Inside James’ Dreams

James returned back to his nightmare of a destroyed Ponyville and waited for Shadow to show up. After a little waiting, the entity finally showed up and looked happy to see the human waiting for him. One thing that seemed scary though was that the human was also happy to see him as well. After exchanging a smile and a high five, they went for a walk. As they went walking, Ponyville began to change into the Vatican City.

He remembered this place all too well. This was the fifth mission he worked with his new squad. This mission was actually the first one where the six of them actually got along to get the job done. The first four were successful, but not as well as they could have been. These four missions required stealth for maximum efficiency, but if they saw fit they could just charge in guns blazing and kill everyone. He tried to get everyone to cooperate with one another, but failed because they didn’t trust each other. The fifth mission was an assassination on the pope.

Funny thing was that the pope had actually been dead for a long time and was replaced by an imposter. The imposter used the power of the Vatican to gather supporters and was secretly stocking weapons to take down the Italian government. Elite Sniper got wind of what was happening thanks to one of their weapon suppliers letting them know what was going on. This supplier knew that compared to the imposter and Elite Sniper that Elite Sniper brought in more business for him since they ordered all their equipment from him almost every day, trying to keep up with the more modern weapons.

When they heard the news about the imposter they headed straight for the General and asked what should be done. The general laughed not because he thought that they were crazy or anything, but just that they didn’t need his permission if there was something that needed to be dealt with. Though he obliged to their request and gave them the okay to head out and deal with the problem.

The squad was going in alone because they didn’t need to go to a full scale war over this and could easily handle this on their own. They loaded up their chopper and headed out for the Vatican. The trip would be a while so James got everyone together to devise a plan on how to deal with the problem. They all sat around in a circle and pulled up a hologram of the Vatican and a layout of the catacombs that ran underneath it.

“Okay, so there will most likely be guards stationed at each entrance and exit,” James began the conversation to get the ball rolling and hopefully get everyone to comply with a simple plan.

“Demarco and Connor, I want you two to go around back and work your way back up to the pope’s room and take him out.”

“Blake, Jacob, and David, I want you three to go through the catacombs and find the hidden weapon stash and take it out.”

“I will provide sniper support from the hill out here taking out any guards that may get a little too curious about what is going on.”

“Why must we do all this sneaking around shit? Can’t we just run in through the front doors and mow down every motherfucker that we see?” Demarco asked a little annoyed that they were going in stealth style instead a blaze of fireworks known as bullets.

“Because, Demarco, for once I would like to see a successful mission that doesn’t involve blowing up some random object and then going gung ho like we have the past four missions,” James knew Demarco never meant anything bad by what he did, but sometimes he got a little too carried away when the bullets started flying. How everyone made it out of Egypt is still beyond his comprehension.

“What do you mean by that? Last time I saw it we were always successful and still got the job done in a more interesting way. I mean no one was complaining the last four missions so I think that we can easily do it again,” Demarco was starting to get a smug grin on his face knowing that he wouldn’t do anything and neither anyone else since no one ever spoke up before. That is until now when he had enough with the crazy shit Demarco did.

“Demarco, you will listen and listen close to what I am going to say. You will follow this plan and do as you are told. This will be a simple stealth assassination and as such will be done accordingly. Everyone is tired of the bullshit that you are putting us through.”

“You nearly got David over there killed more than once with your idiocy and he is just trying to do some good for once in his life. I know we all are because I have read all your files since I was put in charge. If you are not happy with how to take orders or how I run things then you are more than happy to leave the squad and go back to what you do best,” James was breathing heavily now more than he ever had.

He knew that Demarco could crush him like a bug if he wanted to and was expecting him to retaliate in some way but was completely thrown back when Demarco started laughing.

“You know, in all my years of fighting with fellow soldiers, I have never heard or seen one brave enough to talk back to me especially yell at me. I admire your respect even if you are kind of shaking knowing what I am capable of if you did read my file. So I will do as you say for now on this mission.”

“Though if this plan goes all to hell you will relinquish your command and leave this squad. How does that sound?” Demarco asked with a smile that held genuine respect for James but he could also see how serious Demarco was about him leaving if this didn’t work.

Knowing that it was best to just go with the bet because he will accept anything that came his way no matter the consequences. So he stuck out his hand and gave Demarco’s hand a good shake agreeing to the terms.

The dream started to dissipate and he knew that he was waking up from for his early morning routine. He awoke with a smile remembering the dream that happened and hoped to continue to have that dream until the end. It was that moment when he and Demarco truly became close friends.

Deciding that was enough reminiscing for now, he went over to one of the drawers and pulled out a plain blue shirt and a pair of jeans. He grabbed his phone and knife and exited the library. He decided to leave the hoodie because he wanted to feel the cool air against his skin. He put in his headphones selected a different song to listen to and went off sprinting.

He reached the forest like he did last time and entered it. He walked through, seeing that he was in a different part of the forest because this time he heard running water. He went towards the source of the water to find a medium waterfall running into a river that leads somewhere. He saw this as a good opportunity to do some water resistance training. He never did this a lot, but was one of his training sessions that he enjoyed immensely. He took his clothing off and set them off to the side. Before he got in he pulled out his phone and played some peaceful music to help relax his body.

Once the song started up he got under the waterfall and sat down on the rock in the middle of the falls. He sat cross legged and his fists pressed against each other. As the cold water ran down his body he breathed slowly and deeply. He let all noises become one sound as he became peaceful. He could hear the bugs chirp in the distance.

He could hear one of those wooden wolves, but remained calm as he knew that the wolf was far away and won’t give him any trouble. He sat there for thirty minutes until he heard a branch break. He quickly stood up and went over to his clothes putting on his underwear and pants. Once he got his pants on he pulled out his knife and kept his breathing calm.

“Who’s out there?” James yelled out into the forest to be answered by nothing.

“I swear if this is some kind of joke this isn’t funny. I know that you are somewhere out there so you might as well show yourself,” keeping his breathing calm, he waited to see if he could get a response.

After several minutes of silence, he took that as a sign to just grab his shirt and leave. As he went back for his shirt he heard another branch break. Acting quickly this time, he grabbed his shirt and started running towards where he believed that he heard the noise while putting his shirt on. As he got near to where the noise possibly came from he looked around to see if he could notice anything different. As he looked, he saw where a tree had a broken branch with a blue feather stuck to it.

Climbing up the tree, he grabbed the feather and put the feather in his pocket. He then turned around and saw that he had a perfect view of the waterfall that he was at. He blushed furiously that someone saw him naked and sitting at the waterfall. Seeing though that the perpetrator is gone he just shrugged it off and headed out of the forest. He made sure that as he left the forest to leave some type of insignia behind that way if he found it he knew that he had visited that part of the forest before.

He exited the forest and headed back to Twilight’s house. As he was walking back, his phone vibrated and he pulled it out to see the reminder of Pinkie’s party and to ask Twilight about getting roses. He was too distracted to see where he was going until he bumped into someone. Quickly recovering from his stumble, he looked down to see that he knocked down a charcoal colored mare with raven black hair.

She wore a pink bow tie around her neck and wore a black dress blouse and black skirt that stopped right at her knees. To the human she looked as beautiful as Rarity. Quickly bringing his thoughts together he offered a hand to the mare to help her up.

“I’m so sorry about that, Miss. I wasn’t looking where I was going and I am so sorry about that.”

“It’s quite alright since I also wasn’t looking where I was going,” Her accent sounded of that of someone higher class. As she took his hand, he noticed the treble cleff on her hand.

“She must be good with music I guess,” James thought to himself as he helped the mare up.

“Are you okay, Miss? You aren’t hurt or anything are you?”

“No, I am quite alright I promise you. By the way my name is Octavia. May I ask your name?”

“The name is James Redfield but you can just call me James.”

“Oh, so you are the human that Lyra has been going on about. For a second I thought she was having another episode and that she might have finally lost it. Though I am glad that you are very real and that Lyra isn’t crazy.”

“Well, that is at least good to hear. Though I do want to ask this one question. I saw your cutie mark on your hand and I was wondering what it was you did for a living?” Octavia seemed to brighten at the thought of talking with another creature about what she did.

“Well, I am the first chair cellist of the Canterlot Royal Orchestra. Lyra as you have already met is the lyrist of the group.”

“So you ponies play classical music at some big events then I guess? I wonder if your classical music is anything like from where I come from.”

“So humans have classical music on your planet then?” Octavia seemed very enthused to have a music conversation with someone that understood the finer art.

“Yes, many great composers from Beethoven to Bach have made many classical compositions in their time.”

“That just sounds wonderful. If we ever see each other again we should go for some tea and talk about some of the classical music from your home world and here and see if there are any similarities.”

“That actually sounds like a nice thing to do. I will look forward to that day. I actually also want to know, but where is a flower shop?”

“Oh, if you want flowers you can try Roseluck’s shop down this street here.”

“Thanks, Octavia and I wish you a lovely evening.”

“You are quite welcome, James and you have a lovely evening too.”

“What a charming young man and also very intelligent. I think Vinyl would like to meet him. Those two would probably be able to hit it off very easily,” Octavia thought to herself as she walked off with a smile on her face.

The human walked down the street and noticed the flower shop at the end of the corner. He entered the shop and saw the storeowner. She smiled at him and waved hello to him. He returned the friendly gesture and started to walk around the shop. He looked around and didn’t see any roses out front so he went to the front to put in an order for roses. When he reached the front the mare was able to place an order of roses for him that he will pick up the 23rd.

Happy that he was able to get that order done he left the shop and headed back. It was already noon and he felt a little tired. When he got back he saw the lavender mare placing books on shelves and switching them out with other books. The unicorn heard him come in and looked at him and smiled.

“Good afternoon, James. How are you enjoying the town?”

“Can’t complain much though I feel like everypony is a little too nice to me. I mean I’m some weird, new creature that came out of nowhere and everypony seems so accepting of that. Though the feeling is nice, I think I might feel a little better if somepony acted scared of me.”

“Well, James, I can promise you that there may be some ponies scared of you. The reason they don’t show it is probably because of my friends and I.”

“Not to sound completely rude here, but what makes you six so special that it makes everypony safe?”

“That is because my friends and I are the bearers of the Elements of Harmony,” if James felt confused about anything before in his entire life this was maybe the biggest thing that got him confused.

“The bearers of what?” James signaled with his hands asking for clarification on what she just said.

“The Elements of Harmony. They are magical items that the girls and I acquired when we fought Nightmare Moon.”

“Okay I want the history lesson saved for later on this Nightmare Moon. I want to know a little more about the Elements.”

“There are six different elements and the girls and I represent the different kinds of harmony that is required to use them. Applejack is the Element of Honesty. She can never lie and even if she tried, she is just terrible at it. Pinkie Pie is the Element of Laughter. Her happiness can help bring anypony that is down in the dumps back up in high spirits. Rainbow Dash is the Element of Loyalty. No matter what she is offered, she will never leave her friends behind if it meant hurting them.

“Fluttershy is the Element of Kindness. She cares for every living creature and isn’t afraid to step in if something isn’t right. Rarity is the Element of Generosity. She will gladly give something up if it means to help her friends. I am the Element of Magic. The sixth element that only exists when the other five are found.”

“Is there anything that powers these elements that you six contain?”

“Yes, there is. They are powered by the powers of friendship,” James couldn’t help but laugh at that answer. Though the glare that he was getting from Twilight showed that she wasn’t kidding at all.

“Well, okay then. I will take you up on that response and just nod. I’m headed off to bed for a quick nap. Please wake me up two hours before we head to Pinkie’s party so I can take a shower and be at least somewhat presentable at the party,” Twilight just nodded her head in agreement and went back to work.

He headed for his room and went to bed to get some sleep. As he got to his bed he pulled out the feather and put it on his dresser. He would ask Twilight later to see who it belonged to. Right now though he just needed to get some sleep and so he wouldn’t pass out during the party. He laid in bed and let the slumber take him over.

Author's Notes:

I would also like to take a moment to thank ErikTheSoulReaper for helping with ideas on future chapters so the story can continue to be put out faster. If it wasn't for this person the chapters might come out slowly. So when you see the next two chapters come out make sure to thank ErikTheSoulReaper for the input and help. I personally thank you ErikTheSoulReaper and am glad to write a fic that you are enjoying very much.