This is where it really begins.
This is where it really begins.
"Sky? Sky Melody? Sky Melody."
She blinked, the light above her making it hard to see clearly. A blurry green figure leaned over her, "Sky Melody? Can you hear me?"
Slowly her eyes came into focus. The Pony leaning over her spoke again, "Can you hear me, Sky Melody?"
"Ye-," she tried to speak but her throat was too hoarse. She coughed and the other Pony steadied her.
"Careful now, take it easy. Don't try to talk too much. Your throat's still fairly damaged, I've given you some very advanced drugs to deal with it, but you still need to rest it for a little while so they can take effect fully. You should have your voice back by this time tomorrow as long as you don't overdo it." Sky nodded in understanding. "Good."
Suddenly the door burst open and Candypop dashed in, "Melody! Thank Pony you're all right! You had us worried back there for a while." Sky smiled to Candypop, then heard the voice of Lieutenant Havoc.
"Melody. Good to see you're recovering," she trotted over to the bed, "You did excellent work out there you know. The Captain wants to commend your efforts herself as soon as you're well enough. Good job, soldier. I still have some post-mission stuff to take of, if you'll excuse me. Get some rest. We need more of your kind in this War." The Lieutenant saluted her and she did the same back along with Candypop. The doctor who had been across the room doing something came to stand beside the bed again.
"I'm just going to give you another pain shot to help you through the night, then I suggest getting some sleep. You need to regain your strength." He lifted a syringe and injected her with something that immediately helped her to relax. She felt as though she could drift right off to sleep again straight away.
"I'd better be off so you can get some rest then, Melody. I'll come by tomorrow to see you. Don't worry about a thing." Candypop gave Melody a salute before leaving, and soon she had fallen into a deep slumber once more.
The next morning, after breakfast, Candypop stopped by again. Sky managed to be able to talk just a little and her throat already felt better. After a little while the two visited the Captain who congratulated them both on their good work, along with Lieutenant Havoc.
"Really, a fantastic job on all of your parts. Thanks to you three we managed to make it through with very little casualties."
Sky Melody thought back to the Pony who hadn't made it. "Bunny," she cleared her throat gently, "Captain, what happened to Blood Bunny's body?"
"Ah, yes," she took a seat, placing her hooves together on top of her desk, "We managed to retrieve her body. The family came by this morning... Truly awful business; she was a fine soldier, and a great Pony as well. I think they're holding the funeral at the end of this week. I'm sure they'd be happy for you and Candypop to go along with Havoc here. It'd do them good to see she had people who cared about her here, too."
"Thank you, Captain." Sky, Candypop and the Lieutenant saluted and Captain Carnivory nodded.
"Dismissed."
The rest of the week leading up to Bunny's funeral seemed to drag on forever, but Sky Melody regained her voice and was soon well enough to train with her new found friend Candypop. Over the course of the few days she heard rumours of a "zombie" Pony having been discovered and now being tested to see if she could be put to any use.
There were also many odd rumours floating around about strange goings on in the Wastelands. Stories of strange Bear and Pony-like creatures, many traps and traces of life within; all sorts of weird things had been discovered by the forces investigating the area for any potential use in the War.
The only definite thing that had been confirmed was of a certain Bear by the name of Maniac, who was a very formidable adversary. He was just the leader of a fairly small team of Bears, and the only reason he hadn't risen further in the ranks of the Bear army was because he had a flagrant disregard for the rules and often ignored orders sent by his superiors. However due to his level of skill they were unwilling to have him courtmarshalled or taken out of duty in any form.
It also appeared that Princess Sprinkles, daughter of the Great Pony Queen Sunfire, had organized a team of elite soldiers and gone out into battle herself.
Yes, it seemed many extraordinary things were happening due to this war.
The end of the week came and it was the day of Bunny's funeral. Candypop came to meet Sky Melody, and the two of them made their way to the place the ceremony was being held, outside in the graveyard Bunny was to be buried in. As they arrived they saw that not only Lieutenant Havoc was there, but in fact many other soldiers, including the whole of Team Alpha, the Pegasi Squad for the mission; Muffin, Cuddles, Heartdrop, Pumpkin Pie and Moonhorn were all there, and all of them in their army uniforms. All being stealth soldiers they were appropriately dressed in all black attire, fitting for the occasion.
A small group of Ponies was gathered near the front row, obviously Bunny's family. A Pony of the same pink colour as Bunny, who Sky assumed to be her mother, was crying as she looked at the coffin of her daughter, also a beautiful pink with two hugging bunnies adorned on the side.
They took their seats and the ceremony began. "Family, friends, comrades; we welcome you all here today to say our final goodbye to Snuggle Bunny," a brown Pony in a Priest uniform said, standing at a podium. As he continued it slowly began to rain. All the soldiers who had been trying so hard to keep their tears in allowed themselves to shed a few, hidden by the rainwater upon their faces. Her family and friends from before the war sobbed, holding one another.
The ceremony went on for a while, but soon came to an end. "Yes...this may be our final goodbye, but do not fear, because it is only out last goodbye on this plane. Bunny now goes on to the Great Pony Land in the sky, along with all those before her," the Priest lifted a hoof to the sky. "And one day...one day we shall all pass on to that Land, where we will be reunited with her again, and many more goodbyes...and hellos, can be spoken; without sadness; without fear; without pain. In this plane, however, Bunny shall live on, in all of our hearts. Every time we think of her, she is alive, and here with us. So fear not, for she is now at peace; she frolics in the vast green meadows with her brethren, high, high above the clouds."
Several Ponies began to play the traditional music of a fallen soldier on trumpets, and Sky Melody, along with all of Bunny's army buddies and comrades stood and saluted her one last time. Slowly the dark clouds disappeared, and the sun shone down gently upon the scene. A large, vibrant rainbow formed in the sky, making an arc that seemed to go on across all of Pony Land.
Sky looked to Bunny's coffin, thinking of the Priest's words; she smiled, happy in the knowledge that Bunny would indeed be with her in her thoughts, and in her heart.
As the soldiers turned to march off, Sky couldn't help but glance back to Bunny's family. Strangely, she thought that for a moment she saw Bunny's mother smiling. She looked closer, and she was; she was standing with her husband beside her daughter's grave, smiling.
The pink Pony lifted her head and caught Sky's eye. She gave a warm smile and nodded to her. At first Sky was confused, but biting on her quivering lower lip as she comprehended it all, she nodded to Bunny's mother, and lifted a hoof to salute her. The Pony's gaze then slowly went back to her where her daughter was buried. And Sky Melody knew then, that if the parents of the fallen could come to accept their deaths, could move on in peace knowing their children died for the future, for hope and glory, and could themselves find peace in knowing they would one day see them once again, then she herself could. And maybe - just maybe - it wouldn't be so bad, from now on.
