to see what the battlefield looked like after the fact. Other equestrian soldiers were cleaning up the bodies. A large pile composed of all the orc children was rotting nearby. Her superiors told her that every orc was born evil, and even the children were dangerous to keep around. Even so, seeing their bodies like that gave chills down her spine, and a welling sickness in her stomach.
A week later, after fully recovering, she spent the remaining day of her sick leave to visit the battlefield. The bodies had long since been removed and most of the buildings were burnt to the ground, but some of their items remained. None of the charts she could find even mentioned an invasion of the Eastern Battalion lands. Instead, she found plans for if the Pegasi should attack. It was all defensive measures.
Her mind quickly encapsulated itself. It was trying to protect her form the truth. She convinced herself that her military just needed a new target to face. It was way she sought other options, like when she reached out to John Connor.
But her time with Lyra and the others showed her the truth. When she actually had someone that needed to be protected, when she had time apart from her generals and colleagues, the truth was more crystal clear than daylight. When there was no war to fight, a soldier that still kills is the true enemy. She was the true enemy.[/spoiler]
As the water reached her chin, quickly about to eclipse her muzzle, she couldn’t help feel like she deserved every minute of the painful death she was about to experience. She’d been killing for long time. She was a monster for a long time. It was time to pay her dues.
She closed her eyes and awaiting for her watery death.
Suddenly, there was a buzz. She felt it on her side. It must be her phone. Her mother must have responded to her e-mail. This was more important than death.
Her wing reached over and picked up the device. She lifted it up to the surface of the water so she could see. She didn’t know what to expect, but what she found floored her.
Thousands of tweets; hundreds of thousands even, all of them words of encouragement.
“Don’t give up warhorse!”
“We all believe in you!”
“You’re too awesome to die!”
“Please don’t give up!”
“You’ve been an inspiration to many, I know you can go through this!”
“Just do it!”
“My prayers are always with you Raw Onion!”
But what hit her the most was the tweet that started it all.
“Mom?”
The photo she sent was attached a tweet that requested that everyone support her daughter. They were all responding to her. They were all listening to her. Seeing her mom’s front page, one tweet stood out even more.
“@RawOnion: You can change the world. I love you. I’ve always loved you. Never forget that.”
Her eyes once again filled with tears, but this time it was out of happiness. She kicked her hoofs, fighting against the pull of the floor beneath her. Her feet pulled loose with even the smallest of kicks. She easily pulled out the other and she stood up, the water lowering to her legs. With a flap of her wings, she took to the skies, the air current blowing the excess fluid out of her fur.
Punishing herself won’t fix the problem. She needed to be strong. She needed to save her people, and the only way she could do that, is to fly.
“Thank you mom." She said with a sigh of relief. She faced forward, awaiting the adventure ahead. "Omni, I’m coming for you!”
-----
[spoiler]It was a year or so before. Her bags were packed, adorned with stickers advertising the boot camp she was travelling to. Her mother sat besides her on the couch in the house they shared most of their lives together in. Mother was never the talkative type. She just sat there, looking ahead. Raw did the same. She knew she had to say something to her mom. Who knows when’s the next time they’ll see each other. While she was a bit bitter that this woman essentially led her down this path, it was the only blood relations she had left anymore, and she was going to be alone in this empty house. She tried so hard to think up a single warm thing to say, but nothing could come to mind.
“I’m sorry.” Her mother said.
The words hit her worse than a wall of bricks. Being an expert flier, she knew what that felt like.
“What?” She said in response, not believing her own ears.
“I’m sorry to keep you.” Her mother continued. “I don’t want you to be late for your first day.”
Raw’s heart dropped like a bag of rocks. She felt so cheated. This is not the mood she wanted to start her new life in. Without a single word, she stormed out of the house and slammed the door behind her.
As she parted, she could hear another faint “Sorry” from behind the cloud walls. The young Pegasus figured it was her imagination.
That was the last time she saw her mother.[/spoiler]
-----
[spoiler]It must have been a good twelve months since that day. She wasn’t the one that kept track of time, the only indicator she had of how long it had been was the new Private First Class rank she had just been given just a week or so before. Many of the colleagues she started the program with were adorned with them too. She could barely remember that party.
However, the job never rests. She and her band of “heroes” were out raiding an orc encampment. According to her superiors, the place was meant to encroach on Pegasi lands.
The group did their thing, dive-bombing any orc or goblin that got in their way. The gang devised a game seeing how many green skins they could take down before the end of the battle, even going as far as the call out the number as they took them out.
“13!” “19!” “5!” Most of the vets had a laugh at that last one.
Raw never really participated in their games. In battle, she was serious and fierce; knowing the safety of her people was on the line. It gave her purpose.
Halfway through the battle, the goblins came out with their net launchers, shooting her comrades out of the sky. Thankfully, they all had knives to cut themselves loose, but it was only a matter of time before one of their own lands defenseless near an armed orc. Tactics changed and all remaining pegasi focus on taking out the goblins.
Raw saw one of the cretins standing idly on the battlefield, aiming carefully at the soaring troops. Ceasing the opportunity, she charged forward, her leg stretched out for a kick.
Connect! Her hoof collided with the goblin’s head. However, in her haste, she failed to realize that her flight path was off a little. The goblin travelled with her hoof and impacted with a nearby building, collapsing it around them.
Raw was only bruised, but trapped under some of the rubble. The goblin wasn’t so lucky. Despite his brain being exposed, he was still a bit conscious. His eyes dazed, glossing over a bit. He coughed violently, splattering blood all over his shirt. With all the air from his lungs expelled with that last cough, he just kind of sat there. He wheezed a little. From his expression, it looked like from sheer utter pain. She watched as what little life he had in his eyes faded into nothing as he took his final breath.
The sight was so familiar to her. She had seen colleagues fall the same way. Hell, many of her superiors showed videos of this happening to other pegasi. “Perspective” as they called it. However, she never knew any of their foes went out like that. She never knew she actually caused it. Usually she would just kick and run, she never knew any of them could have died from it.
It would be hours before the battle had won and the others had a chance to dig her out. That whole time, she had to spend with her new dead pal in the same enclosed space as her.
As they rode her around on a stretcher, it was the first time she was sitting still long enough to see what the battlefield looked like after the fact. Other equestrian soldiers were cleaning up the bodies. A large pile composed of all the orc children was rotting nearby. Her superiors told her that every orc was born evil, and even the children were dangerous to keep around. Even so, seeing their bodies like that gave chills down her spine, and a welling sickness in her stomach.
A week later, after fully recovering, she spent the remaining day of her sick leave to visit the battlefield. The bodies had long since been removed and most of the buildings were burnt to the ground, but some of their items remained. None of the charts she could find even mentioned an invasion of the Eastern Battalion lands. Instead, she found plans for if the Pegasi should attack. It was all defensive measures.
Her mind quickly encapsulated itself. It was trying to protect her form the truth. She convinced herself that her military just needed a new target to face. It was way she sought other options, like when she reached out to John Connor.
But her time with Lyra and the others showed her the truth. When she actually had someone that needed to be protected, when she had time apart from her generals and colleagues, the truth was more crystal clear than daylight. When there was no war to fight, a soldier that still kills is the true enemy. She was the true enemy.[/spoiler]
As the water reached her chin, quickly about to eclipse her muzzle, she couldn’t help feel like she deserved every minute of the painful death she was about to experience. She’d been killing for long time. She was a monster for a long time. It was time to pay her dues.
She closed her eyes and awaiting for her watery death.
Suddenly, there was a buzz. She felt it on her side. It must be her phone. Her mother must have responded to her e-mail. This was more important than death.
Her wing reached over and picked up the device. She lifted it up to the surface of the water so she could see. She didn’t know what to expect, but what she found floored her.
Thousands of tweets; hundreds of thousands even, all of them words of encouragement.
“Don’t give up warhorse!”
“We all believe in you!”
“You’re too awesome to die!”
“Please don’t give up!”
“You’ve been an inspiration to many, I know you can go through this!”
“Just do it!”
“My prayers are always with you Raw Onion!”
But what hit her the most was the tweet that started it all.
“Mom?”
The photo she sent was attached a tweet that requested that everyone support her daughter. They were all responding to her. They were all listening to her. Seeing her mom’s front page, one tweet stood out even more.
“@RawOnion: You can change the world. I love you. I’ve always loved you. Never forget that.”
Her eyes once again filled with tears, but this time it was out of happiness. She kicked her hoofs, fighting against the pull of the floor beneath her. Her feet pulled loose with even the smallest of kicks. She easily pulled out the other and she stood up, the water lowering to her legs. With a flap of her wings, she took to the skies, the air current blowing the excess fluid out of her fur.
Punishing herself won’t fix the problem. She needed to be strong. She needed to save her people, and the only way she could do that, is to fly.
“Thank you mom." She said with a sigh of relief. She faced forward, awaiting the adventure ahead. "Omni, I’m coming for you!”
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