It was dark.

He felt… strange. Like he couldn’t move. Like the walls were closing in on him again. Panic violently replaced the confusion as he fought against the jacket that pinned his arms to his sides. No matter how hard he fought, the jacket continued to slowly tighten around him like a body hugging constrictor snake. He could feel his ribs cracking and displacing in his chest with every ragged breath. He would die in this dank, tiny room, and there was nothing he could do about it. For all his rage, for all his strength, he couldn’t break free.

The panic slowly shifted to fear; a fear that permeated his body and corrupted everything it touched. He felt helpless, afraid, and weak. The fear had a name, a name that he’d always hated. Claustrophobia. How ironic was it that he was going to die in such a tiny space? It was only one of many ironic coincidences that he’d been forced to live with in his life. He’d lived in a world of tiny cars and micro apartments, of packed sky trains and toilet stalls thinner than his shoulders were wide; a world full of stuffy personnel carriers and bloody, dust filled foxholes. The very armour that held him together and kept him from the edge of death was like an intimately personal coffin in its tightness. Irony, he decided, at it’s finest.

When the cell door swung open and blinded him with sickly pale light, he felt a fleeting sliver of hope that died the moment he looked up. He knew the pony standing in the doorway. He knew what she was going to do, and that there wasn’t anything he could do to stop her. He wanted to be angry; he begged his rage to spike, to lend him the strength he needed to burst free from his bindings. His rage refused, instead choosing to wither away and be replaced by weakness. Weakness and Fear.

She was taking her time, toying with him and enjoying herself as she drew closer. He hated her. Hated the way her fur rustled against the straight jacket and tickled his exposed skin, hated the way her heated, catching breath rolled down his neck. He hated the way she used his body to sate her disgusting animal needs, but most of all, he hated himself. He hated how he felt when she came to him. How he couldn’t bring himself to open his eyes, to acknowledge what was happening and find a way to turn it to his advantage. He hated how a tiny, loathed part of himself had enjoyed it. He hated how scared he was. He hated knowing that he was. All he had to do was breath. Just breath

Inhale. Count to four.

Exhale. Count to four.

Inhale. Smother the jolts of pleasure. Count to four.

Exhale. Feign apathy as she rides you. Count to four.

Inhale. Ignore how the world shimmers. Count to four.

Exhale. Pretend the world isn’t collapsing around you. Count to four.

Inhale. Forget the shame. Count to four.

Exhale. Reject the pain. Count to four.

Inhale. Wake up Jack.

Jack jerked awake in his hospital bed, a ragged gasping breath sounding out inside the small room. His heart was pounding like a wardrum inside his chest, and it took all the concentration he had to simply calm it. With shaky hands he wiped the sheen of sweat from his brow and kicked his legs off the side of the stiff bed. His exo skeleton flexed and twisted with him, giving him the strength that he needed. He needed it so badly, but he refused to acknowledge the thought in full. Shaking the thought free from his mind before it forced itself any further, Jack rubbed his eyes to clean them of sleep before standing and hunting down his clothes in the dark recovery room.

It was still dark outside the window, and the hospital halls were empty. With his clothes found and pulled on without care, he walked out into the hall and left the room behind.

“I need a drink…”

His silent proclamation went unanswered, but the sound of his own voice did wonders. It was something to focus his thoughts on, to muse over, as he wandered aimlessly through the castle halls in search of alcohol at Zero-Dark-Thirty. It was his voice; a mix of calm baritone and whiskey stones, a voice that had always been his. It was strong and confident, it was calm and courageous.

Everything he wasn’t.

With a quiet growl, Jack shook the traitorous thought from his head and rubbed at his eyes again. That drink couldn’t come fast enough, but his search was painfully in vain. He was beginning to notice the guards now. It was strange, they seemed so… different. In fact, they were different. Instead of the usual vibrant golden armour and smattering of white and grey furs, these guards wore darkened purple armour that partially hid a uniform dark grey fur and near glowing slitted eyes. It was at that point that Jack finally noticed that they were all bat ponies. Surprise edged forward, but was quickly batted down by a derisive thought of logic. Of course the night guards are bat ponies. That shit just makes sense. I wonder how much like normal bats they are… Do they like fruit? Fruit bats are a thing, right? I wonder if they like mangoes…. That’d be wicked, because if they like them, that means they have them. I’d kill for a fresh mango.

The guard that was the object of his internal discussion shifted uncomfortably as he stared at her. The mare fluttered her leathery wings and did her best to ignore him. Unfortunately for her, the movement only snapped Jack from his silent debate. Drawing closer to her, the mare let out a quiet breath of defeat as he spoke.

“Hey.”

The mare glanced over at him from her post. “What do you want human?”

Ignoring the slightly icy reception, Jack leaned against the wall next to the mare and looked down on her. She was stocky, and had a pleasantly dark purple mane. “I need a drink. Know where I can find one?”

“I do.” The voice that answered didn’t belong to either the guard or Jack. When the guard turned her head to see who had saved her the trouble, she immediately stiffened and snapped a swift salute.

“Princess Luna, I-” The guard began as Jack slowly turned on his heels to face the Lunar Diarch.

Instead, Luna held up her hoof to silence the guard. “It is alright, I’ll be handling the Staff Sergeant from here on. Thank you for your vigilance.” If the guard was visibly pleased with the compliment, Luna didn’t see it as Jack threw an exoskeleton powered arm around the back of her neck and gestured to the castle at large.

“Lead on then, Lu.”

Nodding to his request, the princess began leading him through the halls of the castle. Jack’s arm around her neck had withdrawn fully, and he’d created a noticeable gap between them. She had to wonder if it meant anything, or if he was simply being aloof. Regardless, she had more pressing matters regarding Jack on her mind. “Jack.”

“Hrm?”

“You’ve been having nightmares again.”

“Hrm.”

Luna sighed to herself and shook her head. “With your permission, I’d like to come into your mind and rid you of them.”

A short glance that scrutinised her face came from Jack as his brain processed what she’d said. “You suddenly decide to ask permission now?” His tone held a slight edge to it, but that was to be expected.

Nodding as she ignored his tone, Luna turned down another meandering hallway. “Yes. After you… openly expressed your disliking to my being inside your mind, I’ve decided that asking you prior is my best course of action.”

Perking a brow in curiosity, Jack decided to follow along. “Uh huh. And why’d you barge in anyway? You do that to a lot of folks?”

“I do, but it is my appointment to protect Equestria’s citizens in their sleep, namely by ridding them of unpleasant dreams and nightmares. When somepony is having a nightmare, it sends ripples through the dreamscape, so I find them and calm their dreams. Yours however… Several of you terran humans have had nightmares so powerful that they create waves. Waves so monstrous that they make navigating the dreamscape dangerous, even to myself. Normally, I go unnoticed within dreams, but in some like yours, they are too powerful for me to remain subtle.” Luna motioned to the grand dining hall doors, and the guards stationed there pulled the doors open for them before saluting sharply.

Withholding his retort until he was seated; Jack sank into one of the dining chairs with a groan. “Right. I guess most ponies only have nightmares about the sugarplums going bad, huh?”

Shaking her head as she sat down near him, Luna motioned to one of the staff to bring them something to eat. “Some, yes, but many do have real nightmares, and I must be there to help them. Whatever magic Discord used to seal away your terran minds has remained long after his defeat, thus making it difficult to even enter your mind.”

“The answer is no.”

His answer surprised her visibly, but Luna was quick to regain control of her emotions. “No? I won’t be invading your privacy, you have my word.” She had to focus to keep the shocked annoyance from her voice. “You agreed to it when we first met-”

“The answer is still no. You want me to have pleasant sleepy times? Then get me alcohol.” Jack turned his attention back to the approaching maid, who held a small platter in her magic.

“Excessive drinking isn’t the answer Jack.” Luna started, before offering a weak smile to the maid as she set down the tray of fine wine. She had to fight back a bemused smile as Jack sneered at the bottle.

“Hey, can I get a bottle of JD? Or… any whiskey? Bourbon? Scotch? I’ll take vodka, or craft beer, just… not wine, okay?” The main blinked in confusion, before slowly nodding and setting off to find something more to his taste. Jack didn’t turn his attentions back to Luna until an appropriately dark bottle of aged whiskey. The maid began pouring him a small glass, only to have the bottle and glass carefully snatched from her grip. “I’ll handle this, thaaank you. Buh bye now.” The maid raised a confused brow toward the princess, who shook her head and quietly released the maid with a thank you. She was about to sip at her own wine glass when Jack spoke again. “You are right though. Alcohol isn’t an answer.”

Luna blinked in shock as he downed his tumbler of straight whiskey. “You… agree? Then why-”

“Alcohol’s a solution.”

Furrowing her brow in confusion, Luna cocked her head toward Jack and stared at him. “But-” Realization suddenly struck within her like a bolt of lightning, and the look of confusion twisted into painfully bemused sense of disgust. “You…. You…” Luna shook her head and snorted derisively as she watched him take on a shit eating grin, before sucking back another glass. “Why must you drink so much, Jack? It is not healthy.” Luna’s features turned toward concern as his features softened; his eyes resting on the swirling burgundy contents of the bottle.

“That’s a good question, princess. I guess it’s replaced my meds, but there’s a couple answers besides that, so it really depends..”

Taking a small sip of her fine wine, Luna got comfortable and smiled at Jack to show her willingness to listen. “What does it depend on, Jack? Does it depend on many of your sorrows I’m willing to listen to?” At his loud, disgusted snort and eye roll, Luna couldn’t help but feel like she was at least half right. She kept her smile of victory to herself however.

“Sorrows. Right.” Jack practically spat the word out as he poured another drink. His cheeks had taken on a rosy tint, and he was obviously bent on draining the bottle in one sitting. “I’m not going to whine and cry about some ‘Woe is me, my life is terrible’ bullshit at you just to justify my drinking, or try and cry about ‘Oh I’ve seen so many terrible things! Boo fucking hoo.” He muttered hotly, before draining his drink again. Jabbing a finger at Luna, He continued onwards. “I drink to forget all that shit, and I drink because there’s something inside me that needs to die.”

With her feeling of victory having shrivelled up with regret, Luna nodded respectfully, before going to place a wing around the now buzzed and worked up man. To her surprise, he jerked away from her, his eyes betraying a dangerous flurry of emotions. Withdrawing her wing, Luna felt her ears flattening against her head out of sadness. “I apologise, I didn’t mean to-”

“Just… Don’t touch me. I don’t like being touched.” Jack failed to suppress the angry shiver that coursed through his body. To punish his body for shivering, he drained his glass again and wiped the overflow from his bristly beard.

“I’m trying to be your friend, Jack. Please, just… tell me what’s wrong? What happened in that facility? What did they, and Discord do to you to hurt you so deeply?”

Pointedly ignoring her probing questions, Jack looked up toward the vaulted ceiling and gestured toward it with his free hand. “What the fuck is the point of having such a high ceiling? I mean… that’s so much room that could be used for other shit! Just… Just think of all the activities you could have… The activities…”

“You’re changing the subject.” Luna stated pointedly as she sipped at her wine.

“Mhm.”

Letting out quiet sigh of defeat, Luna allowed herself a moment to relax into the chair under her. “Jack…”

“Hrm?”

He still wasn’t looking at her; his eyes still wandered the expansive vaulted ceiling of the grand dining hall. Luna sighed softly as she tried to get his attention. “Jack, I truly do want to help you…”

To her surprise, Jack turned his attention directly toward her and set down his drink. “You wanna help me? Then give me something to do. Give me a room away from all the busy royal bullshit, and keep me busy. That sound good?”

Luna took in a slow, soft breath as she considered his request. “I’ll speak with my sister about it, but I… I don’t see how that will help. You need rest. You’re mind needs rest.”

Rolling his eyes as he polished off the last of the bottle; Jack set his glass down and drummed his fingers on the thick wooden table. “The last thing my mind needs is time to think about any of that shit.” Before she could question him again, he stood and waggled his fingers at her. “Besides! Idle hands are the devil’s playthings, right!?”

Quickly standing so she could keep up with the now meandering staff sergeant, Luna couldn’t help but smile and shake her head. “I have a question. The wound on your head. Gunshot, correct?”

“Yarp.”

Luna allowed herself a quiet chuckle of victory. “I knew it. The doctors and the scientists refused to acknowledge it, but I knew!” Luna shook her head and snorted hotly as she muttered. “Too small to be a musket indeed.”

Aiming for the doors that led outside, Jack quirked a brow at Luna. “Wasn’t the gun on scene? What more did they need?”

Snorting as she pushed the doors open with her magic, Luna sucked in a deep breath and reveled in the cool Canterlot night air. “They refused to see something so small as a musket, and were staunch on how ‘if he were shot in the head with a musket, no plate could stop it blah blah blah’.” Luna shook her head as Jack shot her a grin. She did her best to hide her own smile. Her changed tactics were working. “I would like to see one of your weapons fired in the real world. If only to show those stiff collars that they’re all wrong.”

Jack tossed a sideways glance at the princess. “Don’t you… you know, have a human in house who can use a gun? Don’t you idiots already have my fucking guns? I mean, obviously Flitter or Field probably sold out my little cavern hideaway, so you guys probably have my full stock! So, what the hell’s been stopping you furry little bastards from figuring out how simple compressed chemical fucking reactions work?”

Luna was forced to wince as Jack’s voice raised at her, though it held no real edge to it. He was simply stating facts as he saw them. Aiming Jack toward a garden bench, Luna sat down and simply smiled toward the buzzed human. “Your friends didn’t ‘sell out’ your camping spot in the woods. And the weapons we have here are, as Mr. Morozov put it, ‘Out of Ammo’.”

To Luna’s surprise, Jack seemed surprised on both accounts, but only spoke of one. “Did I really burn througha whole sabot mag? Need to work on my pistol marksmanship apparently… Alright, okay, point made.” Jack flopped down onto the bench and let out a long winded sigh. “So you guys really are the good guys?”

Offering him a kind smile and a wing that was swiftly retracted out of forethought, Luna noded. “I would like to think so. We stand for peace and harmony amongst all, though I won’t lie and say that everyone under our rule shares this belief. We have our heroes, and our villians.” Luna’s smile grew ever so slightly as she looked over at Jack. “We always have room for more heroes.”

Her smile dimmed as he snorted hotly and deflated further into the bench. “Heroes… You’ve got the wrong man, Princess. A… a hero fights for what’s right, you’re… Listen, when I was a kid, I… I used to look up to a hero.” Luna perked her ears, and grew comfortable as she motioned for him to continue. Jack rubbed at his warm cheeks as he thought over his alcohol infused words. “I always wanted to be like Steve Rodgers, Captain America. He was a superhero. You know the type, staunch moral compass, never bending to anything, always… always the good guy.”

Smiling, Luna refrained from making physical contact with the tipsy human next to her. “Go on. What made this Captain Rodgers so appealing to you?”

Jack seemed to stare off into the dark for a long moment, before answering. “He stood for Freedom, Equality, and Justice. For everyone. He did what was right, even if it meant he had to take on the whole world to do it. Course, I was just a stupid farm kid, growing up in the ass of Canada, so he really did seem like… like he was someone I could be. It’s part of why I signed on with the corp. I wanted to be a hero still, or at least part of me did…”

Sensing the pain that laced his voice, Luna had to fight back to desire to lay a wing around his shoulders. “What changed?”

Snorting, Jack let his head loll back so he could stare up into the beautifully clear night sky. “The Captain didn’t change. I did. That stupid, childish ideology died pretty fast in the sandbox. My first deployment… it was… I still see it sometimes. It was really, really bad when we first showed up. I had to do a lot of shit that just… it haunts you, you know? I mean, we’re fighting in a place where a mother will hand a frag grenade to her child and tell them to run at us. And we’ve got to put a round in this kid, because if we don’t, we’re dead. He’s dead anyway, but he doesn’t understand, he’s just being a good kid.... We killed kids over there, we had to, because it was them or us. And let me tell you, when push came to shove, I chose me, every goddamn time. I chose me, and I chose my friends over them. I-I had to disarm IED’s, bombs, that were filled with all kinds of shit meant to be shrapnel; nails, screws, fucking marbles... Children’s toys, for God’s sake. I watch kids on our side so fresh outta high school, they weren’t shaving yet, get shipped out in pine boxes… Some die so quickly you don’t have time to even think about it, but then you get the ones that thrash around on gurneys because a pieces of white phosphorus hit them in the guts and they can see their spleen melting before their own fucking eyes, and…” He trailed off for a moment, his eyes growing unfocused. “It gets you thinking when you’re over there, in heat so bad it melts your boot treads to the asphalt, with locals who’ll do anything to kill or maim you… You start thinking that… that maybe they don’t deserve freedom, and equality, and justice… some of them don’t even deserve the kindness of the thirty cent hunk of fucking lead, or steel you put in them. And you just start to HATE them… They kill your friends, they take your legs, they torture you to the brink of death, just because they fucking can, and for what? For fucking what?” Jack stared at Luna, his eyes rimmed in pained red as he silently begged her for an answer. When she couldn’t offer him one, he turned his gaze back up to the stars. “Heroes like Steve Rodgers, perfect heroes, only exist in comic books. Calling people like me hero is a dishonour to the real ones. You want me to fight your wars, you want me to teach your ponies how to kill, you want someone deader than dead, you come talk to me. But I can’t be your hero. I’m just… I can’t be.”

Ignoring his initial request, Luna set one of her hooves down over his hands as they lay in his lap, loosely clasped and fidgeting. “For all the chaos he’s wrought upon us, Discord has given you a second chance Jack. A chance to be the man you wanted to be.”

She couldn’t help but feel a tinge of sorrow strike her heart as Jack pulled his hands away from her hoof and stood up. “I doubt that Princess. I had my second chance a long time ago, and you wanna know what I did with it?” He turned to shoot her a sardonic smirk. “I volunteered for two more tours.” Turning on his heels, Jack began treading toward the castle; his prosthetic legs keeping him stable while the alcohol in his system fought to send him stumbling back and forth. Princess Luna didn’t offer anything else in the way of words as he shambled back into the castle, and off to his uncomfortable hospital bed.

__________________________________________________________

The next day started with a headache.

Jack’s pained groan echoed through the hospital wing, giving one nurse with a large bruise on the back of her head something to smile about. Kicking his legs off the side of the bed, Jack rubbed at his face and focused on simply breathing through the seething headache that threatened to pop his eyes out of his skull. It wasn’t too terrible of a headache, he’d certainly survived worse. A male doctor he didn’t recognise trotted in and began checking the machinery around him, and to Jack’s chagrin, the doctor started talking.

“You must have had quite the night Staff Sergeant, you wandered in here with a BAC of point two ninety. Any equestrian human would be dead after drinking as much as you.”

Rolling his eyes, Jack pushed himself out of the bed and began stretching. “Only two ninety? I wasn’t even drunk yet. Just didn’t pace myself at all.”

The doctor didn’t seem impressed, if there was reason to be. “I’m sure your ability to survive copious amounts of grain alcohol is the stuff of legends.” The stiff necked sarcasm seemed to drip from the stallion’s voice, and only served to earn Jack’s ire.

Before He could do anything about the stuffy doctor, an armoured sun guard trotted through the door and stood at attention. “Staff Sergeant, Princess Celestia has sent me to collect you.”

Jack waved at the guard as he rubbed at his eyes. “Yeah, fine, sure… Just lemme splash some water on my face.”

The guards features fell to a more serious tone. “Immediately, Staff Sergeant.”

All the guard got was an erect middle finger from Jack for his efforts. “If her highness can’t spare me ten fuckin’ seconds to wash my face, then you better be in the middle of a crisis. Are you?”

“Well, no-”

“Then fuck off.”

The guard blinked in surprise, before sneering angrily at Jack as he took his time in washing his face. “I’m warning you Staff Sergeant, stop wasting my- the princess’s time!”

With his eyes cleared up from the water, Jack fixed the guard with a warning glare as his Exoskeleton flexed. “Don’t push me kid, you won’t win.” Before the guard could dig the hole any deeper, recognition flitted across Jack’s face. “Hey, I know you! Private Fuckface!” His armoured fingers clamped down on the back of the private’s armoured collar; his fingertips dug into the soft gold. Jack then hefted the guard off his hooves up like a light bag. As the private flailed his legs and protested loudly to his manhandling, Jack simply grinned toothily and started walking with the guard slung over his shoulder. “Let’s go see the Princess, eh Fuckface?”

________________________________________________________________

Princess Celestia was having a good day. The weather was beautiful outside, the birds were singing and all of Canterlot was enjoying the beginning of a beautiful summer day. She was sitting in her tea room, awaiting a visit from a certain human. After what Luna had told her about her late night conversation with the man, Celestia wanted to speak with him privately. It had been several minutes since she’d requested that a guard collect him from the hospital, so they were due any moment. A commotion outside her tea room door drew her attention, and before she could question what it could possibly be, one of her guards opened the door and poked his head in.

“Erm… Princess Celestia? Staff Sergeant Kessle is here to see you…”

“Oh? Well send him in then.” Celestia sat up and smiled toward the door, only for her smile to slip from her features when Jack walked in with one of her guards slung over his shoulder like a bag. “Why are you carrying my guard, Staff Sergeant?”

His returning toothy grin reminded Celestia of a young rebel, reveling in his own bit of chaos. It almost made her smile. His answer brought it out of her. “Well, you see, Private FF here thought that you had ordered him to drag me here, because apparently it was an emergency so great, I wasn’t allowed to wash my face. So, since we were apparently in a hurry, I picked him up and carried him here.” At the end of his sentence, he held the struggling stallion out at arm's length, and promptly dropped him on his flanks without a hint of warning.

Immediately, the private jumped up and growled at Jack, before steadying himself before the Princess. “Princess Celestia, this-this, Fiend assaulted me, and manhandled me!” He had flushed fully, when Jack decided to chuckle at him. This only seemed to send the private further over the edge. “You see!? He’s a-”

“Private Bronze, you’re dismissed.” Celestia motioned for Jack to take a seat across from her.

Unable to take the hint, the Private sputtered and stared wide eyed at the Princess. “But- but princess-”

“No buts Private, dismissed. I’ll be speaking with your superior about your behaviour toward our guest.” The private deflated visibly, and immediately left the room with his tail tucked firmly between his legs. Before Jack had a chance to open his mouth and ruin the moment, Celestia cleared her throat and leveled her gaze onto him. “Staff Sergeant, in the future, please refrain from instigating the guards.”

Deciding that explanation and arguing would do him no good, Jack simply offered a quick salute as he sat down. “I’ll only ride them if they deserve it. Ma’am. Now, you needed something, or did you just want a drink?”

Celestia simply as she poured herself a cup of tea. “Both.” Sliding a cup of tea toward Jack with her magic, Celestia took the time to sip at her own. “How are you feeling?”

Relaxing into his cushion, Jack plopped several sugar cubes into his tea before taking a tentative sip. “Not bad. I’ll need to watch my calorie intake and workout on a regular schedule, but I’ll openly admit your docs did a damn good job keeping me in one piece. Even we have issues with keeping people in good shape during extended bed rest.”

Celestia smiled at the compliment as she sipped at her tea. “I’m glad to hear that. We use magic and our most advanced modern techniques in the Royal Hospital. I’ll pass along your approval to the staff.” Celestia shifted as she watched him pick up his teacup; his exoskeleton clicking and whirring quietly to compensate his strength. “May I ask, but why are you wearing that? What is it’s purpose?”

Looking down at his exoskeleton, Jack simply shrugged. “Powered exoskeleton, augments and increases user strength without the need of a large power source. I’m wearing it because… well, the coma took a lot out of me, so until I’m back up to par I’ll be wearing it more often.”

“I see, I did read a brief report on it, from Professor Field, though I expected it to be much larger. Very interesting.” Celestia smiled softly as she finished her tea and set it down. “I have been watching you, Staff Sergeant- May I call you Jack?” At his nod, she smiled and continued. “It is hard to ignore the leadership skills you possess, and while your means of motivation are… harsh, they seem to be highly effective. I’ve also heard that you’ve been practically demanding for something to do. So, if you still wish to help, I’d like to assign you to a squad of Royal Guards who are currently collecting terran objects as they appear. We may have more for you in the future if this proves to be successful.”

To his credit, Jack didn’t let his own excitement show. “Course. Now, I only got one concession to that.” At Celestia’s attention, He leaned back and stared directly at her. “Any military spec gear, or weapons of any kind, I want to be put under my supervision. As of right now, none of your folks have the training or knowhow to safely handle any of it. One wrong move with a grenade. One kid with a glock. One bad pony with a dirty bomb. It could all mean a whole lot of hurt if that kind of shit falls in the wrong hands. If you can do that for me, I’ll see that myself and Petyr help your folks reverse engineer and understand the safe civilian stuff.”

Considering the terms, Celestia nodded, and offered a hoof to the man sitting across from her. “I find those terms agreeable, Jack. But I want you to keep us aware of what you have in storage.”

“Done.”

“Good.” Celestia smiled and began creating a letter with the quill now held in her magic. “I would also like to assign you some guards, if that’s alright with you.”

Quirking a brow as he redirected his attention away from her magic, Jack found himself frowning at the princess. “Why? Can’t be for my protection.”

Maintaining her smile as she returned her gaze to him, Celestia nodded. “It is, we’ve had issues in the past, and I would like to avoid any unneeded altercations.”

Grunting in acknowledgement, Jack sighed and nodded. “Aight, fine. So, this puts me under your employ…” He stared at the document Celestia was drafting up before him. “I want autonomy from your Royal Guard. I don’t mess with their chain of command, and they don’t try and beat me with it.”

“Of course. Quarters have been prepared for you, though they aren’t… Hmm. They’re not exactly normal. It’s a repurposed store room, but I hope it’s to your liking.”

Waving a hand as he stood to stretch his limbs, Jack took in the view that Celestia’s tearoom afforded. “I’ve slept in worse, I’m sure.” He stared out at the sprawling city of Canterlot, his hands gripping the gilded railing. “Beautiful city.”

Joining the man at the railing, Celestia wondered if the city would have enthralled her like so many if she had never seen it prior. “Yes, it’s been damaged several times in recent memory, but Canterlot always rebuilds, Canterlot bounces back.”

“I need a way back to my camp.” Blinking in surprise at the sudden change of topic, Celestia allowed herself to scrutinize Jack’s face in an attempt to discover his motives. Thankfully, he didn’t leave her wondering for long. “I need to get my equipment. Can’t leave it out there for much longer.”

Nodding, Celestia’s magic wrapped around another page of parchment and her pen. After a moment, the page was incinerated, sending it on its way. “A sky-wagon will be ready by the time you reach the field. I’ll have your new guards escort you. They should be waiting outside for you.”

Rolling his shoulders, Jack smirked at her and started moving for the door. “I look forward to working with you.” Stopping at the door, he tossed a wayward glance over his shoulder. “I appreciate the trust.”

As the door clicked shut behind him, Celestia let out a breath of relief as the human left earshot. “I’m sorry Jack, but trust isn’t a word I would use to describe our relationship.”

____________________________________________________________

Just outside the door, Jack found himself with a wide grin on his face. “Well look at that, my two favourite guards!” In front of him stood Corporal Baron, and Private Ace, both of whom looked equally surprised. Baron’s look of surprise swiftly turned into pained defeat as Jack laughed and clapped his hands down onto their shoulders. “Come on ladies, we’ve got a ride to catch.”

Thankfully, boarding the prepared sky-wagon had been trivial, and now the trio were flying across the wide open fields leading to Ponyville. So far, neither guard had said much to the human sitting across from them. If it bothered Jack, he didn’t show it by keeping his attentions on the ground and the horizon. His empty backpack, retrieved from Field and Petyr, rustled at his feet every time the carriage banked and turned.

“You know, humans have been trying to fly for centuries. Always looked to the sky and yearned to be up there with the birds. A lot of people saw a freedom in that.” Jack said as he gazed out across the pristine land below Canterlot.

Mythic turned his attentions away from his upset partner and toward Jack. “I heard that you got Private Bronze in some pretty deep trouble.”

The corners of Jack’s mouth twisted upwards as he shot a sly look toward the stallion. “Private Fuckface‘s inability to keep his mouth got him in trouble. I simply carried him to it.”

Unable to keep herself silent any longer, Baron shot a glare toward both men as she leaned forward. “How long are we going to be following you around anyway? I didn’t join the Royal Guard to babysit crazy humans.”

“Baron!” Mythic snapped, his face a mask of disappointment.

“What? Neither of us did!”

Before the argument could carry on, they were both cut off by Jack laughing to himself. Shaking his head as he laughed harder, Jack pointed at Baron and giggled to himself. “That’s rich. Really. ‘Didn’t join the police force to keep folks safe’. That’s good, I’ll have to remember that.”

Baron’s cheeks flushed bright red as she glared at the human. “That’s not what I said! I-”

“So what did you join for, hmm?” Jack interrupted, his brows perked up at her. “Did you wanna go to war? Did you wanna see action?” He ignored Mythics quiet sigh of defeat as Baron puffed up her chest ever so slightly from an easily imagined insult.

“I joined to keep ponies safe, not baby sit soldiers.” She turned her ire toward Mythic. “We haven’t had an active patrol in days, just... Guard duty.”

Jack simply smiled as he motioned for the pegasi leading to start taking them down toward the forest. “You want action, Corporal? You wanna be in the thick of it?”

Despite sensing the trap laid bare in his words, Baron grit her teeth and followed it anyway. “Say I do.”

As the carriage came in for a deceptively soft landing, Jack shot a humourless smile toward the mare. “Then follow me and don’t lag behind. Either I’ll find trouble, or trouble will find me. Mark my fuckin’ words.” Ignoring the attention the arrival of a royal carriage had brought, Jack began walking quickly toward the forest that laid before him. Tossing a disapproving glance toward his partner, Private Mythic galloped to catch up with Jack as he neared the tree line. Baron glared vehemently at the pair, before letting out a strained breath and following after them.

The forest certainly seemed… darker, than it should have considering the time. A feeling of unease settled over Jack as he followed the old trail that weaved back and forth through the trees. The path itself was overgrown with vegetation, almost to the point it being consumed completely. Private Ace cleared his throat as he trotted a few paces behind Jack. “We need to be careful, ever since the battle, the Everfree has been spreading further.”

Cocking his head back so he could look at the greyscale earthpony, Jack quirked a brow in question. “I thought this was Whitetail?” His eyes instantly flicked back to the woods in question as something clattered through the trees.

Mythic shook his head as he trotted closer to Jack as he walked. “Not anymore. The Everfree overtook a big part of Whitetail. The locals in Ponyville had to cut down a lot of Whitetail to stop the spread. Since then all kinds of nasty things have been popping up.”

“The whole area is dangerous now.” Baron chimed in, though she didn’t sound happy about it. “We’ve had numerous reports of growing infected populations in the outer reaches and increasing numbers of attacks. Now there’s a permanent guard force in town just to keep ponies safe.”

“Figures.” Jack muttered as he hopped over a fallen tree trunk. “Whole place goes to shit while I’m gone.” He paused shortly, and narrowed his eyes at a patch of thick trees. “Maybe…” Pacing forward and off the overgrown path, Jack began blazing a trail through the undergrowth. He came to a sudden stop, not warning the two ponies who struggled to keep pace through the thick foliage. He kneeled down, ignoring their questioning as he began digging through the soft soil with his fingers. The pair exchanged a glance as he laughed, and pulled a metal stake from the ground. “We’re close. It’s one of my boundary spikes.”

“Boundary spikes?” Mythic questioned, which earned him another glare from Baron that he ignored.

Nodding as he continued forward, Jack smiled at the stallion. “Yeah, kind of a sonar slash radar device, set up a net of them and they’ll alert you the second something bigger than a field mouse enters the AO. Pretty nifty, but only really useful in static defense. I’ll have to dig them all up once I’ve got my HUD up and running.”

“I didn’t understand a word of that, Staff Sergeant.” Mythic blinked in confusion as he glanced toward his partner, who gave him the same look and simply shrugged in ignorance.

Jack simply smiled again as he spotted the rocky cliff face up ahead. “If you had a map of the area, and these spikes set up, the moment we entered their coverage we would appear on that map and it would track us constantly, making us easy to hunt down and eliminate. Or capture.”

The pair of guards seemed impressed despite themselves as they kept pace with the taller human. Since he knew Baron wouldn’t field the questions he wanted answered, Mythic was forced to try and find them himself. “So, what if the ponies entering are friendly? How do you tell the difference?”

“Simple.” Jack replied as he stopped and changed course again. “Little non-invasive implant set into the back of your head or on your sternum, it would essentially mark you as a different colour on the map, signifying friendly. It’s more complicated than that obviously, and involves a whole lot of talking between the chips, the spikes, the viewers HUD, and sometimes orbiting satellites, but that’s it in a nutshell.” Jack began running his hand along the rock face of the cliff in search of his camp. Within moments, he stopped and allowed himself a prideful smile. “Wait here.”

Mythic traded a look with Baron, before turning his head back to question Jack- only for the human to have disappeared completely. “Wha- Where did he go!?” The pair backed away from the rock wall as they scanned around frantically for their charge. “He just disappeared!”

Inside the cave, Jack bit his knuckles to keep himself from laughing out loud at the surprise of his guards. I’ll never get tired of tech-spooking these guys. With a shake of his head, Jack looked over his dark hideout. From what he could tell, almost everything was covered with a fine layer of dust and dirt. Fumbling around in his backpack, Jack produced a chemical glow stick and cracked it. The soft green light slowly filled the cave, and revealed old hoofprints sent into the dust and dirt. They tracked back and forth through the cave, but mostly focused on his solar array and his bed. Realization struck, and Jack couldn’t help but smile pridefully. Charging the PDA with the solar array, atta girl Flitter. Shaking his head to get his mind on task, Jack began breaking camp and collecting his belongings. Despite the time he’d spent in the cave, breaking camp only took him a handful of minutes; everything being designed with rapid movement and deployment in mind.

Eventually, his massive pack bulged with his camp and equipment, leaving him one last active camouflage tarp and his armour. Leaving the tarp for last, Jack softly treaded over to his armour and began a systems diagnostic. If the hoof prints in the dirt around it, and lack of dust on the armour were any indication, Flitter had taken it upon herself to keep it clean for him, despite not knowing if he would ever use it again. Stepping into the armour, Jack allowed himself a calming breath as it clattered closed around him. He was back in his personal coffin, and despite himself, he felt better for it.

As he prepared to exit the cave, a sliver of colour caught his attention. Kneeling down, Jack tugged at the pink ribbon, drawing it out of the rocks that had been beside his bed. Sudden recognition struck as he gingerly handled the dirty ribbon. It’s Flitters… guess it must have come off her one of the times she was here. I bet she’d like it back. Without any further though, Jack stuffed the abused ribbon into one of his bag’s pouches.

Slinging the light eighty kilogram bag over his back and engaging the magnetic anchors on it, Jack checked over his rifle as his HUD finished rolling through system startup diagnostics. All systems read across the board as green, and his weapon readout flickered to life. A satisfied smirk spread across his face as he slung the rifle across his chest and strode out of the cave.

“It’s got to be some kind some illusion magic…” Baron muttered to herself as she poked at the rock wall. She felt some kind of coarse fabric, and wood behind that under her hoof. However, she couldn’t feel any kind of magic in or around it. “It’s got to be more human technology…” Baron suddenly found her investigation coming to a screeching halt as the fabric parted, and an armoured goliath stepped out. The pair of guards cried out, and took several steps back as they readied their weapons- only to immediately slump as the armoured figure slapped his metal thigh and laughed at them.

“That’s the best reaction I’ve had yet! Hah!” Jack cackled and shook his head in amusement as his bodyguards flushed with embarrassment. He began pulling down the tarp and stuffing it into his bag as he spoke. “Seriously though, good reflexes guys. I-” Without warning, Jack’s voice halted and he tensed visibly. His HUD flashed as his boundary spikes pulsed pages of warnings at him. “Form up, we’ve got company!” At the surprised looks coming from Mythic and Baron, he snarled and jabbed a finger toward the dirt under him. “NOW!” Not waiting for them to get close, Jack unclasped the quad drone from his armoured hip and tossed it into the air. The drone unfolded, its rotors buzzing quietly as its micro-repulsors fired to steady it. Jabbing a hand toward the incoming red markers, Jack readied his rifle with his other as he barked a command for the drone. “Engage Harassment Protocol, code one-five-six-echo-niner!” The drone’s light laser array powered on as it pulsed away like a shot.

Mythic had drawn his spear and was brandishing it toward the dark forest. He could hear it now, the thumping and crashing of dozens of feet; bearing down on them through the forest. “How many? Can you tell?” He hopped that whatever science fiction technology the Staff Sergeant brought to the field could tell him that much at least. It did.

“Forty plus tangoes and climbing, I think they were stalking us, maybe caught a scent on the wind.” Jack watched as the drone began digitally marking the horde of charging infected humans. His shoulder rocket pod extended from his armour as the target markers began climbing upwards to sixty. “Wait for my command, we’ll begin a fighting retreat back to the trail and to the clearing we passed. I’ll fire a flare for extraction. On my mark!”

Baron and Mythic exchanged a worried glance as they finally spotted the horde breaking through the trees like a tidal wave. Mythic swallowed thickly and fixed his helmet’s chin strap. If he was going to die, he was going to die fighting. “Ready! He cried, before being mirrored by Baron.

“MARK! FOX THREE!” The hive rocket leapt from Jack’s shoulder and lanced forward as he opened fire with his rifle; the superheated lasers striking long before the rocket flowered mid-flight and struck its targets. The thundering cacophony of explosions ripped through the forest as Jack began jogging forward with his guards at his side. The drone received the weapons free command, and started pumping light laser fire into the infected from the air. The infected wave barely missed a beat; eager in closing the distance between them and their prey. Jack wasn’t about to let that happen so easily. “FOX THREE! WILLIE PETES, WATCH THE SHRAP!” The rocket lanced out of the rack on his shoulder and streaked eagerly toward its targets; it burst in the air, showering the forest and the infected within with burning white phosphorus shrapnel and chemical fumes. At the range the rocket airburst from, smaller high velocity shards snapped past the trio. Mythic recoiled as a shard meant for his face was taken by an extended armoured forearm that belonged to Jack. The shrapnel burned away at the hardened ceramic, but to no avail as the human continued to pour on the rifle fire.

“Leftside contact!” Baron yelled as her horn blazed and a shaped shield burst from the ground; a moment later a group of infected slammed into it. Her spear began making quick work of them, severing spines and stabbing through thin skulls. Mythic passed behind Jack, and leant his spear to hers to swiftly deal with the flanking threat. A horrible, shrieking cry overcame the trio as they retreated; one of the larger infected had managed to avoid Jack’s lancing beams and had flanked them with the cover of the trees. It was charging the armoured man, intent on bowling him over and opening them up for the rest of the horde. With speed belying his size, Mythic pounced from Baron’s flank to Jack; his hind hooves coiling like springs to deliver a bone crushing buck. The infected’s momentum came to a crushing halt, and it hit the ground in a heap of broken bones. Mythic’s sense of victory was short lived, as he realized that his own loss of momentum had left him in front of the trio, in front of Jack, and at the head of the horde. Training beat out panic, and he prepared to turn his spear toward the howling wall. As the first infected pounced at him, an armoured hand sank into Mythic’s golden collar and yanked him out of reach. Jack’s rifle barrel jabbed forward and sent a sharp line of vibrant light through the offending Infected’s eye socket.

Mythic grunted his thanks as Jack released him, before spotting the clearing. Mythic felt a smile creeping onto his features despite the danger. “There’s the clearing! We’re almost there, Baron!”

“I got it!” Baron’s shield flashed, and the infected piling upon it were sent twirling through the air like ragdolls.

The trio burst into the small clearing, and while mid-gallop, Baron arced her horn skyward and fired a brilliant green magical flare. Jack glanced over his shoulder and gave a short shrug, before pumping more fire into the horde. “I guess that works!” Retreating further into the clearing, Jack grimaced as a warning popped up over his weapon readout.

*Warning*

*Warning*

-Critical heat threshold in ten shots-

-Eight shots-

-Six shots-

Jack cursed, and barked out an order. “Disengage safeties, open primary heat sinks!” The barrel shroud of the rifle flowered aggressively, and heat began pouring from the weapon in waves. Even through his environmentally sealed armour, he could still feel the heat buffeting his hands and forearms like an oven on full blast. Switching to semi-automatic fire, Jack began picking his targets with a bit more precision. With another verbal order to his armour’s systems, his bag’s magnetic anchors disengaged, dropping his loaded bag into the center of the clearing. “FOX THREE!” Another hive rocket launched from his shoulder rack, and struck hard upon the now uncovered infected as they crossed into the clearing. His HUD began warning him about low munition levels, and he cursed violently. I can’t keep range with these things, and if they close Baron and Mythic are as good as fucked… You fucker’s want a meal? I’ll give y’all something to fucking eat! He turned on his heel and tossed the nearly overheating rifle toward Baron, who thankfully caught it in her magic instead of her hooves. “Use your shield and cover up! NOW!!”

Without questioning orders, Baron’s horn flashed and a thick bubble shield slammed down around her and Mythic. With their spears ready to assist through the magical barrier despite the numbers against them, the pair found themselves at a loss for words when Jack’s armour shifted around him. His plates slid outwards and exposing his heatsinks, making him seem like an even larger, more monstrous target. Their questions died when he roared over his external comms.

“YOU MOTHERFUCKERS WANT SOME OF THIS!? WELL COME AND GET ME!” Without pause, he bullrushed into the oncoming wave with his warning alarms blaring and his heatsinks open to the air. His armoured bulk slammed into the wall of flesh like a roaring train; several infected were driven to the ground and crushed under his armoured boots. The broiling heat the sink put off was enough to boil away the skin of any Infected foolish enough to grab onto him, not that it bothered them much. Slamming his armoured fists into the rotten, unprotected flesh was effective and visceral, but it just wasn’t enough. He didn’t have time to dedicate to confirming kills on single targets when the horde itself was a threat of simply overrunning him through sheer mass alone. Hellbent on keeping the hordes attention solely on him, Jack roared again. “BRING IT ON, BITCHES! COME ON! PRIME, GRADE ‘A’ MARINE BEEF, RIGHT FUCKING HERE!” Backhanding a particularly hardy infected off his right arm, Jack roared in animal aggression as he beat and bludgeoned his way through, not willing to let anything passed him. Can’t give up! Come on you bastard! Fight harder! HARDER!

“Staff Sergeant! Heads up!”

Jack’s eyes snapped upwards, catching sight of the spinning short sword coming toward him; it had to belong to Mythic, he hadn’t seen Baron carrying one. Snatching it out of the air with augmented reflexes, Jack cackled as he began cleaving through the oncoming infected like someone would hack through thick foliage. Without finesse, he hacked and cleaved through necrotic flesh, his own war cries drowning out the screeching howls of the infected. In his bloodlust, he didn’t notice the carriages appearing over the clearing, loaded with Ponyville guards. Magical lances of energy began peppering the horde around him, and his audio pick-ups caught snatches of barked orders over the pitching cries and keening moans of the infected that surrounded him. His drone buzzed overhead, giving him a good view of the field as it’s computer selected any infected that got too close to Baron’s shield and put said infected down with pinpoint laser fire. Two squads of armed guards had landed, and were now advancing on the melee, putting down any stragglers with efficient ease. Taking caution to avoid swiping in the guard’s direction, or accidentally throwing any live infected toward them, Jack redoubled his efforts in putting down every last infected that had the gaul to barr their rotten teeth at him. His armour shuttered closed, covering his heatsinks as the guards finally closed with him and aided in mopping up the surviving infected.

As quickly as it had come upon them, the fighting ended. Pulling his spear from an infected skull, Mythic let out an elated breath and allowed himself an impressed laugh. His laugh was met by Jack’s own enthused one as he treaded over corpses like they weren’t there. Mythic smiled openly toward the human as the other guards watched him with guarded curiosity. “That was something else, sir.” Mythic saluted the human as he stopped before him.

Chuckling as he disengaged his helmet seals; Jack tucked his helmet under his shoulder and held the gore stained short sword out by its blade. “Thanks for the assist, that was quick thinking.” He turned his eyes toward Baron as Mythic took the battered blade; Baron immediately met his gaze, as if awaiting his next order. Nodding to her, Jack smiled openly and sighed as the waves of adrenaline ebbed away. “I warned you two, stick around me long enough, and you’ll take on the world. Now, let’s go get those boundary spikes and leave our buddies here to clean up the mess.”

The guard captain present gaped in shock, before scowling hotly. “Hey, you three need to stay and help too! This is your damn mess anyway!”

All he got in return was a toothy grin from Jack and a silver tongued excuse. “Sorry sir, but we’re ona’ mission from Celestia ‘erself to retrieve human tech! Good job though! I’ll make sure you and your men’s excellent action is mentioned in our report.” Jack snapped a sloppy, cocky salute toward the officer in question, before retrieving his now cooled down rifle from Baron and herding his bodyguards along.

As they reentered the forest and avoided the myriad of broken, shattered bodies, Baron looked up toward Jack. “Are we going to fill out a report on this?”

“Nnnnope.”

“Are we even going to help them?”

“Eeenoope.” Jack was now grinning under his helmet; he found himself readily joined by Mythic, and reluctantly by Baron.

Sighing in faux defeat, Baron did her best to hide her own smile. “I guess that we’ll have to take a different route out this time.”

“Yup.”

Unable to hide her smile from Mythic, Baron shook her head. “If you say so. Sir.”

Author's Notes:

That's 45,199 words released in the month of December. Consider these holiday gifts! The next chapter may take a little while to get up. I'd like to thank Kyriteon for all his hard work over the holidays while Jade was visiting family.

Anyways, Since my cover art commission has fallen through, I'd appreciate it if anyone could send me towards a different artist, or suggest new art. I'd appreciate it.