Author's Notes:

The full continuation of Chapter Six. Also, no editor, so expect my usual level of garbage!

The morning sun shone through the wide open window in Goldie's cloud-home, casting a pleasant shade of orange over everything. Unfortunately for one individual, the sun was shining directly in her eyes, and she was currently pinned under her coltfriend's wing. Meaning, she couldn't do anything. Flitter mashed her eyelids together in the vain hope that her retinas could stop being fried for a single second. When that failed, she buried her face into Goldie's feathers. The stallion stirred; a quiet mumble of something incoherent and pointless spilled from his muzzle. After a long moment, he managed to slur a ‘Good Morning’, and nuzzle Flitter's neck.

“Morning.” Flitter said weakly as she shifted about to remove the sun from her face. As she moved, Flitter winced in pain. Last nights session had been… Rough. Sighing quietly, Flitter fluttered her wings; batting Goldie's aside as she did so.

As Flitter stood and stretched, Goldie sat up in bed. “So, what do you have planned for the day?” He asked as he wiped sleep from his eyes. Goldie stretched his wings, before fluttering them daintily.

“Oh you know, stuff.” Flitter answered plainly as she stumbled into the en-suite bathroom. Goldie started preening himself idly as he waited for the mare to finish up. Within a minute, he heard a sharp shriek of pain.

“What the buck did you do to my mane last night!?” Flitter exclaimed angrily from the bathroom. Goldie cackled in response, and received a flying manebrush upside the head, courtesy of Flitter. The mare glared at him half-heartedly, before shaking her head. “Butthead.” As Flitter turned back towards the bathroom, her flanks were grabbed from behind, and she swiftly found herself being pulled backwards to the bed. Flitter managed a surprised yelp, before being smothered in coltfriend.

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About an hour later, and with much prodding from Flitter, the pair found themselves outside and trotting down Main Street. To their surprise, there seemed to be a large gathering of animals in front of the library. The ever recognizable Twilight Sparkle seemed to be speaking to a thoroughly rattled Fluttershy. Flitter perked an ear. If anything ever interesting or dangerous happened around town, the Elements were Always involved.

“I wonder what emergency it is this time. Maybe she ran out of bird feed.” Goldie chuckled quickly at his own joke, before looking at Flitter. He arched an eyebrow at the mare at his side with curiosity. “What’s up with you?”

Flitter shushed him immediately, and resumed listening in on the conversation. She didn’t enjoy eavesdropping, but something the cowardly pegasus had said had caught her attention.

“I’m sure of it Twilight, it looked exactly like a human. Twilight… Have you ever thought that maybe there’s more of them out there? Like M-”

Twilight immediately shushed Fluttershy as her eyes flitted about nervously. Flitter hid her expression of interest with the look of a kicked puppy.

It sounds like Jack might have gotten into trouble last night… I definitely need to see him, and soon. Flitter winced at the thought of confronting a possibly aggravated Jack. She knew he was capable of violence, and she had no idea where his boundaries lay. He wouldn’t hurt me, would he? We’re… Friends? As Flitter thought to herself quietly, she was suddenly jarred from her line of thought as Goldie batted her side.

“Equis to Sky-cadet.” He grinned at her. "I said, You want to grab breakfast?” He asked as he smiled faintly. He gestured towards one of Ponyvilles dining establishments with a wing. It was one that Flitter had eaten at before, but hadn’t enjoyed.

Flitter was about to nod yes despite herself, before she caught Fluttershy raising her voice above a whisper. “B-but there was an explosion… All the animals are scared, and I can’t make the poor dears stay without me there when they’re like that..”

Immediately thinking of Jack, and the worst possible situation he could have run into walking home in the dark; Flitter shook her head no. “I have to do my run. Maybe I’ll catch up with you later?” She offered as a consolation prize.

Goldie made a face that said he was both skeptical, and entertained by the mere idea of what Flitter had said. “Run? You don’t run Flitty. You fuzzy little jokester.” He grinned, before draping a wing over her side in an attempt to lead her to the restaurant. “Come on, I’ll buy.”

To his infinite surprise, Flitter shook her head, and broke off from his side. “Sorry, but I’ve got to go.” She smiled softly at him, before pecking his cheek. “Rain-cheque?”

Sighing quietly; Goldie nodded confirmation, before pecking Flitters lips with his own. “Rain-cheque. But you owe me for this. Standing me up like that. Hump and Run.” He pouted cutely at Flitter, before blowing a lock of golden mane from his eyes..

Suppressing her giggle, Flitter waved good-bye to Goldie. “I promise I’ll make it up to you!” She flapped her wings hard, and took off towards Whitetail Woods. Once she was outside the villages limits, Flitter allowed her intense worry to finally show through.

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Landing just shy of the entrance to Jacks ‘FOB’ -As he’d called it-, Flitter went to trot through the camouflage tarp- And promptly ran muzzle first into what felt like a wooden wall. Scrunching her face up in surprise and pain; Flitter regarded the shimmering tarp before her. She cautiously brushed it aside with a hoof, and found that there was indeed a wooden wall blocking her path. Flitter pouted slightly, before searching for a way around it.

Several minutes later of searching and fretting, Flitter finally managed to find a relatively loose point in the wall. Pressing against it with all of her might, Flitter found herself sliding down it and into the frozen dirt. A disgruntled growl escaped the flustered mare, who got back up, and tried again. This time, the point shifted, ever so slightly. When the point shifted, it opened up a small spot where Flitter was sure she could slip through if she sucked in her pudge. Sticking her head in through the hole, Flitter realized that she couldn’t see anything in the pitch-black cave. Biting her cheek nervously with trepidation to the unknown; Flitter flapped her wings, and forced herself through the small opening.

Flitter landed on her flank, and immediately regretted it as a shard of glass dug into her soft flesh. A pained squeal escaped her as she hopped up- And promptly stepped on another piece of glass. “Gaaaah!” Flitter cried out in pain, before flapping her wings rapidly to take her off the glass covered ground. Flitter hovered forward until she could no longer see any more pieces reflecting the light from outside. Landing carefully, Flitter lifted her hoof and gingerly removed the small hunk of glass from the center of her hoof with her teeth. Just as she pulled the bit from her hoof, something large and metallic moved, catching the intruding rays. The mare’s eyes went wide, and she froze in place. The only sound that was made was the bloody bit of glass falling from her lips.

“Jack?” Flitter asked cautiously, only to receive no answer. “Hello?” Edging forward discreetly until she was in front of Jacks armoured form; Flitter scrunched her muzzle again. “you smell like a brewery…” She muttered toward the clearly snoozing human, who had several empty bottles littering the ground around him. Jack moved slightly, his right arm shaking strangely; like it had a mind of its own.

“Iz-fuh…”

The mares eyebrows shot up into her fringe as Jack muttered something completely incoherent in his sleep. His voice was softer than the electronic voice that Flitter had come to assume as his own voice. Currently Jack was making random-esque noises, in place of words. His face twitched, and he seemed to be scowling. Flitter smiled weakly as she trotted closer to Jack. “Jack? Wakey wakey.” She was about to poke his face, but the human jerked violently; his facial and neck muscles vibrating and twitching erratically.

“nuh…”

Flitter furrowed her brow in worry as Jack started breathing heavily. “Jack?”

Before Flitter could press any further, Jack’s eyes shot open as if on springs. Jack spasmed upward, and loosed a scream of terror and pain that froze Flitter’s blood in her veins. Lunging forward, Flitter barely managed to avoid being crushed as the armoured Jack sprang to his feet. He stumbled around in a violent haze, before lurching. He stumbled quickly to the entrance, and door-kicked the wall out of its place. The entire construct blew outwards, and Jack followed behind it swiftly. He didn’t make it far, and Flitter was right behind him.

Hitting a tree shoulder first mid-stumble saw the old oak groan and shake; it then saw Jack fall to his knees to dry heave. When nothing came out, He rolled, and fell onto his armoured ass. Alighting near his feet, Flitter watched on in silent horror as Jack stifled a long, pained yell with his hands. His armoured fingers raked across his face as he shook.

“J-jack? A-are you alright?” Flitter moved up to the near-catatonic human as he pressed the palms of his hands against his face. “Jack?” She asked again, her voice cracking in fear.

Jack?

The mare’s voice echoed through his skull; a second rode it in like a stow-away. Jack grit his teeth painfully, and lunged at Elissa’s voice. Grasping her by both sides of the head, Jack glared down at the fiery redhead with all the hatred and pain that had swam up at the sound of her voice.

I’LL CRUSH YOUR SKULL, YOU JODIE-FUCKING WHORE!!!

Jacks fingers dug in, but something in him held back. It demanded that he relent, and it demanded loudly. It was like somebody stronger than he was was holding his hands where they were, all while screaming white-noise in his ears.

Jack! P-please! It’s me! The scared voice cut through the static, the hatred, and the pain. .

For a small moment, Jack didn’t see his ex-fiance in his hands. Instead, all he saw a small, terrified little girl, begging for her life. He was going to kill her. Could have. Should have. Hot shame flooded Jacks mind, and he immediately loosened his grip and pulled the small mare against his armoured breastplate.

Flitter sucked in a ragged breath as Jack recognised her and released his death-grip on her skull. Sucking back a sob of pain, Flitter suddenly found herself in a tight hug. Closing her eyes, Flitter wrapped her hooves around the shaking figure without a single word. Jack took in a shaky breath as he petted the mares mane and back in a weak attempt to calm both Flitter, and himself.

After several minutes of the pair sitting there, Flitter weakly nuzzled against the humans chin. “Y-you can let go now…” Jack complied without hesitation; his hands falling limp to his sides. When Flitter looked up at him, she found he couldn’t meet her gaze. I didn’t think a human could look so sad… Flitter wiped her eyes, before looking back up at Jack. His visage was twisted with sorrow and regret. His eyes wavered, and he didn’t seem to be quiet there. “Jack.” Flitter said with a sturdy voice. “I’m okay. You didn’t hurt me.” She said, a weak smile spreading across her muzzle.

Finally, Jack turned his head and looked straight at the small mare. He returned the weak smile, before rubbing his face. His shoulders slumped, and he seemed to relax a bit more. A quiet sigh escaped him; his mouth opened again as he looked down at Flitter. “-!” His eyes went wide again; he turned his head to the side just as he started to cough and hack. His armoured hand went to his throat; it rubbed away ineffectively, resulting in a disgruntled roll of Jacks eyes.

Smiling weakly, Flitter stood up and got off of his lap. “I-it’s okay… I think I know what you wanted to say.” She offered a hoof to the human. There was no possible way for her to pull him up as he was, but the gesture carried its own weight and message. Jack smirked apologetically as he took the offered hoof and pushed up. He staggered up to his feet, and barely managed to keep from falling over as all the blood flooded from his brain to his thighs. Jack shook his head, before working a thumb into his temple. His eyes wandered over to Flitter, and were followed by a light smile. He beckoned for her to follow.

Jacks cybernetic feet crushed the glass underfoot as he trodded into his home. As the broken glass cracked and snapped loudly, he looked down and lifted an armoured boot. He made a face, and started to brush the sharp mess to the side of the tunnel with his foot.

“So… What was that all about?” Flitter asked quietly as she hovered across the entrance’s floor. Her hoof ached painfully at the mere thought of additional shards that were most definitely scattered around the cave. Her head still pounded painfully, but it had thankfully died down to a dull ache. Flitter landed by the fire, just as Jack was pulling up his PDA and rubbing sleep from his eyes. To her surprise, Jack didn’t answer right away. His right hand flexed and moved about as he seemed to stare off into nothingness. Flitter furrowed her brow in concern. “Is it because I… you know…” She pawed the ground as her shame caught up with her. This might be all my fault…

“I had a bad dream.”

The answer caught Flitter both off guard, and completely by surprise. She stared at Jack for a long moment, before scooting slightly closer. “S-so you didn’t do… All of that, because of me?”

“Oh, I’m still really mad at you, but I think we’re almost even after all of that.” He grinned at her, his usual personality finally showing through.

Flitter pouted as she sat down on the little pillow that she’d brought into the cave several days ago; despite that, she was still curious as to what was going on in Jacks head. “Okay, okay… So I made a dumb decision… Sorry.” Jack snorted lightly and gently knocked her over with the toe of his boot, just before backing up against the wall. Flitter grumbled as she pushed herself back up, but her attention was again taken up by Jacks armour unfolding to let him out. Her ears twitched in tandem with the systematic ‘click-clack’ his armour made. Within short order, the human stepped out of his armour and stretched. The odour that followed him made Flitter gag and wheeze. “S-sweet Celestia! Jack, when was the last time you bathed!?” She flapped her wings rapidly, before shielding her face with her soft feathers.

Arching an eyebrow, Jack lifted one of his arms and sniffed. He grimaced, and swiftly lowered his arm. He pursed his lips in embarrassment, and drummed his fingers off his thigh. “Not recently. Cold sweat and alcohol also do not agree with each other.” He smiled weakly, before looking around. “One of the things I lack here.” He chewed the inside of his cheek, before shrugging.

“No.” Flitter shook her head as she approached the human. Jack squawked with indignation as she started herding him towards the exit by butting her head up against his ass. “You’re going to the lake to wash up right now.” She said with a stern voice.

“But the people.”

Jack protested, but was shot down immediately by Flitter as she moved from behind him. She gently bit down on his fingers, and started leading him like that. “Der’sh nawpawney dere.” She said around his beaten-up digits. Jack grunted in displeasure as he reached out and grabbed something on the ground. He quickly gave up, and started keeping pace behind the small mare. After several minutes of leading Jack along by the fingers, Flitter released his fingers. She tried clean the taste of alcohol, sweat, and gun oil from her tongue as Jack followed along behind her. She failed horribly at her attempt.

The walk to the lake wasn’t a long one, and thankfully, the lake was deserted completely. Being a week-day, and in the morning, it was liable to stay that way for a few hours. As Flitter broke away from Jack, she noticed that he had a small bag in his free hand. The mare cocked her head in curiosity. “What’s in the bag?” To her chagrin, she didn’t receive an answer as Jack knelt down by the waters edge. He stuck one of his fingers into the water; he swiftly pulled it out and shook it. His typed answer would have been scathing if it hadn’t been for the emotionless voice of the PDA.

“That shit is fucking cold.”

Giggling as she approached him, Flitter motioned towards the lake. “Come on Smelly, it can’t be that cold.” She grinned at him, and received a foul scowl in return. “Go on, jump in!” She urged Jack on, only to get another odd look. He shook his head, and sat down on the sand. Flitters brows shot up into her fringe as the human started pulling off his clothes. I forgot about that… whoopsie! She smiled weakly at herself, before taking a seat next to Jack and his bag. As he stripped down to what she knew to be his undergarments, Flitter found herself with another set of surprises. Her eyes flitted over Jack’s ripcord musculature, and the inctricate imagery that was seemingly pressed into his skin. The images were only broken up by the criss-crossing scars that riddled almost every major joint and movement point. There were several others, but they looked much less… Surgical, in origins. On top of that, they all lined up with the perfect circles of metal that dotted his body. His metal exo-skeleton was attached to said circles of metal. She was about to question their meaning when Jack popped his left leg off. Flitter squeaked in surprise as he placed the removed limb by his side. His right leg soon followed, and by then, Flitter had managed to calm down. “I-I didn’t realise they came off…” She said quietly.

Jack shrugged noncommittally as he disconnected his exo-skeleton; letting it fall onto the sand like a lifeless husk. He then unzipped the small bag; pulling two rubber disks from it, and several small rubber plugs. He grunted in displeasure as he reefed the disks over the metal connectors that ended his flesh and blood thighs half way down. Next, he started popping the plugs in where the exo-skeleton had attached to his body. Jack reached back into the bag, and pulled out a small bar of soap, and a small bottle.

A cross frown formed on Flitters muzzle. “You had soap and stuff, and you didn’t use it? Jack, you-” She squeaked in surprise, before shrieking as Jack grabbed onto her barrel, and rolled into the frigid lake with her in tow. Flitter thrashed in panic as the stinging cold soaked straight through her coat. She was not much of a swimmer. And neither are humans! She thought, and a pang of panic coursed through her. If Jack wasn’t paying attention, he could drown and take her down with him! Suddenly finding herself free from his grip, Flitter whirled around in the water-

-Jack had already distanced himself from her, using some strange way of moving his body to propel himself about without using his legs. He seemed to be almost at home in the water, unlike his Equine counterparts. Flitter felt the panic draining from her system as she surfaced. A quick shiver escaped the mare, and she suddenly remembered that she was freezing. Paddling to the shore as fast as she could; Flitter coughed and shivered violently as she flopped onto the sand and grass. Definitely a bad idea to go swimming. Jack returned to shore shortly after. He was shivering as well, but his visage was a smug grin, while Flitters was one of smoldering displeasure. “I hate you.” She said without bite.

He didn’t respond; choosing instead to lather up his skull with what Flitter assumed to be shampoo. He dunked his head in the lake, and started running his fingers through his stubbly hair with rapid urgency. He shook his head, before pulling it from the cold water. Flitter shivered at the mere thought of going back in the water. She may have also shivered from being soaking wet as well. To her surprise, Jack turned to face her. He held out the bar of soap, and gestured at his scar-ladden back.

Flitter swallowed lightly, before nodding without a word. She scooted over, and started scrubbing the human clean. It might have come across as comical too anypony watching, seeing a small mare like Flitter have to stretch to reach the looming humans shoulders. He slouched for the first time since Flitter had met him, and his eyes seemed to go slightly dim. Flitter frowned in concern, but carried on until the suds stopped coming off as a dark grey.

Looking over his mostly nude form, Flitter found herself even more curious about Jack. Why does he wear so much clothing? Do all humans like him wear that much? Rarity would have a heart attack if his entire society is like this. She chewed her cheek as she tested her boundaries and started cleaning behind his ears. And what are these pictures? Are they cutie marks? She eyed the tattoos that ran across his shoulders. They don’t look like any I’ve ever seen. I didn’t think that humans even got cutie marks! Flitter cleared her throat, and managed to stir Jack from whatever he had been doing. “So… When did you get your cutie mark?” She asked curiously. “Have you found out what it means yet?”

Jack turned to look at her, a look of concern and utter confusion etched across his features. He blinked at her, before shaking his head. Jack reached into his bag, and pulled out a small towel to dry his hands off with. His rebuttal came soon after. “What the shit are you talking about. Cutie mark.”

A confused smile crossed Flitters muzzle. Of course they call them something else. Silly. “The pictures on your shoulders. Your cutie-mark.” She smiled happily as she finished scrubbing his back and neck.

“Ah. Not ‘cutie mark’. Tattoos. And of course I know what they mean, I had them put on for a reason.” He rolled his eyes, before swifty cleaning his chest and mid-riff. His legs were next; Flitter noticed that he didn’t go anywhere near the rubber disks that capped them.

“You… Had them put on?” Flitter raised a brow in confusion. “How does that even work?” She shook herself, trying to dry off.

“Simple. You decide what you want put on, go to a tattoo artist, and have them put it on.” He glanced over at her, before grunting in displeasure at her clear misunderstanding. “The artist loads a needle full of ink, and rapidly punctures the flesh with it, dabbing a small amount of ink into it as they go. Tends to be painful, depending on where you get them.”

Flitter stared at Jack with abject horror; the thought of a hypodermic needle full of pen ink, punching into her skin and injecting the ink into her made Flitter shiver uncomfortably. “A-and you do this why?”

Setting his jaw, Jack ran a wet hand through his stubbly hair. “To commit to flesh what the mind may forget.” Flitter’s brows raised in surprise, but quickly lowered as she nodded. She was about to launch into her next set of questions when Jack lifted himself up with his arms, and plunked into the water. He started washing off the soapy suds without comment or so much as a glance at Flitter.

Sighing quietly to herself, Flitter grabbed the towel Jack had used earlier and started to dry herself off as best she could. As she did, her eyes and mind began to wander. Goldies words from the night before suddenly rang through her mind.

Have you considered renting him out?

Flitter had scowled at the thought, and had the night before even though she was nearly broke. She would never do that, even if Jack wasn’t what he was. I would never do that. It wouldn’t be right. Flitter scoffed to herself, and drew Jacks attention. He raised an eyebrow at her as he sat halfway in the water. Flitter went red in the cheeks, and started to come up with a believable lie when Jack’s eyes went wide, and he dived under the water.

Feeling a trickle of trepidation and terror leak into her mind, Flitter turned to look over the small path that led to the lake. What she saw definitely was a surprise, but it wasn’t a dangerous one. Or so, she hoped it wasn’t. A small off-white filly was slowly moving towards her; the fillies head swivelled about, and her ears flicked from anxiety. Looking up, the filly smiled weakly as she spotted Flitter sitting at the lakes edge. Smiling lightly despite herself; Flitter waved, and beckoned the filly over. “Hello Sweetie Belle. Shouldn’t you be in school right now?”

“O-oh, um.. no…” Sweetie answered quietly as she trotted closer. Standing awkwardly near Flitter and the waters edge, Sweetie rubbed her forehoof as she avoided eye contact.

“Why not?”

“Rarity doesn’t want me going outside… Cause of what happened…” The filly blinked, her one milky eye refusing to focus.

Flitter winced, and nodded in understanding. “Because of what happened here? At the lake?” She ventured, before glancing at the water. I hope Jack can hold his breath.

Nodding almost imperceptibly, Sweetie approached a little closer. “I-I saw you flying out here this morning… I-I w-wanted to say- I wanted to say… Thank you.” She sniffed, before wiping her eyes with the back of her forehoof. “Thank you for saving me and my friends…”

“For… Saving you?” Blinking dumbly, Flitter felt the familiar sensation of a hot blush creeping onto her cheeks. Pawing the ground lightly, Flitter looked away from the scarred filly. “I… It wasn’t much… I just… Did what anypony else would have done.” Chuckling weakly at her own words, the mare found herself feeling almost like a fraud.

“Nopony else helped though Miss Flitter.” Sweetie stated quietly; the words almost had a resolute feeling to them. “You came and got us to run. B-but I didn’t run as far as Apple Bloom and Scootaloo… I saw the human.”

Flitters eyes snapped up to lock with Sweeties, causing the small filly to recoil ever so slightly. “Y-you saw him?” Flitter asked nervously as her ears flicked. “Have you… told anypony about this?” She fought to keep her eyes from floating to the lake. To her relief, Sweetie shook her head.

“No… I know you didn’t either.” Sweetie smiled sweetly at Flitter, but looked tired all the same. “I know a lot of ponies are saying mean things about you… Which isn’t very nice.” She set her jaw and grumbled something acidically about Rarity. “B-but I know the truth.” She smiled again, even though it looked forced. “P-please tell him that I said thank you. If he’s… Different.”

It was if a lead weight had just been dropped onto Flitters stomach; filling her with worry. “I… I will.” She nodded jerkily to Sweetie. “You should be heading home, it’s not safe for you to be out here alone.” Flitter forced a smile, and received an equally forced one in return. As Sweetie tottered off, and back onto the lakes wide trail, Flitter heard the sound of large bubbles breaking the waters surface loudly. She turned just in time to see Jack break the surface and flail about.

Dragging his soaking body back onto the sandy shore; Jack hacked and coughed violently. A vicious shudder ran through his body, causing his stumped thighs to jerk. Moving to his side with worry; Flitters hooves hovered uselessly above his back. “Should I do something?”

Still coughing, Jack dragged himself from the frigid waters and dried off him hands long enough to type a message. “Don’t take so damn long to talk.” He glared hotly at Flitter for a brief moment, before shaking his head. A quiet harrumph escaped Flitter as she fluttered her wings and crossed her forehooves. Jack pulled the caps from his legs, and started re-attaching his disembodied titanium legs. Flitter ceased pouting to watch as Jacks deft fingers popped several pins back in place with the practiced ease of someone who’d done it a million times before. After a moment, his boot shaped foot flexed and moved. Jack grunted in approval, and moved onto his other leg.

Kicking at the sand, Flitter eyed the surrounding forest. Her ears twitched, and she found herself looking around with a hint of worry. It feels like I’m being watched… Flitter glanced at her friend, only to find him toweling off and changing. A hot blush crept across her cheeks, and she quickly averted her gaze once again. I must be going crazy. Shaking off the feeling of unease, Flitter fluttered her wings and eventually stole Jacks towel to dry herself off. A cold breeze rattled through the trees, causing Flitter to shiver lightly. Her shiver was accompanied by the chattering of metal on metal. Glancing over, Flitter raised an eyebrow as Jack pulled on his clothes and gripped his arms. The human shivered heavily, and his exo-skeleton chattered in close response.

With a small grin, Flitter fluttered her wings and looked up at Jack. “Cold?” He responded in kind with a scowl before turning to his bag. Flitter giggled to herself, and looked up towards the cloudy skies. “The weather report said it would be raining a lot today- EEiK!” Flitter squawked indignantly as something bound her wings neatly to her sides. Looking back at Jack with panic, she found him grinning dangerously as he tied off the end of the rope holding her wings down. “W-What the heck!? J-jack-” Flitter sputtered as he picked up a branch that was devoid of smaller branches and leaves.

“When I was growing up, my brother Jacob used to chase me and Julian around with a bug zapper. I got pretty good at running because of that, but I eventually got used to the feeling. I don’t have a bug zapper, so this stick will have to do.” Jack grinned toothily and slapped the stick against his open palm. Flitter flinched, and drew back as panic overtook her.

“A-are you crazy!? What brought this on!?” Flitter tried to flare her wings, but swiftly remembered that they were bound tightly to her sides. Feeling the ebb of panic slowly overtaking her heart, Flitter started to hyperventilate.

“You wanna get tough. If you make it back to the cave with less than ten hits, you can have breakfast.”

Squeaking in terror, Flitter backpedaled across the sand as Jack tapped up another sentence. “Y-you’re a psychopath!” Jack blinked, and looked up at the mare with an undesernable expression that muddied the line between a deadpan and a thousand yard stare. Flitter’s ears pressed against her head; she felt her chest tighten painfully as he cocked his head and stared at her. The corners of his lips turned upwards ever so slightly, but Flitter felt no compassion in the expression. He suddenly lifted his hand, and held up three fingers. He then dropped one, and then the next. As he started to drop the last, Flitter made the painful realization that it was a countdown. Wheeling on the balls of her hooves, Flitter bolted towards the bushy trail that the pair had followed out.

Crashing through the underbrush and keeping her eyes firmly locked on the treacherous trail; Flitter thought she could hear the faint sound of booted feet pounding across sand. With the veins of terror creeping into her mind, she risked a quick glance over her shoulder-

-Only to find Jack right on her tail, with his augmented arm raised in the air; the stick held high. Flitter screamed.

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Barreling into the clearing in front of Jacks cave, Flitter hit the ground and slid. Coming to a stop in the dirt, the mare curled up and pulled her hooves over herself to protect against the painful stinging strikes that had ravaged her during the entire run. A choked sob of terror and pain left her lips at the same time as Jack stepped into the clearing. Flitter lifted one of her shaking hooves to look up at him.

Grinning down at the dirty and bruised mare, Jack prodded her welted flank. He extended all of his fingers, retracted them, and then held up another one. He started laughing as he cast the branch aside and offered a hand to Flitter.

Sniffing as she wiped her nose with a forehoof, Flitter gingerly took the offered hand. She was swiftly pulled up and freed of her bonds. Her wings flared open and flapped several times. Flitter winced in pain as she followed Jack into his cave. Looking over her shoulder again, she could already see the neat red welts rising against her coat. “Y-you’re a jerk Jack….”

“Probably. Come on. Food.”

Flitter sighed in defeat, and limped into the cave. Despite her reservations, stepping out of the nipping cold and into the cozy cave was a fair improvement. Fluffing her wings again out of habit, Flitter gingerly sat down on a log. A pained squeak left her lips, causing Jack to chuckle as he stoked the fire. “I-it’s not funny!” Flitter protested weakly as her tail swished about.

“Kind of is.”

“S-shut up…”

_____________________________________________________________________

Flitter found herself ravenous as Jack had doled out portions. Her frantic run had made her work up quite an appetite. She scarfed down the small meal, barely stopping to do so much as taste it. Flitter raised her eyebrows in surprise when she looked up, and saw that Jack had only ineffectively poked at his own plate. “You going to eat that?” She asked with curiosity. Jack chewed his cheek lightly, his previous good mood having evaporated. He shook his head, and slid the paper plate over to Flitter. Smiling happily, Flitter dug into the fresh portion with vigor.

Once finished, she tossed the paper plate into the fire and wiped her muzzle clean with the back of her hoof. “You know… You could have just said we were gonna run. That was a really nasty thing to do Jack.”

Snorting hotly, Jack kicked up his prosthetic legs and laid back with his PDA. “Nasty. Right.”

“What?” Flitter furrowed her brow as she turned towards him. “It was!”

Jack rolled his eyes and extended his middle finger at her. “If you call me Nasty Jack, I will hit you. i put up with enough of that.” He shifted uneasily, a deep frown creased his features and raised Flitters interest.

“What do you mean?” Flitter readjusted herself in an attempt to get the ebbing pain in her flanks to go away. “Somepony else called you Nasty Jack?”

Jack growled angrily, forcing Flitters hackles to rise in alarm. Oookay… Remember that he almost killed you this morning… Flitter shuffled nervously as Jack sat up.

“Drop the subject.”

Despite wanting to push it, Flitter suddenly thought better of it when Jack cast a dark glare at her from the corner of his eyes. Raising her hooves in a placating manner, Flitter smiled weakly. “O-okay. Consider it dropped Jack.” The human grunted in response, and started tinkering with his metal leg. He soon stopped, and set down the screwdriver he was using. A deep and unpleasant look crossed his features, and he did his best to cover it by rubbing his face. Flitter watched him nervously, the events of the morning still painfully fresh in her mind and on her neck.

“My ex-fiance coined the nickname.”

Blinking in surprise, Flitter scooted a little closer and lifted a brow in curiosity. “You were engaged?” She smiled lightly, but it disappeared swiftly. Ex-fiance… Oh dear.

“Yeah. Didn’t last long. She didn’t want to wait, and I was in no position to say or do anything.” Jack grunted quietly, and rubbed his neck slowly.

“Why?” The question slipped out before Flitter could stop it. She internally cursed herself out for asking. Her surprise only increased when he actually answered.

“I was a prisoner of war. MIA. Missing in Action for just shy of a year before I was rescued. Came home without my legs and found out she’d sold the condo and moved in with another man.”

Flitter covered her mouth with a hoof as Jacks expression grew solemn and withdrawn. “I-I’m so sorry… What happened after? Did she come back?”

A quiet huff that could have been a forced laugh came from Jacks nose, and he looked away. “No.” Jack set down his PDA and rubbed his eyes roughly.

I get the feeling that this conversation is over… Flitter thought with a frown. She refrained from reaching out to him. That might be who he thought I was this morning… That would explain a lot. Flitter opened her mouth to ask a different question, but was cut off as Jack jerked. He clamped his mouth shut tightly; only a pained hiss escaped his vice tight lips as he gripped his right arm. An intensely pained expression settled on his features as his right hand vibrated. Getting to her hooves and moving to his side, Flitter abandoned her earlier worries. “Are you alright!?” Within a moment, Jack somehow forced his shaking to subside. He refused to answer Flitters question as he worked his fingers into the meat of his arm. He furrowed his brow deeply, and grit his teeth. Flitter frowned in return, and placed her right hoof on his shoulder. “Jack? What’s wrong?” The human quickly waved her off before standing up straight.

“Nothing. Fine. Just a cramp.”

The response was stilted and chopped, even for the electronic voice relaying Jacks words between the two. Flitter shuffled, and glanced at the cave entrance. “Jack… I… I need to go.” She smiled softly up at him. “I’ll see you after work though, right? We can do that ‘Tough Stuff’ like we planned yesterday.”

A short nod and a weak smile was all Flitter got for an answer from Jack. Slowly turning away from him, Flitter started towards the entrance. She found herself frozen at the threshold on the cave; carefully glancing over her shoulder, Flitter saw Jack resting his face in one of his hands. “I’ll see you later… okay?” Flitter asked quietly, her wings fluttering nervously. Jack nodded again, and waved lightly without removing his face from his hand.

Trotting out of the cave and back out into the near-frigid winds, Flitter suppressed a shiver that wasn’t from the cold. She took off to the skies; throwing the occasional look over her shoulder at the cave.