《A Soldier's Harmony》Chapter 4: The Hunt
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Sergeant Foresters eyes snapped open, slowly analyzing the cave ceiling. The cave was well lit, likely by LED's. He did a quick equipment check. His body armor was still on, but his helmet was out of sight. His P23 Equalizer was holstered by his side and his combat knife was still strapped across his chest. If he still had all his equipment on, then where was he?
Then he heard a scream.
The noise was feminine in nature and oddly familiar. He quickly scrambled out of his sleeping bag, taking in his surroundings in a split second. He saw his helmet lying on the ground and snatched it up, buckling it in place. He noticed his SCAR-H leaning against a crate and grabbed it, bringing the weapon to his shoulders. Then the memories came rushing back.
He nearly tripped when he realized where he was and who the scream belonged to. Rage built inside him as the true weight of his situation fell upon him. He was stuck in this world, and the only way out was to cooperate. He used his rage to exit the cave in three mighty bounds, his gun trained and ready for anything. He knew Twilight was in danger, he just didn't know what he was up against.
He burst through the camouflaged entrance to the cage and was greeted by the sight of the cliffs and the river. There was no Twilight in sight.
There weren't many places she could have gone... unless she was taken. Dean attached the rifle to his back and reached into a pouch on his side. After digging around for a second, he pulled out a small green eyepiece. It was a thermal HUD designed to attach to his helmet and armor, it also could be used as a weapon reticle should he not be looking into his scope. He quickly clipped it on to the right side of his helmet and peered around, looking for any clues. He looked down and noticed something very odd: Footsteps were barely imprinted on the ground, nearly invisible to the naked eye, and they led towards a steep incline on the cliff beside the cave. He reckoned that whoever had taken Twilight had gotten the jump on her while outside; why she was outside in the first place, he would never know.
'Fuck you Discord. It's your fault I have to save her,' he took off towards the cliff and upon reaching it, scaled the wall at an inhuman pace. Twenty seconds later, he was at the top. The footprints were more prominent now, almost like they had somehow lessened their own weight before kidnapping Twilight.
Dean followed the general direction of the footprints with his eyes. He counted roughly three sets, probably a scouting party. He looked around to get a bearing of his landscape. A large mountain sat off to the right. Behind him, a menacing looking forest loomed across the gorge. To his left, tree's started to appear and long grass led into a hilly landscape. The footprints lead there. Dean shouldered his rifle and stalked forward. Running to fast would tire him out but going to slow would allow his enemies to escape. He settled into a light jog. His power armor and exo-suit had a core in them that, when certain features are limited, could last a good five or so years in emergencies. However, there was a self destruct feature that only the corps knew about. It was connected to a neural interface in the small of the back and could only be activated with his fingerprint.
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As the sun made its way down from high noon, Sergeant Dean let his mind wander. It was obvious that he was stuck with the task of saving the princess and freeing the people here. Kinda cliche in his opinion. Once he got Twilight back, they would have to devise a strategy to take out the elves. Dean wasn't stupid, he knew there was no way to take them on in open combat; he was just one guy! However, cut off the head of the snake, and the rest will fall into line. Dean smiled to himself. If there was anything he was good at, it was quickness and efficiency. His armor provided protection, though he didn't know how it would fare against whatever weapons the elves used. At the moment, he had no idea what he was walking into. Retrieving Twilight would probably provide insight. He was the best of the best, a Ranger Special Operative. Nothing would be able to stop him.
*****
The sun was reaching the horizon when he finally found her. Dean sat atop a hill in the long grass, gun trained on the figures a few hundred meters away. There was close to thirty of them and they all seemed to be in a state of celebration, cooking what looked to be a large stew over a roaring fire. Tents were set up in a haphazard formation and with lack of discipline, perfect.
He glanced down at his watch before returning his attention to the scope. It was roughly seven o'clock at night and not yet dark enough to proceed. It was times like this were he wished he had a ghillie suit. He felt slightly exposed sitting in the tall grass, even if he knew he was hidden pretty well. Only the barrel poked its way out and towards the camp, completely noticeable unless someone were to trip on it.
Dean was about to hunker down and wait out the next few hours in silence when a figure entered the center of the camp. He was dressed very differently from the other figures throughout the camp, sporting a flowing red robe and black high-knee boots. What looked like a great-sword was strapped to his back. He had blonde hair tied back into a ponytail and pointed ears. Dean immediately defined him as the leader and rationalized that Twilight would be in this elves tent.
For four hours, Dean tracked the leader with his scope, wishing he could take the killing shot. Usually one would be horrified at killing another sapient being, but Dean was different. Sure, the elf in the camp was human like, but he was an enemy and a leader. Dean didn't have a problem killing inhuman creatures, he had been doing it for the last five years. These elves may have looked like them, but after what Discord had shown him and he had accepted his predicament, he realized they were closer to monsters. Conquer a nation? Sure. Enslave the populace, abuse them, and treat them as animals? Nope. Where Sergeant Dean came from, that would have had the country face annihilation.
Sure, the people he was saving were horses, but at least they were capable of human thinking.These elves, were the lowest of the low, and he would put them in their place.
***** **Warning - Explicit content ahead. Press CTRL F and type END to skip**
Twilights muffled yelp of pain was barely heard, the rope bondage stuck in her muzzle stopping any effort on her part. The prince, Trignar, had been slapping, punching, kicking, and molesting her for the last few hours. It had started slow with the odd slap here or there, then it got to a solid punch to the stomach, then he started doing things with those hands.
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Before her country was conquered, creatures with hands, trimmed and dulled claws, and paws, were used in the pleasure department quite heavily. They could get places and make ponies feel good in more ways than ever before. A hoof could only go so far after all. But then the elves invaded. They raped and pillaged their way across the country. Twilight had heard horror stories over the last two years about what the elves did to their slaves. The could magically enhance certain... aspects... of themselves and they were by no means gentle.
Twilight was experiencing this first hand.
Trignar may have only been getting started, but already she was in so much pain that she felt unconsciousness approaching. Blood seeped from one of her teats on her chest and more of it leaked from the edges of her mouth. Her breaths came in raspy and dry and her hind leg twitched slightly.
"I said I wasn't done with you, slut!" She felt his magic wash over her, bringing her back to the land of the living, only to receive a fist to her side, causing her to whine in pain. Tears fell from her eyes as she sobbed into the carpeted floor. Silently, she prayed for a way out. She knew that Sergeant Forester would never come help her, he owed her nothing. She cried as her captor continued to yell at her. Attempting her magic once again, she felt a slight zap as the inhibitor ring shocked her horn. She received another blow to the side for that one.
"If you weren't so important to fathers plans, I would have killed you. I will gain respect and a title from this anyway, but just imagine what they would say if killed the last Alicorn! I would be a hero!" He started to undo his blouse, slipping it down to his ankles as he exposed his stallion hood. Twilight groaned in pain and fear as she tried to avert her eyes, whimpering all the while. She felt all her legs lose feeling as she fell to the floor on her stomach. She noticed Trignar grinning ferally as he stalked behind her and knelt down. She shuddered and whimpered once more as his hands slid down her back and under her tail. She tried to flick him in the face with it, but he simply grabbed the stringy hair and moved it to the side. She tried to squirm away, but her legs wouldn't budge. She began to sob, knowing what was to happen to her. She would become a slave and broodmare. If the elves didn't kill her once they took her magic, they would ship her off to some remote island where she would be raped and assaulted till the day she died.
If only she hadn't left the cave.
It was all because she had needed to do natures call. They had gotten the jump on her when she squatted near a bush, sliding the inhibitor ring on before she could blink. They had hit some sort of pressure point on her, causing her to black out, but she had been able to let off a scream for help. She had hoped it would wake the Sergeant, but as they reached the top of the cliff, she realized it had not worked. She was alone and helpless.
**END**
"Your Highness!"
The voice cut through the tent like a knife, halting the princes advance on her. She breathed a silent sigh of relief as he stood from his position and slipped on a robe, leaving her on the ground in a puddle of her own tears.
"You better have a good reason for interrupting my alone time, Corporal. I was busy with our guest," Trignar snarled at the interrupting elf. Twilight couldn't see the front entrance, but she could hear quite well with her ears.
"Your Highness, three sentries were murdered near the south side of the camp and two carts where set ablaze. I fear we have a traitor in the ranks!"
"Give me a moment, round up everyone in the camp, I want a head count and an interrogation by each soldier!" Trignar stalked past Twilight, giving a mighty kick to her rear leg. The appendage in question made a horrid crack before laying limp. Twilight somehow found the energy to shriek in pain, causing the prince to smile.
"I'll be back for you yet, my little slut." With his attire secured and his sword attached, Trignar stalked out of the tent with purpose, leaving Twilight alone on the floor, eyes squeezed shut from the pain.
She lay there, unmoving. There was no hope of her being rescued. The elves had been sure to leave false trails and to create a random travel pattern on their way back to their destination. She actually remembered this particular spot from a camping trip with her friends. A sob escaped her lips as she thought of them. All captured and likely killed by the elves. Maybe she would see them when they reached Canterlot, before they stole her magic and killed her.
She heard something then. Almost like a flap being lifted and a scrape of metal on wood. Was Trignar back already? No, it had only been five minutes. But then again, he very well could have found and killed whatever traitor he had in the ranks in that time, but that was unlikely. Her ears twitched when she heard a soft footstep approach her from behind. It was definitely Trignar then, he was finally going to have his way with her.
She braced for the pain, but nothing came. Instead, she felt padded hands slowly turn her over, letting her see the figure above her. She had to squint in order to make out who it was at first, but then she saw the metal armor and the dark grey metal stick over his shoulder. Her pupils dilated as her lips trembled.
"Don't worry Princess, I'll get you outta' here." He brought out what seemed to be a metal canister and brought it to her bleeding nipple. She heard a hiss and the wound began to sting, causing her jaw to clench, but then she felt a soothing sensation, causing her to look down.
A gel like substance had solidified over her bleeding teat, stopping the flow and causing the wound to go numb. She could only stare in shock at the efficiency of the device as the Sergeant placed the canister in a pouch on his hip.
"We don't have a lot of time, can you walk?" She shook her head, unable to form words at the moment. She felt her brain fall into a state of shock as she continued to stare at her savior. She continued to stare even when she was hoisted up over his shoulder, not feeling any pain. She continued to stare as the Sergeant silently but quickly moved through the seemingly abandoned camp. And finally, she continued to stare as he set her on some grass a few hundred meters away and behind a hill. Then she blinked.
"Uh... I, uh... I-I..." She felt tears trickle down her fur as she cried from relief. She didn't care if the Sergeant was watching, she just needed to let it out. What surprised her however, was when the Sergeant slowly wrapped her in a hug, being careful not to squeeze her injured ribs and legs.
After a full two minutes, she finally stopped crying. She felt the Sergeant let go and stand up. She meekly raised her hoof to try and keep the Sergeants warm embrace around her, but it was to no avail. She sniffled before looking up. The Sergeant was adjusting some straps on his armor before moving on to his metal stick. He turned a few knobs on the cylinder on top and extended what seemed to be a shoulder rest from the rear. Then he looked at her.
"I was forced to watch that asshole almost molestee you. If I hadn't been waiting for the opportunity to get you out unseen, then I would have killed him right then and there, but that would have run the risk of you being put in danger, which I can not allow."
Twilight stared at him once more with wide eyes, feeling slightly ashamed that he had seen her in such a humiliating a position. She was Princess damnit!
"Wait, how old are you?" The Sergeant leaned down and peered into her eyes. She couldn't place the emotion in his eyes, so she decided to answer truthfully.
"I'm... I just turned twenty." She shied away when the breath of the Sergeant hitched. She watched as his face scrunched up, almost like he was battling with his own emotions. After a second of silence, Twilight decided to see if he was okay.
"Sergeant, I know it might seem like a young age but ponies mature faster than other lif-"
She backpedaled as far as her broken leg would allow her, which wasn't far, terror displaying from her entire persona.
The Sergeant glared back at her, hatred in his eyes. It was as intense as a raging inferno, but behind the fire lay the cold, calculating mind of a killer. Twilight could tell when something was a predator, she had lived with a dragon after all, but never before had she seen so much anger in the eyes of another being and so much feral hunger in its eyes.
"Those bastards." She heard him whisper. She then realized that the anger was not directed at her, but towards the elves!
"W-what do you plan to do Sergeant? Are we not going to go back to the cave?" She felt like a foal at the moment, talking to the Sergeant like a kid. But her mind was not really forming any coherent thought at the moment, she just wanted to go back to where she thought was safe and secure.
The Sergeant slowly reached forward and pinched the inhibitor ring. It crackled slightly from the contact but failed to electrocute the him. He slowly lifted it off and Twilight felt her magic coursing into her horn once more, causing her to shiver in content. She sighed and her head drooped. Sergeant Foresters next words quickly brought her back from the blissful state.
"We will. But I think that punishment needs to be dished out. These elves have had their fun for the last two years and have grown arrogant. It's time I put them in their place, it's time that I freed your people, it's time that I gave them their just dues." he turned away from her before stopping. He glanced back at Twilight, who had grown white in the face, the fur doing nothing to hide her shock and fear. "I will show them what power really looks like, I will show them how a war is really waged." He turned and began walking back towards the camp, leaving Twilight sitting in the grass. Before he crested the hill, she saw him turn around and stare right into her eyes.
"They will pay in blood." Sergeant Forester crushed the inhibitor ring to dust then and let it fall into the grass. He turned and stalked out of sight, the long metal stick held in one hand. Her mouth fell open and her eyes were glued to the remains of the ring, then she came to a haunting realization.
Her ears splayed back in fear as she perceived what she had been looking at. Her breaths started to quicken as she looked up at the spot where the Sergeant had disappeared. She knew then that this human would make a great friend, and a terrible enemy. Twilight hadn't been looking at a soldier, no, she had looked into the eyes of death itself.
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