Firebase Bravo (Stalliongrad Main Hub)

Trails watched Breeze as she slept, feeling his buzz slowly ebb away as she fell deeper in. After a few seconds her face started twitching and took on a pained look. He knew about her nightmares and had been doing his best to help her with them. He still hadn't gotten any technique down pat but started with what felt right. He wrapped her up with both his forelegs and swayed back and forth with her.

"Don't worry Breezey, it' all going to be alright." He whispered. "I'll protect you no matter what. Tirek himself won't get to you as long as I'm around."

Breeze felt immense pain as dizziness overtook her. Blood streamed down her face as she saw Trails fighting off the creatures.

Don't worry, Breezey, it's all going to be alright.

Breeze looked up at him as he stepped closer to her, defeating the last of the creatures, as he began dabbing the blood away.

I'll protect you no matter what. Trek himself won't get you as long as I'm around.

Trails was suddenly stabbed through the hoof. An alicorn with bleeding eye sockets growled at him as it bit him. He cried out angrily, and pulled the harpoonlike thing out of his hoof as he began to bleed. He attacked the alicorn, and it fought back. Trails' ear was ripped off, and his throat was stabbed by the alicorn's horn.

Trails hugged Breeze tighter to him and rested his chin on her shoulder. "You've saved my life, Breezey. Kept me a good stallion, made sure I didn't forget who I was. Together there's nothing we can't do. I love you." He gently kissed her on the forehead as he kept whispering encouragement and thank yous.

(The I love you is in a family way, not romantic. Perverts.)

Trails fell to the ground, but gritted his teeth.

You've saved my life, Breezey. Kept me a good stallion, made sure I didn't forget who I was. Together there's nothing we can't do. I love you.

He stood shakily. With a roar of war, he ripped off the Alicorn's wings, and then snapped its horn off, stabbing it in the chest with it ferociously.
He and Breeze, and the alicorn, all bled to death together, letting that dream end. But just before she died, breeze whispered something shakily.

I love you, too Trailth. You're a second father to me.

Bone head walked through the streets of stalliongrad, the sound of gunfire in the distance and smoke from far away fires filled his senses. After what he had to deal with in the MASH he was ready to just kill something. "Ugh I need a drink." Just as he said that a pony flew past him and landed in the snow before him. He looked to where the equine had come from and saw a pony in a apren yelling, "Next time pay for you liquor!" before slamming the door, the vibration shaking the snow off of the sign to the tavern. "Well, The great egg seems to be listening me today." He strolled through the door and made his way to the barkeep, sitting at the long wooden slab and tapping on it to get his attention. "OI, need a beer here, you know what make it two." As he waited for his drinks he turned to look at the various soldiers in the building, it was filled with mostly ponies, a few zebras, even a couple of griffin mercs. Then he looked to his left and saw the other members from his squad and ale was with them. "Well hello gingy." he said to the white unicorn just a few stools down.

Dash looked back and saw the Raider Griffon approaching them, 'Great...' Dash thought and turned back around, taking a quick swig of his AJD, as opposed to his usual sips. All the while, he kept an eye out for Spectrum. He still intended to fulfill what he felt he owed to Lightning for failing him back on the battlefield.

Having only drunk a couple of shots of vodka as he listened to Ale and Dash speak, though, something really distracted Blitz as he sat there, a rambling of many languages that caused him to just stare at the source... Trails and a random mare, maybe Trails knew her, maybe not, but he had no idea what they were saying, all he could do was stare with confusion.

"One sec guys." Blitz said, walking up to Trails and his... sleeping, drunken companion and raising a brow. "Where the hay did you and her... is she even conscious? Anyway, where'd you learn to speak so much gibberish? I was lost the second I heard you both stop talking the same language as everypony else."

"Oh no." Ale muttered when he heard the all too familiar voice of bone head. He looked to to see that the griffin had apparently made a full recovery and now all that stood between them was dash. Ale knocked back the last of his applejack daniels and leaned around the pegasus to talk to the griff. "You know, I am not surprised that you're still alive, i've seen you be crushed by rocks, overwhelmed by ghouls, trapped in a burning building, oh and lets not forget shot in the head." The barkeep brought ale a fresh bottle of AJD and he just levitated the whole bottle up to take a swig. "You always survive, why should I ever hope to be rid of you?" Ale turned back to the bar, took another long swig from the bottle, and just tried to ignore the griffin in the room.

The barkeep brought the griffin the beers he had requested and he took one of the bottles in his talon and effortlessly popped the cap off with his thumb. Turning to the white unicorn he spoke. "Funny thing fate it, everything you've said is true." He took a long drink from his bottle of beer. "By every right I should be dead, but something keeps me from entering the void, something keeps me in this plane of existence." he finished the first bottle of beer and stared into the glass. "Its like I have a part in this little play and i'm not allowed to exit the stage until i have acted my part." The wind blew the tavern door open and if you looked closely at the bottle bone was holding then you could see a reflection pass over it, even though nopony in the room moved.

"Ah but that's just nonsense." Bone head suddenly said as he tossed the bottle over his shoulder. "I'm sure the lot of you are more concerned as to why a big ol' griffin raider is just 3 stool down from you," he picked up his other bottle of beer and popped the cap. "sharing a drink, would be the answer." He took a swig, "Oh don't look at me like that, like i said earlier my hunt has been postponed until this war is over. so in the meantime we're all comrades here." The griffin tapped the bar to get the pony behind it to look at him. "Their next round is on me." He turned back to to his squad and raised his beer. "A toast, to the war that brings everypony, and griffin together."

Dash let out a heavy sigh as he listened to the unicorn and the griffon talk. Apparently the two had a bit of a history. When the griffon said that the next round was on him, he shook his head, "A Raider getting me beer? I must be drunk already."

"Sie trank fur die ernst zeit. Dann shcliefen Sie auf meine schulter." Trails looked at the unicorn stonefaced for a full ten seconds before bursting out laughing. "She just got drunk for the first time is all. Poor mare can't hold it anymore. I learned all my languages while traveling with my families caravan. I don't know how she can speak so many."

Breeze's nightmare ended and drifted into another one.
Bullets whizzing by her head, Breeze looked over from her shield of rock at her enemies. Bad move. They saw her now.
Pegasi flew above her, wielding machine guns on their backs, and shot at her specifically. Take out the medic, take out a team.
She was shot; first in the legs and then once in the chest. As she began to bleed to death, she was shot once again in the head.

Breeze cringed as she dove into another nightmare.

She stood in front of Kestrel, standing her ground as best she could.
He smiled as he charged toward her, and immediately began to slash her to bits.

Blitz thinks for a second before giving a little nod. "That makes sense... Though we're both stumped on how she knows them. Anyway, you need some help finding a place for her to sleep? I don't think the bar is the best place for her to take a nap, you know?"

"Nah, Vityaz has barracks of their own. She can sleep on my bed." With that he rose, gently resting Breeze on his back and walking out with a nod to Blitz. "Don't worry Breezey, you'll be safe and warm soon."

Breeze's nightmares continued as she twitched. For a moment, she mumbled something, but it was unintelligible.

Breeze was standing in front of a mound of rocks. There was nopony else there, nopony in the yurt that was now her own.
Life would never be the same.....

Trails nodded a hello to the rest of Vityaz as he entered the chapel. Hangfire and Mags were play chess while Mil Dot sat in a corner with his AMR. Seriously, that stallion loved his gun a bit too much. Gibs exited the bathroom with a towel draped over him, his coat still shaggy from the shower. The knife obsessed soldier greeted him with a nod before looking to Breeze and laughing.

"Don't you just hate playing sexless innkeeper?"

Trails, for his part, laughed and shook his head. Inside the barracks were the bunks as always. He paused to knock the icicles Brutus had made off of his bed, and scooted it into a corner, before gently resting Breeze on it. He unrolled his bedroll from his saddlebags and laid back, letting out a oof when Brutus used him as a springboard to get up on the bed with Breeze. The wolf let out a low bark before curling up next to her and turning in.

"Thanks, help me keep an eye on her Brutus." Trails answered. "Goodnight Breezey, I'll be right here if you need me."

Breeze moaned in her sleep as she dove into another nightmare.

"Trail! What are you doing?!?!"
"I've had more than enough of you, Breeze. For months you've been eating my food, sleeping in my home, and dragging me back. I can do so much better without you. I'm sure even Zestari would be easier to get if not for you holding me where I am. I can't go forward. So you have to get out of my way."
Breeze looked up at Trails with alarm as he pulled out a knife, and pinned her down to the floor in the corner. Behind him was Kestrel, smiling with glee as he licked his blood covered talons.
Trails took the knife and slowly, painfully tore off her flank skin, expertly taking the cutie mark from her body. With her flank bleeding, he began to slowly skin the rest of her body.

Breeze tossed and turned as she began to sweat. She was beginning to reach the point of fever, and she made small panicked noises, followed by short gasps of fear and dreamed pain. She knew in reality that Trails was there, but not where or why.

Trails had barely closed his eyes before Breeze's nightmares started to reach their terrible peak. He rose from his bedroll and looked at a mare with a frown. After a few moments of thought he reached out and felt her forehead with a fetlock. She was feverish, which probably only added to the terrors.

"Brutus can you cool her off?" the wolf answered with a sarcastic bark. "C'mon you're a Luna damned ice wolf, you turn rain to snow when you wag your tail, can you do anything?" After giving Trails a dead stonefaced glare, Brutus licked Breezes face and barked again. "Thanks, I'm sure that helped soooo much."

Trails sighed, then clambered into bed with her. He may not be able to cool her off, but at least she could know there was somepony in her corner. He threw a foreleg over her and settled in for the night. Well until Brutus readjusted so his head was resting on Trails' side.

"I'm right here Breezey, and I'm always going to be. You'll never have to fight another battle alone, never gonna fall without me their to catch you."

Trails pushed down on Breeze, pressing against her bleeding side and covering himself in her blood. She began feeling herself fade as he bit down hard on her neck, piercing her jugular vein and making her bleed out further.
She felt herself falling, into an abyss below, that quickly turned pitch dark and bottomless. Above her, getting smaller and smaller was Trails' blood covered face disappearing from sight.
"Breeze?" It was Atriark.
"Ark?! You're here?"
"Breeze, I'm not. Why would I come anywhere near you?"
Breeze's heart shattered as she fell further.

Breeze gasped as she awoke, and then leaned over the side of the bed and threw up violently. Coughing, she turned to look back at Trails with a flinch, then calmed into an exhausted expression.
"Trail..... I feel tho thick...."

Ale just sat there silently, he accepted the drink bone bought but that was going to be the only show of friendship to the griff. "pfff, comrades, does he even comprehend the meaning of that word. One with a heart as black as his could never understand what its like to fight for your friends, to risk your life for a greater cause." Ale levitated up the bottle and took a swig from it, he had already abandoned the shotglass. "And what was with that "part in a play" bit? Bastard has to go and speak in riddles, can't just talk like everypony else."

Ale was starting to get angry and that anger could only lead to violence with the griffin, and in these close quarters and with so many guns in the room, two of which he can only be sure will take his side...that bird would kill him. Ale used his forehoof to sweep the empty bottles of of the table so he could make room for the only thing that could ever calm and occupy his mind, gun maintenance.

Ale levitated out his hunting rifle and laid it on the table. the old firearm was in bad enough condition before he acquired it and the recent exposure to the elements in milk run had only worsened that. Next ale retrieved his tools from the pocket of his vest that he wore under his armor. It was a small leather case, triple folded like a wallet and contained various instrument for cleaning and maintaining any lead trower out there. He opened the case and began picking out the ones he'd need for dismantling the rifle. He glanced up at the barkeep, who just gave him an understanding look, there must have been other soldiers that used this as a means of escape and he didn't object to them using his bar as a worktable, so long as they didn't spill gunpowder everywhere. Powder and alcohol don't mix, especially when somepony tries to light a smoke.

Trails propped himself up and watched worriedly as Breezed unceremoniously chunked all over his bed roll. Whelp, nothing he could do about it now. Without a thought he held her mane back, keeping it from getting in the stream. When she wimpered he wiped her forehead and gently rubbed her back.

"It's ok Breezey, it's happens when ponies drink a lot." he cooed. "And Luna, did you drink a lot. You'll feel a lot better after some sleep."

Breeze thought over her dreams over the past couple weeks. "I'm not thleeping," she declared, getting out of the bed and moving to a corner. She curled up, and looked back up tiredly at Trails.
"My dreamth thith time had you in them. In a few, you died. But in that latht one....."
She gulped, and looked away, not wanting to see Trails' face as she relived a portion of the dream.

"What?" Trails asked, continuing to do his best to ease Breeze's nervousness. It was starting to get bad enough to rub off on him. "I know you've been having nightmares, you can tell me about them. You can tell me anything."

Breeze fidgeted, and told him in great detail of her dream of him skinning her, but left out the part about Atriark.
"...and I jutht kept falling. There wath no end, until I woke up," she finished.

She curled herself into a tighter ball, her stomach hurting immensely, and a massive headache was beginning to form.

Trails didn't know what to say, there really wasn't much to say. At first he bought himself time by rubbing Breeze's back, doing what little he could to soothe her. After curling up next to her and pulling her into a soft hug the words finally came.

"Breeze, you're the only thing keeping me from losing everything that makes me me. You aren't holding me back, you're holding me together. I don't want to think about where I'd be without you."