Displacement

by hornethead

First published 23rd of July, 2012

A Special Operative gets stranded in a strange unfamiliar world and must learn how to cope.

James Kaughn is a member of the world's most elite fighting force, but when his team is sent in to rescue a captive family in Afghanistan the mission hits a snag. He stays behind to allow the others to escape, fully expecting to die, but ends up in an unfamiliar place. Join him as he meets new challenges and struggles with his worsening PTSD. Will he be able to actually make friends and not just teammates?

A Painful Start

Chapter 1: Painful Start

beep beep...... beep beep... BEEP BEEP

He jolted awake, slamming his head into the rack above him.

'Dammit, how do I keep doing that?' He thought to himself.

It was about a week and a half since he had arrived on the ship. He hadn't been briefed much before being loaded up into the aircraft that had brought him and the rest of his team to the lonely expanse of ocean they were now currently floating on. He didn't know much, but it sounded like this was going to be a tough one. His team had been loaded out with anything they asked for or could have even remotely needed.

He swung his legs out of his rack and stood up, standing at about five foot, ten inches. looking around, he grabbed his uniform and boots, patterned to blend in with a sparsely vegetated or completely barren and sandy environment, and started dressing out for the event he had been anticipating ever since he left the country. Snatching up his toiletries, he made for the head to bush his teeth and shave for what might be the last time in the next month. Good thing the Navy provided good dental care.

As he entered the head, glancing around, he noticed one other person occupying it. "Mornin', fucker." He said casually.

"What up, Ghengis," the other man replied while shaving, "you actually decide to get up this morning?"

"You still on me about that?"

"Do I still have a scar the size of a seven-six-two round on my ass cheek?"

"You try stayin' awake after four days without sleep. Besides, it was your turn for watch anyways, Rocka."

"Yeah, but you're supposed to watch my back, partner."

"I still shot the fucker, didn't I? And I dragged your sorry ass into cover."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, keep talking."

This was an almost daily routine for the two. James "Ghengis" Kaughn and Darius "Rocka" Jackson had been best friends ever since meeting each other in BUD/S, the beginning of the long road to becoming a SEAL, the elite unconventional fighting force of North America. They had been lucky enough to be assigned to the same team, constantly watching each other's backs, inseparable. They had saved each other's lives a few times already.

Jackson had a heavy build with dark hair and brown eyes. Being from Brooklyn, he had forward and blunt attitude. He was the fireteam's Automatic Rifleman, usually carrying a modified M240B LMG, spitting hot 7.62mm lead at anyone stupid enough to put themselves in his field of fire. He often put down suppressing fire on their opponents, keeping their heads down and allowing the rest of the team to set up a good angle on them. His preferred side arm was a simple M9, 9mm Baretta pistol.

O'Kaughn, often just called Kaughn, was almost the polar opposite. He had a medium build sporting dirty blonde short cropped hair and grey-blue eyes with a unique ring of yellow star bursting around his pupils. He preferred to pick his targets, utilizing an M4 modified with a 4x scope. He was the team's designated marksman and sometimes carried an M110 semi-automatic rifle, although it wouldn't be needed on this mission. Oddly enough, he favored a simple 1911 Springfield, .45 caliber pistol. Making up for it's low ammo capacity with dead-on precision and accuracy.

Both were fatally proficient in hand-to-hand.

They finished up and stared heading for the briefing. it was time to rock and roll. On their way through the passageways of the ship, Kaughn struck up some small talk, "How's your wife doing?"

"She's hangin' in there," Jackson replied, "Only about three more months to go before our beautiful baby girl arrives."

"You get to talk to her last night, man?"

"Yeah, but only for a little bit. The damn satellite cut out again. You get in touch with your folks?"

"Nah, not something I really wanna deal with before shit like this."

Kaughn's parents weren't the best people. his mother was distant and didn't seem to really give a damn about what he did and his father was an alcoholic who would pass out and scare a young James into calling paramedics all too often. They were still fighting over the divorce that occurred over thirteen years ago, dragging their son into the middle of it, not that he really cared anymore.

"It's cool man, it's cool. You still got us."

"Yeah, and what great family you've all been, especially my last birthday."

"Hey man, how were we supposed to know you didn't like strippers and surprises all that much? especially for your twenty-first?"

"It wasn't so much as me disliking them, but Stacy not liking a random stripper jumping out of my closet."

"Oh yeah," Jackson chuckled, "but she wasn't really right for ya, huh? So, I kind of did you a favor."

"I'll give you that, she did turn out to be a keniving, manipulative bitch, huh?"

They both burst out in laughter as they neared the briefing room. Jackson opened the door and they both stepped inside and took their seats facing the team leader, Lieutenant "Hells" Bellis, who was sitting by the wall on which the map of their AOR, or Area Of Responsibility, was projected. Two minutes later, the second half of their team, "Dickey" Nix and "Fungis" Feng arrived. They greeted Kaughn and Jackson and sat down next to them.

"Hey Ghengis, you ready to let loose?" asked Feng

"Except this time, maybe you let us get a little work in, huh?" said Nix.

"Maybe when you learn to shoot like me and Kaughn, you could keep up." Jackson replied.

"Kaughn can shoot, you just hose down everything in front of you until you hit something," Feng shot back.

"At least he hits something," Kaughn retaliated. Then they all shared a laugh.

"Everyone settle down," came a voice from up front.

Everyone snapped their attention back to the front of the room and focused on their team leader.

"Alright girl scouts, looks like we got an easy one this time, quick snatch and grab. We just need to get in and get out," Lieutenant Bellis explained. "We received intelligence that a local tribal leader, Yusuf Hamshad, who had been cooperating with our forces in the northern Kandahar region here was taken hostage with his family last week. We know the general area they are in, but the insurgents have taken them into a small network of caves situated in this mountain here," he said as he pointed to the map. "We're being sent in not only as a show of good faith, but also because this guy has vital information on the movements of both the Taliban and Al Qaida's drug trafficking. Not to mention there are children involved."

'Shit,' thought Kaughn, 'children complicate everything.'

"Our main objective is to extract Mr. Hamshad and his family. Elimination of HVTs and collection of Intel is secondary since Mr. Hamshad will be supplying most of that once we have him secured at the FOB. Though if you get an opportunity, take the shot. Our designated call sign for this Op will be 'Red Lion'. Any questions?"

Feng spoke up, "when do we leave?"

A smile graced the Lieutenant's lips, "you got thirty minutes."

The Fun Begins

Chapter 2: The Fun Begins

The four warriors quickly made their way down to the armory and started loading up. Kaughn and Jackson taking up their respective load out, Nix and Feng grabbing a standard kit. Although both were strong and all had trained as marksmen, their roles were just simple riflemen, though they were still deadly SEALs.

"Who is going to carry the C4 this time?" Bellis asked.

"I'll do it," Kaughn volunteered. Jackson had done it on the last op, so he wouldn't mind taking the few extra pounds this time. It was unlikely they'd need it, but they always brought some, just in case.

They all donned special body armor, designated "Dragon Scale" for it's overlapping ceramic plates and ability to take multiple rifle rounds before being punctured. It was nothing like the standard kevlar with singular ballistic ceramic plates that could only take one or two (three if you were lucky) rounds before being quickly overwhelmed. The last things they put on were a some knee pads and their kevlar helmets before heading up to the flight deck of the Aircraft Carrier operating off the coast of Pakistan.

Waiting for them all was a C-2 Turbo Prop already spun up and ready to take on it's passengers. they all climbed into the cargo hold and sat down on the few canvas seats the crew chief had set up for them and buckled in. In a short time the C-2 was unsecured from the deck and was directed over to one of the catapults. This was Kaughn's favorite part. Slowly, the aircraft was prepped, unfolded it's wings and was attached to the shuttle. It went to full throttle for a few seconds before being suddenly launched into the air at the scheduled time of 0120.

==============================================

Kaughn woke with a start and a throbbing sensation in his shoulder as Jackson punched him awake. He stood up and checked to make sure all his equipment was secured. He then checked Jackson's parachute rig before turning around so that Jackson could reciprocate the action. Nix and Feng doing the same on the other side of the cabin. After the all finished they turned aft towards their team leader and the ramp. Lieutenant Bellis looked at them all, giving them a once over before signaling to the crew chief to lower the ramp. It wasn't the first time Kaughn had jumped at night, but he was always apprehensive about it. Too many things could go wrong, but he somehow always hit his mark.

The ramp was now fully lowered, wind violently whipping about the cabin. The Lieutenant gave them all one last look before leaping out the back, four black silhouettes following closely behind. As they swiftly neared the cold hard earth they counted down the seconds before pulling their cords and drifting silently to the ground. Kaughn took this moment to admire the beauty of the stars and moon. You could never get a view like this back in the states. He then jerked his mind back to the task at hand. He couldn't help but feel like it was going to be a long day.

==============================================

So far, the op had gone smoothly, which bothered Kaughn. Usually by now they would have hit a snag, something that caused a hiccup in the operation, but everything had gone right so far. they had crept up and found the entrance to the cave system, Kaughn and Feng taking out the few guards around it with well placed, silenced rifle rounds from their M4s. Silently gliding through the tunnels and dispatching any unfortunate insurgent they had happened upon with knife and silenced pistol, they finally found the village elder with his family. What they found sickened Kaughn. It looked like they had all been beaten. Yusuf, the elder, had had his tongue cut out. His children and wife beaten. It really pissed him off that a human being could do this to somebody. Kaughn had killed, he never liked to, he just did what was absolutely necessary and no more, but he could never imagine doing anything like what had been done to that family.

Quickly, they expedited the scared and panicked civilians to the extraction point. Of course, that was when they ran into the "snag". Their superiors had arranged for a couple of beat up trucks to be left some ways away from the op site, hidden in some scraggly bushes. They were there, but half of everything had been ripped off them, probably by poor goat herders.

"Shit," swore Bellis, "this is not the right time for this."

They were being tracked. The rest of the insurgents had caught on shortly after the small five man team had left. They could see the lights approaching in the distance.

"Damn, what we gonna do now?" asked Nix, to no one in particular. The civvies sat huddled by the trucks.

"I hope your mechanic skills are good, 'cause we're gonna put everything into one truck and do it fast. the sun is starting to come up and we need to get out of here. It's gonna be a tight squeeze for us, but we'll get outta here," stated Bellis. Everyone quickly got to work, as the sun was indeed quickly rising, making them easier to spot.

They had almost finished when they were finally spotted. An alarm went up among the insurgents as they closed in.

"FUCK!" yelled Bellis, "GHENGIS, SET UP ON THAT RIDGE TO THE LEFT; ROCKA, I NEED YOU TO LAY UP TOWARDS OUR RIGHT AND PUT DOWN SOME SUPPRESION. DICKEY, FUNGIS; KEEP ON THAT ENGINE!"

Everyone ran to comply with thier orders. As Nix and Feng continued to work on the engine, Kaughn got down into prone and flipped his selector switch from automatic to semi. He lined up and started taking shots, downing one, two, three and four tangos before coming under a hail of hostile fire. He hugged the dirt on the embamkment for a little, trying not to get hit before a rapid booming pulsed through the air, effectively bringing the deluge of enemy fire to a trickle.

Kaughn looked up and nodded to Jackson, who was tearing into the group of insurgents with a deafening roar pouring from his M240B. Kaughn started lining up again and dropping hot iron onto the AK47 wielding insurgents as bullets cracked and whined over head, some striking the front of the burm he was laying on. But he played no heed, he had a job to do.

The duo kept this up for about five minutes before the rumble of an engine could be heard behind them.

"EVERYONE IN!" the Lieutenant bellowed.

As the rest of the team piled in with the civilians and started to lay down cover fire, Kaughn and Jackson started running to the open back of the truck, their hearts pounding in their chests.

==============================================

Far back away from the heavy fighting a lone man crawled up on a small rise, dragging a dirty, yet well maintained Dragunov rifle with him. The Americans had stolen their prisoners and were now laying waste to his forces. One was quite a good shot while another was cutting down his soldiers with a wall of lead. He had to be careful. If he tried to take out their marksman, he would give away his position and come under a torrent of fire from the larger one. So he focused on the one with the large gun. He prayed to himself as he lined up on the large one running back to the truck. "Allah Akbar" he mumbled as he pulled the trigger.

==============================================

Kaughn was running back to the truck with Jackson, watching the elder and his family struggle to climb in when he heard a loud roar next to him.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH, GODDAMMIT!" screamed Jackson as the 7.62 round passed through his thigh. He crumpled to the ground in a heap. "THIS IS THE SECOND DAMN TIME THIS YEAR!" He struggled to get up, but his leg wouldn't support his weight. Kaughn ran over and started dragging his friend towards the open back end of the truck.

"I GOT YA BUDDY, HOLD ON!"

"MY RIFLE!" Jackson yelled, he had accidentally dropped it.

"LEAVE IT, I'LL GET YOU ANOTHER." Kaughn yelled back.

Jackson pulled out his side arm and started taking shots as they moved back towards the truck.

Z-ZIP, THUNKCRACK.

"UNG!" Kaughn grunted in pain as a couple of rounds struck his vest. It didn't penetrate, the armor did it's job, but it felt like a couple ribs had broken. All the while he kept going. He reached the truck and his teammates hauled Jackson into the truck bed. Unfortunately, one of the elder's daughters decided to try to run for it, jumping out of the truck, her mother screaming.

The insurgents were closing in fast and Kaughn wasn't going to let her fall back into their twisted hands. He had seen what they had done to other women, cutting off ears and noses. the truck was starting to pull away, they had run out of time five minutes ago. Kaughn ran, grabbed her and threw her into the back of the truck. The insurgents were very close now, bullets biting the dirt all around. He gave them all one look as they pulled away, beckoning him to run for it. But he knew that unless their enemies had something else to shoot at, the truck wouldn't last under the onslaught.

He gave them all a quick two fingered salute off the top of his brow before turning around and running to grab the weapon his best friend had dropped. He grabbed it and ran to a nearby crop of boulders, picking up another box of belt linked ammo they had left in their speedy exit. The current belt still had a little over half left. 'Good enough,' he thought. He set up and started firing, drawing the attackers' attention to him as he started cutting them down.

He continued to fire as the rocks around him were being chipped away. Then his weapon clicked empty. He started to reload, drawing his sidearm and taking a few pot shots to keep their heads down. As he finished reloading he thought, 'so this is how it's gonna end. One life for eight? Sounds like a good trade to me.' He hated doing this to his squad mates, his friends, hell, they were the closest he had to family, but someone had to do it. Might as well be him. Bellis, Nix and Feng all had families. Jackson still had his first child yet to be born. Kaughn didn't really have anything. 'Better me than them.'

He resumed sending back his regards to the wave of assholes that thought they were going to stop them from rescuing those people. he continued this for another two or three seconds until a stray round slammed into his left shoulder.

"SHIT" he swore, picking his sidearm back up with his right hand and trying to reload it. He started to move back as he was struck again in his right thigh, the bullet passing through the meat thankfully, but still sending searing pain rocketing to his brain. The tangos were getting closer, though they didn't seem to be tying to kill him as much as before. They wanted another prisoner. 'Fuck that shit,' he thought. He fired all his .45 caliber rounds at anyone he could see. 'Last clip, better make it count.'

As he slid the last of his clips home, he saw a flash and heard a loud snap, it felt like a large amount of electricity had ran through him. He shook it off and started firing again, this time receiving another round to his front right chest, knocking the wind out of him. He struggled through the pain, firing until the slide stayed locked back. Empty. The rest of the insurgents were only a few yards away now. He brought up his rifle only to see that one of the rounds that had struck him in the back earlier had punched through the magazine. Useless. He had four full ones on him still, but there was no time to reload without getting a bullet to the head. They were here. Chanting and screaming in victory, even though he had almost single handedly taken out half their force, not to mention the rest of he team making off with their previous prisoners.

One man broke through the crowd, a Dragunov slung over his shoulder. He still had his Balaklava on. He started speaking in Urdu to everyone else, eliciting another cry of victory from the group. Kaughn started feeling another tingling sensation, like electricity, coming stronger now. 'I'm damned if the fuckers are gonna take me back. Homie don't play that,' he thought, reaching for the detonator for the eight pounds of C4 strapped in his rucksack. He slowly primed it without the group of hostiles noticing.

The man then turned to him and lifted him off the ground, screaming Urdu into Kaughn's face. Kaughn didn't speak Urdu fluently, but knew enough to make out something like, "YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR CRIMES, DOG!" Kaughn just smiled and replied as best he could in the speaker's native language, "Good luck with that."

He then held up the detonator and squeezed the trigger. The last things he remembered was the priceless look on that asshole's face, a sharp shock -as if he had been struck by lightning- then darkness.

A Shock Before Taking Stock

Chapter 3: A Shock Before Taking Stock

Slowly, ever so slowly, Kaughn started to come to. At first, he could not process any thoughts, but then recent events started to prevent themselves. 'I finally must have died, finally kicked the bucket.' He floated there for a second, in the vast expanse. but then he began to feel a tingling. Sensations of his limbs returning. First a bit of cold, the smell of must and the hard feeling of a packed dirt floor. Then pain, overwhelming pain. beginning in his left shoulder, traveling to his chest and ribs before ending with the rest of his body. It like he had gone ten rounds with an MMA fighter.

'How am I not dead?' He thought. 'Did the C4 not detonate? Maybe it didn't actually detonate and they knocked me unconscious.'

He slowly opened his eyes to cautiously and inconspicuously get an idea of his surroundings. The thing he noticed at once and with dismay, 'I'm in a cave. Shit, well I can't have all the luck. They must have dragged me back into one of their excuses for a headquarters.'

As he took in his situation he noticed quite oddly, 'There's no one here.'

He looked farther up and saw that the cave was actually quite small. It was just tall enough for him to stand up in and the entrance was only a short distance away, the soft light of dawn streaming faintly through the opening. In fact, it seemed as if there had never been another living thing in there for quite some time.

'Well, now is a good time as any for a sitrep.'

Gingerly, he sat up and checked himself over. Aside from the previously mentioned injuries, he seemed to be OK and the rest of the pain was fading. He felt for his rucksack on his back and noticed something odd. It felt as if it had been blown out away from him. He took it off to inspect it visibly and sure enough, the large front pockets looked like something had exploded out of them. The rest of it seemed largely unscathed.

'Now this makes absolutely no sense. It looks like the C4 detonated, but if it had then the rest of my rucksack wouldn't be intact. Even I shouldn't even exist right now.' He quandered.

He started searching through the intact compartments, finding various items still where he put them, such as; some rations, battle dressings along with a small first aid kit, a small short wave radio, a few maintenance tools for his weapons, some batteries of various sizes, a lighter and even some spare ammunition for his sidearm. The most exciting discovery was that his small iPod was still in the back pouch. James liked to use it on long overwatch missions and also for the rides back to base after completing them. The music helped to calm him down or he'd get the shakes sometimes. Even the small fold-out solar panel was there. James could use it to re-charge his iPod and also the batteries for his radio. He then checked his tac vest and found his weapons and ammo still attached, his pistol laying beside him. The tactical combat knife he always wore was still in it's sheath on his shoulder, the eight inch carbide steel blade was positioned so he could grab it in a quick draw. His throat mike was still around his neck, seemingly whole and undamaged. He quickly ejected the empty from his pistol and the damaged mag from his rifle, replacing them with fresh ones and storing the old ones in his sack.

After doing so, he broke out the first aid supplies and quickly patched up his shoulder. It seemed that the bullet had thankfully passed through and had not hit anything important. He was very fortunate the bullet hadn't some how shattered any bones during it's passage. It would be painful for a while, but he could bear it. His ribs appeared to only be fractured in a couple places, but not entirely broken. he wrapped a few bandages around his torso before pitting his shirt back on.

Leaving his rucksack inside, he cautiously poked his head out of the mouth of the cave, keeping his pistol in a ready grip should he need it. Looking outside he saw he was in some kind of dense forest. Intriguing, considering he had just been in a desert. None of the flora looked like anything you'd find in a desert oasis either.

'Where the hell am I? Lets see; desert, caves, insurgents, more desert, more insurgents, firefight, explosion, forest? No no no no no. something is very wrong here.'

He went back inside and grabbed his rifle, checking to make sure it was ok. Satisfied, he returned outside and carefully climbed a small outcropping he had noticed before. Looking around he saw dense forest as far as he could see. The plants looked to be a cross of stuff you'd find in a Brazilian rainforest and the American northwest. James turned on the short wave and tried to raise somebody.

"Red Lion, this is Red Lion Actual, can anyone hear me?" Just faint white noise was the only response. "Red Lion, this is Red Lion Actual, is anybody receiving?" He tried again on different channels, but it was all in vain.

'Now THAT'S certainly strange.'

He sighted through his rifle's scope, magnifying his view a bit, and looked around. To the east he could see a large mountain range running north to south. South consisted of more forest. Looking north he noticed the forest seemed to thin out gradually before reaching the end of the mountain range. He thought he could just make out some strange structure perched on the side of the last mountain. It almost looked like a large castle.

'That can't be right.'

He turned to the west and saw that the forest ended much more quickly in that direction, though it would still be a few days hike. He also saw what he thought might be a small settlement just on the horizon.

'Well, looks like this area may be inhabited. Better take it slow before I know what I'm up against, or even where the hell I am.'

He descended back to the ground and made his way to the cave entrance. He went inside and took stock of his rations.

'I only got enough MREs for about a week. Two if I stretch them out. The forest seemed to have abundant wild life and I'm sure I could find some edible plants. So I can supplement my rations with that.' For once, he was glad his training had been so detailed and hellish.

==============================================

It had been about three days now by his count. Kaughn had made a small, almost comfortable, shelter with the cave. He had even found a bush of blueberries and even a few wild apple trees. Yesterday he had managed to capture a few squirrels, using the berries as bait. They didn't have much meat on them, but it was better than nothing. He barely had to even touch his MREs.

He decided to hike west today and get a better look at the small town he had seen. He couldn't stay in the wilderness forever. Besides, his radio wasn't getting anything, even though it worked just fine, and he wanted to see if the locals were friendly. Maybe he could find out what happened and make his way back to his team somehow. And beer. If anything, he could definitely enjoy a nice, ice cold pint of stout right now. And a juicy steak. His mouth watered just thinking about it.

He quickly packed up the essentials; his is rations, ammo and equipment, and left his little shelter and camp behind. He could always construct a new one. He donned his armor and weapons, setting out about mid morning. He was carrying a lot of gear for what was just going to be recon, but this was going to take a few days and he wanted to be prepared since there were too many unknowns. At least he didn't have the C4 weighing him down anymore. Hiking through the forest was tough going as there were no paths or roads.

At the end of the second day he had nearly reached the tree line. He had set up camp only about a two hours hike away from the edge. It was late afternoon and he planned to get to the tree line early the next morning. He was tired and wanted to be ready for anything in the morning. He took this time to just relax and enjoy the setting sun. He loved this time of day. The sun fading sleepily below the horizon as the moon took it's first peek at the land, stars poking through the thin fabric of the night sky. His reverie was interrupted by a long and loud howl from the darkness.

AAAARRROOOOOOOOOoooooo..........

He jumped to his feet, rifle snapping to the ready as he looked around for the source.

'So there are some large predators here.'

It sounded a ways off though, and animals, even predators, usually steered clear of campfires. So he sat back down and hunched closer to his fire, preparing for the oncoming cold of night.

He was startled again by another howl, this one sounding much closer and accompanied with something that really set him on edge. The sound of screaming children.

==============================================

Kaughn ran and ran fast, rifle cradled in his arms, legs pumping towards the source of the screams. As he neared he could distinguish the panicked breaths of what sounded like three small children as well as the growls of what could be large wolves. Looking ahead, he spotted a clearing and ran up to the edge. Stopping at the tree line he could see four bulky forms. He flipped down his NVGs and turned them on. The sight that he saw was a small pack of large wolves, that seemed to be made out of wood?

'What the.......'

Then he heard coming from the bushes the wolves were growling at: "HELP! SOMEPONY, ANYPONY HELP!"

'English? Where am I? Wait, somepony? What are they talking about? Don't they mean 'someone' ?'

Regardless of this confusing choice of words, he could tell it sounded like three little girls were cornered by these beasts. He flicked the safety off his rifle, putting it on semi, and lined up the shots. Four soft coughs slipped out the end of the barrel and four bodies hit the ground, unmoving. He waited a minute before stepping out into the clearing and flipping up his NVGs in case there were any more, but there weren't. He looked at the corpses. They looked just like wolves, but made of branches and twigs.

'I'm definitely not in Kansas anymore,' he thought to himself.

Putting that thought aside for now, he moved over to the bush he assumed the kids were hiding in.

"Hey, it's OK. Nothin' out here is gonna hurt you anymore," he said gently, "let's get you kids out of this forest."

Kaughn stepped back as the bushes started rustling, still cautious. He watched as three little foals crawled out, all very colorful. One was yellow with red hair and a bow, the second was white with a pink and purple curled mane, and a horn? The last one was a dark orange with dark purple hair. Also, it had a set of small wings on it's back.

'Huh?' Now he was confused, but there were still three kids in danger and possibly hurt.

He stepped forward again and spoke up, "Hey, kids you can come out from the bush."

Upon noticing this strange being approaching them, the three foals cried out, "AHHHH! MONSTER!" and took off running towards the direction of the town.

Kaughn just stood there, frozen. Did those little horses just scream, words? He checked the bush, no one there. He checked the surrounding area, aside from the corpses of the wolves, nothing. So was it those three little foals yelling for help?

'No no no no no, this is wrong. I definitely heard that. That happened. No, I must be dreaming, or I survived the blast somehow and am in a coma.'

Just to make sure, he poked his shoulder. Still painful. It definitely hurt when he fired his rifle. Then he gave his side a slap. 'Big mistake,' he realized as he doubled over in pain.

'No, this can't be real. No, wait. I'm freaking out over a couple of talking baby horses, it's just a one time thing, yeah, I'm still feeling the blood loss, that's it,' he tried to reason.

He started back towards his temporary camp site, the fire now a smoldering pile of embers. The moon was now starting to reach its azimuth as the revived the comforting source of light and heat. He ate part of an energy bar, saving the rest for breakfast. Stretching out to enjoy the night sky he thought, 'Well, maybe tomorrow will be better,' before drifting off to a peaceful sleep.

Discovery

Chapter 4: Discovery

Kaughn woke early, stamping out the remainder of his fire and gathering his gear. He then started off towards the town, keeping an ear out for any sounds that didn't fit with the rest of the forest. He neared the edge of the tree line, advancing cautiously as his desert camouflage didn't exactly blend with the vividly green environment. He found a tree with just enough leaves to give him good cover without impeding his view and climbed up as high as he dared to go. reaching a suitable perch, he hung his rucksack on a nearby branch and shouldered his rifle, aiming out towards the town. His rifle scope didn't offer much magnification, but he could pick out details in the town fairly well. At first all he noticed was that there was a lot of movement. most likely the inhabitants. But then as he focused, he began to see that the were all quadrupeds and their coats and manes were all very bright with many different colors.

'That's strange. Maybe it's a local custom, the work animals colored differently to distinguish ownership. If that is the case, then this town must be well off. Lots of different looking..... ponies? They're definitely not as big as regular horses.'

He observed the goings on for another few minutes before something else hit him.

'There aren't any people around, no bipeds of any kind.'

He pondered this for a moment before noticing movement out of the corner of his eye. Off to his left, a small colorful group was approaching the forest. He trained his scope on them and counted a total of six, three small and three larger. The larger ones stood at about three to four feet high. One was purple with a horn and the other two were the winged ones, one yellow with a pink mane, the other sky blue. With rainbow streaked hair?

This place was getting weirder and weirder. As he studied them a bit more, he noticed that the smaller ones were the same little foals he rescued the night before. And they were getting closer to his position.

'Uh-oh, time to go.'

Kaughn grabbed his rucksack before jumping down. He then ran back away from the tree line for a bit before jumping into a shallow ditch lined with bushes. Not long after, he heard the distinct sound of hooves traveling across the ground. The next thing he heard made his blood turn to ice water. Voices.

"I'm tellin' you Twilight, we saw it somewhere near here!" said one with a southern twang in her voice.

"Yeah, it was big and scary!" said another.

"But it saved us from the timber wolves!" said a third.

"This certainly sounds strange girls, but we should be careful if it really stood up to four timber wolves." said an adult sounding female.

"Maybe we should just go back home, I mean, its good enough that you girls are OK and it certainly sounds dangerous." said a timid voice. This one was difficult for Kaughn to hear, it was so soft.

He slowly raised his head and peered through the bushes as the group passed, searching for their owners. All he saw was the six ponies. Then the blue one spoke.

"Don't worry Fluttershy, whatever it is, it won't harm anypony here, not while I'm around," her voice dripping with confidence.

'That one spoke, they all spoke. They're speaking English!' He was starting to freak out again. 'This is actually happening! Where the FUCK am I?'

As they traveled farther down the small path, he followed silently behind them. Soon they all reached the clearing where he had happened upon the three little foals last night. The bodies of the wolves were still there, though they now looked like they were a pile of dried out branches.

"Oh, the poor things," said the timid yellow one. He guessed this was Fluttershy.

"That's the bush we were hiding in," stated the young southern filly.

The purple one examined the scene before making a deduction, "All four are still facing your hiding place, did the creature fight them in front of you?"

"That's the thing," replied the small purple maned pegasus, "one second they were about to pounce on us and the the next they all kinda just, dropped."

The magenta unicorn trotted over to the corpses, examining their bodies.

"This is strange. The only wounds are small holes in the back of their heads, but nothing else. What could have done this?"

Kaughn realized that she was quite intelligent. He couldn't afford to under estimate any of them. They definitely were not any kind of other animal, but rather another intelligent species. Much like his own, only instead of descendant from apes, they were ponies. Still, this was so confusing. He had seen nothing like this during his entire travels on earth. Was he even on earth?

The rainbow one then said, "If this is where you saw it then maybe it's still around. I'll fly up and see if I can spot anything."

A cold lump formed in the pit of Kaughn's stomach.

'They can't REALLY fly, there's no way......'

The lump/dropped out from under him as the light blue pegasus took to the air, shooting strait up into the sky.

'Oh dammit, I need to leave, NOW.'

Kaughn turned and started to slink away before he heard one of the few dreaded sounds in his life.

*SNAP*

He was betrayed by nothing more than a small twig. Instantly the rainbow maned mare zeroed in on the sound, both their eyes locking for a brief moment.

'Shit.'

He took off running as fast as he could.

The cyan pegasus yelled, "I see it, I'm going after it," before accelerating towards her quarry.

"Rainbow Dash, WAIT!" Twilight Sparkle cried out.

Kaughn ran as fast as he could, but the many colored mare was catching up to him with a look of determination on her face. As she closed in for a tackle, Kaughn suddenly stopped and leaned back away from the speedy pony. As she passed through the space where he used to be, he grabbed one of her forelegs and, using her momentum, whipped her around into a nearby bush. He took off again going in the general direction of his base camp, but angling away from it so he didn't lead them back there. He'd have to circle back around to it later after he lost them, if he could. Evading something that could fly was hard enough as it is.

"HEY, get back here!" The rainbow maned pegasus yelled.

Kaughn glanced back to see that she was still trying to untangle herself from the bush.

'Not a chance,' he mused to himself, 'I'm outta here.'

Kaughn kept up his pace for a while before coming to a halt and listening for any signs of pursuit. He then scanned what sky he could see through the thick canopy, just in case. Satisfied, but still wary, he flipped out his compass to get his bearings. He figured that he had ran about four or five miles to the north east. he would continue east for a while before angling back south to his cave. If he kept a steady pace and he didn't run into any more surprises, he could make it back in about a day.

==============================================

It was strenuous, and he had to dodge a strange lion looking thing with a scorpion tail, but Kaughn had made it back. As he neared though, he thought he heard someone talking.

'No, they couldn't have beat me back here, could they? How would they even have found it?'

The sun was high in the sky now, starting to make its decent. He would have to keep to the shadows as much as possible. Not too difficult considering the dense foliage around him. He crept up low, on his stomach, to get a good look at things. As he gazed around he could see the same yellow and blue pegasi, plus a regular looking orange pony with a blonde mane. Also, it was wearing a hat. Neither the three little ones or the unicorn were visible.

"C'mon Twi, whadja find down there?" The orange pony hollered down into the cave with a familiar southern twang.

Kaughn guessed the unicorn was down in his little 'home away from home,' searching through his stuff.

'Dammit, so that's 'Twilight' then.' At least he had another name now. As far as Kaughn could guess, the unicorn was 'Twilight,' the yellow pegasus was 'Fluttershy' and the blue one was 'Rainbow Dash.' The orange one was still nameless.

'Weird names,' Kaughn said in his thoughts, 'but I've heard some pretty raunchy nicknames myself in the service.'

"You guys won't believe the things I've found down here, I haven't seen anything like them before!" Came the reply from the cave.

The next thing Kaughn saw truly boggled his mind. Out from the cave, surrounded in a purple aura, floated his helmet, extra MREs and magazines for his rifle and pistol. He had left them behind to make for easier going through the woods. Nevermind that though, how was any of what he was witnessing possible? The purple colored unicorn followed close behind, the same purple aura shimmering around her horn.

"There was also a powerful magical residue permeating the air down there. It's unlike anything I've ever experienced before. This definitely merits further study," she stated.

The yellow pegasus started speaking softly, "Maybe we should do it another day, Twilight. It IS getting late after all and this IS still the Everfree Forest. It could be dangerous here."

"Hold on Fluttershy, I want to try and cast a locator spell on these objects." Twilight said as her horn started glowing.

'Magical? Spell? Wait, she said locator. Surely there's no way she could--'

"Girls! I'm getting something! And it's nearby!"

'Shit.'

"Oh, my...."

"Just let me at'em! It's time I got some payback for yesterday!"

"Settle down Rainbow," said the country pony, "we don't want ta hurt it. Applebloom said that 'fore they ran off, she thought she heard it talkin' to them."

"Everyone quiet. I think it's watching us from the bushes." Twilight said as the others silenced themselves, Twilight herself looking in the direction of Kaughn's hiding place.

'You gotta be kiddin' me.'

Kaughn didn't think he could get away this time. If the rainbow one could fly, then so could the yellow one. Not to mention the fact that they had some how gotten here faster then he had, or that they had even found this place.

"Screw it," he said to himself, "at least they don't seem to be armed."

He made sure his rifle was still slung on his back and his pistol was holstered. Assured that everything was where it should be and within easy reach (just in case), he slowly stepped out from where he was concealed.

"Alright, you got me," he said, his hands held up in front of him.

"What in the hay are you?"

"That's actually a very good question, Rainbow Dash. I've definitely never seen anything even resembling you before," Twilight started firing off, "and you really can talk. Does that mean you are an intelligent species?"

Fluttershy just stood in the back, hiding behind her mane.

The orange pony in the Stetson cut in, taking a defensive stance, "Hold on sugarcube, this is still the creature that supposedly killed those timber wolves. It could be dangerous."

"Hey, hey, I'm not going to attack you. Besides, the rainbow one tried to tackle me yesterday," Kaughn retorted.

"Well, you threw me into the bushes!" shot back Rainbow Dash.

"Yeah, because you tried to tackle me. It was a defensive move," was Kaughn's reply, standing there with his arms crossed.

Twilight then interjected. "All right! Everypony just calm down! Rainbow Dash, Applejack, relax. If it wanted to hurt us it would have."

"He."

"What?"

"I'm a He. A man."

"A what now?"

"A man, a boy, a guy."

"You mean like a stallion?"

"Uh, yeah, sure."

"Look, I think we started off on the wrong hoof here. My name is Twilight Sparkle. This is Applejack and Rainbow Dash," she pointed to the orange and blue ponies respectively, "and the pony trying to hide behind us is Fluttershy." She finished with a smile.

"I'm James Kaughn."

"And, what exactly are you Mr. Kaughn, if you don't mind me asking?"

"You don't have humans here? People?"

"No. As far as I'm aware, you're the only one anypony has ever encountered."

"Now if you don't mind me asking, where exactly are we?"

"You mean you don't know? You don't live here in the forest?"

"No. I actually just kind of, well, woke up here. I think I've been here only about a week."

"You said you woke up here?"

"Yup, in that cave." He pointed over to the entrance.

"Interesting. Well you're in Equestria. Where are you originally from?"

"You ever hear of a place called America?"

She shook her head "no".

"Earth?"

Again, she shook her head.

"Uh, guys? I'd love to stay here and listen to your non-boring conversation, but it really is getting late," Rainbow Dash interrupted.

"Yeah and Ah got to be gettin' back to the farm. We got an early day tomorrow."

"And I need to go back and feed my animals. Oh, they must be very hungry by now."

Twilight turned back to the human still standing in front of them.

"Well, Mr. Kaughn...."

"Please, just call me James."

"Ok, James, do you have any other place to stay? Besides here I mean."

"Not unless I can find a better place to make camp."

"Well, why don't you come back to Ponyville with us? I'm sure we kind find you a place to stay."

"He could stay out in th' old barn near the edge of our property for now. We ain't usin' it for nuthin' at the moment," offered up Applejack.

"That's a great idea, AJ. Does that sound ok to you James?"

He was still wary of these strange ponies, but he didn't really have a wealth of choices.

"Sounds good to me. Just please give me a moment to collect the rest of my gear. It shouldn't take too long."

"Ok, we'll wait right here for you."

He turned around and walked down into his musty abode. He had only taken a few steps when he noticed the rainbow maned one, Rainbow Dash he remembered, trotted up beside him. Reflexively, his hand moved closer to his thigh holster.

"Soooo, James, right?"

He nodded.

"I'm kind of, sort of...... sorry, for attacking you like that. I was just protecting my friends."

"It's ok, I understand. Sorry for throwing you into the bush. You didn't get hurt, did you?"

"Nope, I'm fine. That was actually pretty cool, how you did that. I'm one of the fastest fliers in Equestria and I was going pretty fast!"

He just smiled, gathering the rest of his rations and equipment. He stuffed the MREs and extra ammo into his rucksack and clipped his helmet to the outside. Shouldering his pack, he turned and walked back outside with his companion.

"Got everything?" asked Twilight.

"Yeah. So how'd you guys get here? We're pretty far from the edge of the forest and I don't see any transport of any kind."

"Oh, we came by hot air balloon. Its nearby in another clearing."

'So that's how they managed it. They probably flew over the forest, spotting part of my camp from the air. A lot faster than trudging through the undergrowth, like I did. But how did they steer something like that?'

As they arrived at the next clearing he saw a large purple balloon. After they all climbed in, Twilight fired the exhaust with her magic. James was still amazed by it. When the balloon cleared the tree canopy Rainbow Dash jumped out and grabbed a rope, pulling them in the direction of the town.

'Well, that solves the steering problem.'

Civilization

Chapter 5: Civilization

The whole way back, Twilight drilled James with questions about himself, taking all his answers down on a piece of parchment and quill being levitated in front of her.

"So, James. What exactly do humans eat?"

"Everything."

"We can eat both plants and animals. I usually stick to chicken and beef myself, but I eat a lot of greens too."

He noticed horrified looks on their faces.

"I won't eat you. Or any other ponies. Humans don't usually eat ponies. In fact, I can survive entirely on a diet of fruits and vegetables," he quickly replied.

He left out that on one particular mission he HAD eaten horse. Their supplies had been lost during the jump and they had to survive in the desert somehow.

"Er, well, that's..... relieving to know. Ok, next. Why are you wearing those strange colored clothes?"

"This is my work uniform. The pattern allows me to blend in with a certain environment, this one being for a desert in particular. Which is actually where I came from recently."

"Oh yeah! How DID you end up here, by the way?"

"I honestly couldn't tell you. First thing, I was in a hot stifling desert, the next..... I don't know. I just kinda blacked out and when I came to, I was in that cave."

He left out the part about the firefight and the explosion. They seemed friendly enough and he didn't want to give them a reason to fear him. He DID need their help after all.

"Hmmmm, that's unusual. All right then, what about that strange equipment you're carrying? I've never seen anypony with those things before."

James had been dreading this question. They didn't seem to know what firearms were and he didn't really want to explain to them that they were tools of death or the fact that he was a trained killer. He didn't really like to tell anybody that. He wasn't all that proud of it and it tended to make things...... awkward.

"It's just tools I use for my job. Nobody should ever touch these," he said, motioning to his rifle and pistol, "they're very dangerous and someone could get hurt."

"And what is your job exactly?"

'Crap, think of something.'

"I was..... something like a guard, yeah I protected people."

"Oh, so then just like our Royal Guard here."

"Royal Guard? You have royalty here?"

"Yes, Equestria is ruled by two Princesses. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. They raise and lower the sun and moon, respectively, every morning and evening."

"You mean the sun and moon don't do it on their own? How is that even possible?"

"Magic of course. Don't you have magic where you're from?"

"No. I mean, we describe certain things as magical, like the northern lights and stuff. And there are still things in my world that science hasn't been able to explain yet. So I guess we have the concept of magic, but actual magic has never been observed. This is the first time I've ever seen it," James explained.

"I'm sorry to here that."

"Honestly, it's probably for the best."

"What do you mean?"

Before he could think of a suitable answer, Applejack interrupted his thoughts, "Hey gang, we're almost home!"

They soon passed over the edge of the forest, much closer to the town. It was a charming little hamlet, viewed from the air. James could see a large building in the center that he assumed to be a town hall, many charming looking houses surrounding it. He even saw one building that looked as if it was made of candy and frosting.

"That down there is Ponyville. Maybe tomorrow or the next day, we can take you on a proper tour."

"Sounds good," James replied.

"Well it was very nice meeting you, James. I'm sure everything will be just fine. I have to go now, we're flying by my house. Goodbye everypony."

"Ok, see you soon."

"Yeah, see you later 'Shy," the rest said.

With that, she carefully climbed out over the side, spreading her wings and gliding down towards a cozy little cottage that almost appeared to be half house, half tree.

"Next stop, Sweet Apple Acres," Rainbow Dash called from the front.

Out in front of them was a large and wide open apple orchard. A small homestead rested near the middle and close to the road. The balloon gently touched down in front of the house. As soon as it did, James, Applejack and Twilight climbed out onto the ground, Rainbow Dash joined them from the other side.

"Thanks for bringing me into town," James said, "with what I had, I could only have stayed out there for another few days."

"No problem," said Twilight, "after finding out about you, we couldn't let you stay out there on good conscience. Honestly, I'm surprised you were even out there that long without being hassled by some of the more dangerous creatures. That forest really isn't all that safe."

"Yeah, and it's th' least we could do fer the fella that saved mah sister and her friends," Applejack chimed in. "Lemme bring ya over ta where you'll be stayin' at, at least fer now."

"Thanks, I appreciate what you're doing for me, I'm still practically just a stranger."

"Aw shucks, darlin'. Think nuthin' of it."

As they started down the fence separating the orchard from the road, Twilight and Rainbow Dash wave their goodbyes' while taking off again. James and Applejack soon came to a dilapidated barn with faded red paint, enshrouded in trees and bushes. Applejack strolled forward and opened the large wooden doors.

"It's not much, but it's th' best we can do."

James peered inside and saw that it was mostly empty except for a few rusty old farming tools. In the back it had a small loft with a couple of stacks of hay and double doors for hoisting large equipment into the loft.

"It's perfect," he said simply, "waaaay better than the forest."

"That's good ta hear. Now if ya need water, there's a water pump around the side. It ain't warm fer bathin', but it's perfect fer drinkin'."

"Shouldn't be a problem. I'm pretty low maintenance as it is. This'll be just fine."

"Ok then. Now Ah'm goin' ta head back and let the rest of the family know about our new guest. Ah'll see you tomorrow."

"Alright, see you tomorrow Applejack."

After she left, James climbed up into the loft. There was plenty of room. He set down his rifle and rucksack in the corner and opened the double doors. What awaited him was a beatiful view of the country side in the lateness of the evening. Green rolling foothills with a few trees here and there.
He sighed, finally being able to relax a bit. He may still be in an unfamiliar place, very strange and alien too, but at least the locals were friendly and very hospitable as well.

'I should do something to repay them. They went out of their way just to help me. The only other people who would've done that are my teammates.'

That last thought brought him back down a bit. He had no idea if the rest of his team had made it out. Or if that family had made it to safety. He hoped everything worked out all right, but he had no way of knowing for sure.

James really needed a bath and now he had the opportunity to take one. Searching around the old barn, he found a couple of large buckets and filled them both up using the pump by the side of the barn. First, after dragging both buckets back into the barn, he undressed everything and started washing his clothes against an old washboard he found. He then hung them up to dry under the loft before beginning to wash himself, carefully stripping his bandages. He was especially careful around his sides where his ribs had cracked. There was a large discolored bruise where the rounds had struck. Fortunately they didn't feel like they were as damaged as he thought and his shoulder wound hadn't gotten infected. However, both were still pretty sore. It had been a few days since his last wash, and it felt real good when he finished. James was about to start drying himself off when the barn doors started to open again. In walked Applejack with a bucket full of apples.

"Hey James, I thought I'd bring you some food for the night--" She froze as he dove for his rain poncho.

"What seems ta be th' matter? Is there somethin' wrong?"

"Uh.... my species isn't exactly down with the nudity," he said, quickly wrapping the rain poncho around his waist.

"Beg pardon?"

"We don't like putting our jewels on display?"

"Huh?"

"Our genitals hang loose externally, so we try to cover up," James said bluntly, he never did like repeating himself.

Processing this new information, Applejack's face turned a crimson red.

"Oh, uh. Heh, uh, A-Ah'll just, uh, wait out side 'til you're decent. Uh, sorry 'bout that," said a flustered cowpony, back peddling out the door.

'Well, that was a bit of awkwardness I could have done without.' James thought with an exasperated sigh.

James quickly wiped the water off himself with his hands. It didn't get him completely dry, but it was good enough. Then he threw on a pair of his dry boxers, socks and his pants before finishing with his boots.

"Alright, I'm good," he called out.

"Heh, sorry about that darlin'. Ah didn't mean ta sneak a peak on ya."

*sigh* "It's fine, it was just..... awkward. Just, where I'm from, it's considered rude to...... expose yourself to others."

"Well, that sure is strange. Nopony else around here--" she stopped as she noticed his injuries. "What in the hay happened ta you?! When did ya even get those, ya didn't seem hurt when we found ya, are you ok?" she said as she gawked at the bruise and the hole in his shoulder.

"I'm fine, it was just a stupid accident."

"That weren't no accident, sugarcube. It looks like ya got bucked in th' side and a bull ran ya through with one of his horns!" she exclaimed.

"Look, I don't really want to talk about it. It's all healing now. I'm sorry, but could we just drop it?" he said as politely as possible.

"Well, ok then. But tomorrow I'm gonna ask Fluttershy ta have a look at that, jus' ta make sure. And that ain't up fer discussion," she stated.

"Alright then," James replied, a little bit annoyed.

After the stubborn mare left, James went back out to the water pump and refilled his canteen before quaffing down a few cups strait from the spigot. As he returned to the barn, he snatched up one of the apples from the bucket and took a bite.

'Damn, this is delicious. Probably one of the best I've had...... maybe ever.'

He quickly chomped it down to the core before demolishing two more. Content, he climbed up to the loft and threw on an under shirt. He grabbed a bunch of hay and spread it around in a pile about the length of his body before covering it with an old blanket he found in the corner. Even though the sun was going down, it was still quite warm and since we was now sheltered from the elements he didn't even need to use his poncho as a blanket. So he just stretched out on his makeshift bed and took in the scenery out the back of the barn in the dying light.

'This still just feels too unreal. This must all be in my head or something. I'll probably wake up in the morning in an Afghan village or a field hospital somewhere.'

He lay there and watched the moon slowly rise over the horizon. He still couldn't believe that some 'magical pony princesses' were responsible for it.

'I'll believe it when I see it.'

Still, he couldn't help admiring the beautiful crescent moon and the surrounding stars. He couldn't really see any of the constellations he did on earth. It had bothered him at first, but he had come to accept it. He made one final check to make sure hit pistol was in easy reach before finally succumbing to his weariness.
He went out like a light.

Re-adjustment

Chapter 6: Re-adjustment

James awoke with a start, like he usually did. He lifted his head up and looked around. He was in the same barn he fell asleep in. Looking out the window, he observed that the sun wasn't up yet, but it was starting to get light out. It was probably around 0500.

'So I guess this isn't gonna change anytime soon.'

Grabbing his pistol and shoving it into his right side cargo pocket, he descended from the loft, wincing from his side and shoulder, and checked to see it his blouse was dry.

'Still a little damp, but it'll dry out with my body heat.'

He tugged it off the line and threw it around his shoulders while starting to button it up. Suddenly, the creaking of old hinges made him spin around, his hand flying to his pocket to draw his sidearm. He froze as he locked eyes with a large red pony sporting an orange-ish mane. They stood there a moment before the large pony spoke up.

"Ah'm guessin' you'd be 'James', right?"

James nodded yes.

"Sorry ta be botherin' ya, I just needed ta grab a few extra buckets from the back. Ah'm Big Macintosh by the way, Applejack's big brother, but most ponies just call me Big Mac." He explained with a deep southern accent.

"It's all good. I was already awake. Anyway, it's nice to meet you. If it's alright to ask, whatchya doing up so early?"

"Well, it's a lotta hard work, what with this here bein' a farm, so we gots ta get up earlier than most folk 'round here do."

"Makes sense. Well uh, I'm up already, so, is there anything I could help out with maybe? You guys gave me a place to stay, not to mention the delicious apples your sister brought over yesterday."

"Naw, Ah couldn't just put a guest of ours ta work. AJ would probably get mad at me too."

"Nah man, I insist. I'll feel scummy just sittin' here if I didn't try to give back some how. C'mon, give me something."

"Well alright, how good are you at apple buckin'?"

"Apple what now?"

"Don'tcha know what apple buckin' is?"

"First time I've ever heard of it."

"Oh, ya just give the trees a good kick ta make the apples drop in th' buckets so we can harvest 'em."

"Uh, I don't think kicking trees all day is a good idea. Why don't I just haul the buckets around for you?"

"Well alright, that'll do just fine."

"Sweet, let's get started."

James spent the next few hours carrying full buckets of apples from the orchard to a storage barn near the house. It was hard work, but James was strong and he needed a good workout anyway. It also helped to take his mind off things like the fact that he was in a strange and colorful land featuring talking ponies and magic, and he had absolutely no idea where he was or how he was getting back home. The pain of his wounds still bothered him, but even that didn't feel so bad anymore. They kept working all the way up to noon, Big Mac 'bucking' the trees and James collecting the apples. It was then that a familiar blonde maned pony in a hat walked up to them followed by a timid looking yellow pegasus with a couple bags resting on her back.

"James, what in tarnation are you doin' workin' with that shoulder 'o yours?! Big Mac, how could you let him work while he was injured?"

"I didn't know he was hurt 'lil sis, he didn't even seem like he was in pain all while we was workin'. Besides--"

"It was my idea," James cut in, "I offered my services and I wouldn't take no for an answer. I wanted to repay you for your hospitality somehow, hell, I didn't even thank you for bring me that food yesterday. By the way, those were some of the best apples I've ever tasted."

"Eeeyup."

Fluttershy was already by James' side before the end of the exchange.

"You poor dear, you really should have said something yesterday, I would have help you. Can you please remove your shirt, t-that is, if it's ok with you?" she asked softly.

*sigh* "Alright," he complied, sitting on an old stump nearby.

When he took of his blouse and undershirt Flutteryshy's face contorted with concern.

"Oh my, how could you even move with such wounds? Don't worry, I have just the thing."

As Fluttershy started to wrap clean bandages around James' shoulder, Applejack asked Big Mac about his progress.

"So how far along are ya? Ah jus' got done with about fifty or so buckets."

"Well with James' help over there, we've managed to store about a hundred an twenty or so in the barn."

"A hundred.... and twenty? Shoot, that's more than either of us can do in a day? How'd y'all manage that?"

"Hey, I may not look like it, but I'm actually pretty strong." James called from the stump. He had been listening while Fluttershy was patching him up.

"You really shouldn't be exerting yourself," the fuscia maned mare said from beside him, "you might re-open the wound and it could get infected. How did you even get hurt like this? I-if you want to tell me that is."

"It was an accident. I made a mistake and got hurt as a result," he offered up.

"Oh, ok. I'm really sorry that happened."

James was glad when she didn't push for details, though Applejack was giving him a look of suspicion.

Fluttershy finished and James put his uniform back on before Applejack spoke again.

"Well anyway, th' reason Ah came over here was ta let y'all know that lunch is ready. Fluttershy, yer welcome ta join. There's some for you too James. Ya definitely earned it."

"Thanks, I'm starving."

"Eeeyup."

==============================================

James sat back on the bench, his belly full. For lunch they had had apple pie and apple juice. Once again, some of the best he's ever had. As he sat there relaxing, a certain lavender unicorn came trotting down the road.

"Hey everypony, how's work going?"

"Jus' fine sugarcube," Applejack answered, "in fact, we can call it an early day thanks ta this one here helpin' out," she said, raising a hoof towards James.

"Wow, that was very generous of you James."

"No biggie. I didn't want to be a mooch."

"What are you talking about? You've only been staying here since yesterday."

"I guess it's just the way I am. Plus, I don't know how long I'll be here for."

"Well that is still very kind of you. Anyhow, I just stopped by to see if you wouldn't mind answering some more questions."

"You really want to learn more?"

Applejack shook her head and smiled, "You have no idea."

"Not to be rude, but why do you want to know so much? No one really ever took an interest in me before."

"Well partly because I like learning about new and unknown things and also because I need need to write a letter to the princess about you."

This was something James did NOT want to hear.

"Oh no, please don't do that, I just want to be on my way as soon as I can find a way outta here."

"I'm sorry, but I already did last night and she even said she wants to meet you!"

"You WHAT?"

The last thing he wanted to do was deal with the government of this strange land. It never really went well when an MIA soldier met the government of even a friendly country back on earth. He couldn't even imagine how it would go here.

'Shitshitshit, how am I going to handle this. These ponies don't even know what I REALLY am, what I do for a living, and I'm going to have to explain myself to one of their leaders? Not even just a bureaucrat, but their fricken PRINCESS.'

"Uh, James? Are you ok?" Twilight asked, concerned.

James had a dazed look on his face, his right eye twitching a little.

"Yeah, fine. Just fine. So when is she coming?" he replied as smoothly as possible.

"Oh, she's out investigating some strange incidents in the eastern mountain ranges, so it will still be a few days before she actually comes here."

That was a little relieving. He had a little while to come up with a suitable explanation as to what he was and why he was here.

'At least I'll have a little slack to work with, being potentially the only one of my kind in existence here.'

"Alright, I'll come answer some more questions for you, but only if you take me around town as well."

"Fair enough, let's get going then."

"Alright." Getting up, he turned to the table while walking away. "Thanks for lunch Applejack and it was good workin' with you Big Mac. Fluttershy, thanks for the clean bandages, you didn't have to do that for me, but it's very much appreciated. I guess I'll be back later."

"Eeeyup."

"No problem James. Thanks fer all yer help this mornin'."

"You're welcome," Fluttershy said at an almost subsonic volume.

They started off down the road towards town.

"So, what exactly is it like where you're from," Twilight inquired.

James thought for a moment before answering. "Hmm, well some places are a lot like here. Lots of green vegetation and the like, but my world is also a planet of extremes. Some areas are always freezing cold and covered with nothing but snow and ice, while others are always so hot that there's never any water. Neither areas really support plant life. Most of the land, though, is just like it is here and that's where most people live. We have four seasons; Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. Our planet is orbited by one moon, much like here, and the planet itself actually orbits our sun."

"Wow. It sounds very similar to Equestria, except that last part of course."

"I've been meaning to ask you something, is Equestria, like, this whole world or is it just a country?"

"Equestria itself is actually just a country, but it's one of the largest. East, over the mountains are the Griffon Colonies and farther up north well past Canterlot are the Dragon's lands. If you go far enough west Equestria ends at a large ocean. Down south from here are the Diamond Dog territories."

"Diamond Dogs, Dragons and Griffons? Those exist here. I mean, I know about griffons and dragons, but they were just myths where I'm from. And I don't even know what a diamond dog is."

"Oh, I'm sure if you stick around long enough, you'll get to meet all three. I'd just steer clear of dragons though, they tend not to be very nice. Although, there are a few exceptions." she said knowingly.

"I'll keep that in mind."

About this time, they had reached the edge of town. There were many ponies walking around, running errands and taking care of their tasks for the day. As Twilight and James passed by a lot of them would give the two stares and strange looks.

"Do they look at most strangers this way?" James asked quietly.

"Oh, don't worry about them. The ponies around here aren't too trusting, especially living so close to the Everfree. They'll warm up to you eventually. Usually they'd be actively avoiding you, but this morning I asked the mayor to explain your presence to them. You should have seen it when Zecora first moved here, practically the whole town shut down."

"Zecora?"

"Yeah, she's a zebra. She actually lives in the forest nearby. She is an expert at medicinal plants and potions."

As they walked around the town, Twilight started to point things out.

"Over there is the Town Hall," she said, pointing to the large building near the center, "and there's the post office, the market, and a spa." They walked over to another part of town. "Over here, we have a few restaurants and even a couple of bars."

'Thank whatever crazy gods rule this world,' James thought inwardly. He'd have to figure out how to get some of the local currency, maybe he could get a beer later.

"Hey Twilight, what do you use for currency here? You know, money."

"We have bits. I actually have a couple left over from lunch," she produced three gold coins from a bag on her back, levitating them out with her magic.

James plucked one out of the air, inspecting it.

"Interesting." He gave it back to Twilight who placed it back in her bag.

Continuing on, the arrived in front of a small three storied pink and purple building in the shape of a carousel.

"This is Carousel Boutique."

'Really.'

"My friend Rarity owns and works here. She makes fashionable clothing for ponies. Let me introduce you to her." she said while trotting inside. "Rarity! I've got someone here for you to meet!"

"Really? Who would that be?" a posh sounding voice came from the back room. Out came a unicorn in a white coat and a deep purple curled mane. "Oh! You must be that fellow they found in the forest, James was it?"

"Yeah, that's me. You're Rarity then?" James replied, extending a hand.

She hesitantly reached out a hoof and James shook it.

"A bit of a, uh, rough gem I see."

"Uh, thanks? I guess?"

"Rarity, who is it?" Came a young voice from upstairs, the sound of hooves treading on the staircase accompanying it.

A young filly appeared at the base of the stairs. James recognized her as one of the three he had encountered a few nights ago.

"Sweetie Belle, have you finished your homework yet?" Rarity interjected.

"HEY! You're that thing that saved us from the timber wolves!" She exclaimed, ignoring her big sister.

"Sweetie Belle! He is not a 'thing', don't be rude," her head back to James, she continued, "So you're THAT gentlecolt who rescued my sister and her friends. I'm EVER so grateful for that. The forest is such a dreadful place."

"Ah, don't mention it. I wasn't gonna let any children come to harm. Why were they even there if it's so dangerous?"

"Oh, it's this club my sister and her friends started to earn their cutie marks."

"THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!" Sweetie Belle yelled from behind, making Rarity jump a little.

"Yes, and they routinely get themselves into these kind of situations. No matter how many times we tell them NOT to." explained Rarity, shooting an annoyed look towards her younger sibling.

"I see. I just have one question then. What is a cutie mark exactly?"

"What do you mean? Don't you have one?"

Twilight started to explain, "Cutie marks are symbols on or flanks that magically appear when a foal learns his or her special talent or calling in life. Mine is magic and Rarity's is fashion. You don't have any marks like that?"

"Ah, no. I have a few tattoos though. I actually thought that was what those were."

"Tattoo? What's that?"

"You don't have tattoo artists here?"

They both replied in the negative.

"Uh, here let me show you." He said while removing his top.

When Rarity and Twilight saw the bandages, they gasped.

"What in Equestria happened to you?" exclaimed the fashonista.

"Yeah, I don't remember you ever getting injured since we met you." added Twilight.

*sigh*

This was getting annoying.

"It's nothing. Just something that happened before I... 'arrived'.... in Equestria. I'm fine now, honestly. Fluttershy even took a look at it. Now here is what I was talking about." he said pointing to a mark on the upper part of his left breast, above the bandages.

It was an image of an eagle, clutching a crossed flintlock pistol and trident in it's sharp talons.

"I got different one on my back, on the opposite shoulder, but I guess you could say this is my 'cutie mark'." Ugh, that didn't just sound right. "But this didn't just appear for me, I had to earn it through a grueling training process for my job. An artist has to take a needle, dip it in some ink, and apply it to the skin."

"That just sounds absolutely unpleasant." scoffed Rarity.

"Yeah, it is a little painful, but the result is a mark I was proud to earn and it's with me for the rest of my life." James said as he pulled his upper garments back on.

"We should get going Rarity, I have more to show James and I still haven't introduced him to Pinky Pie yet."

"All right then, it was a pleasure meeting you James."

"The pleasure was all mine."

==============================================

On the way over to the duo's next stop, they were joined quite suddenly by a certain rainbow maned pegasus mare.

"'Sup guys, whatcha doin'?"

"Hey Rainbow Dash, I'm just showing James here around town. We're actually on our way to Sugarcube Corner."

"Oh wow, this should be good." Rainbow Dash chuckled.

"What does she mean by that?" James asked with a concerned glance towards Twilight.

"You might want to brace yourself." Was her only hint.

The three walked up to the candy house he had seen from the sky the day before.

"This is Sugarcube Corner, they probably make the best baked goods I've ever had." Twilight informed.

"Yeah, and our friend that works here, Pinkie Pie, throws the BEST parties ever."

They stepped inside to find a light blue mare with a pink mane that resembled frosting.

"Hi Twilight, Rainbow Dash. Is that the new arrival I've heard about?"

"Hello Mrs. Cake. This is James, he's a human."

"Nice to meet you."

Twilight continued, "Mrs. Cake, you wouldn't happen to know where Pinkie is, would you?"

"Oh, she asked for the day off. She's been working so much lately that I think she deserved it. Now that you mention it though, it has been unusually quiet around here. She did say something about having something else important to do, but that's all I know."

"Thanks, Mrs. Cake. Oh well, I'm sure you'll get to meet her later. Now, how about I show you the town Library?" Offered Twilight, trotting out the door.

"Sounds good to me."

"Bo-ring, I'm gonna go see what AJ is up to." Rainbow Dash complained.

"All right, see you later."

"Yeah. Bye James, bye Twilight." And with that she took to the sky.

"Don't mind her, she's just not the reading type."

"Meh, to each their own."

After a short walk, they ended up in front of a tall house that looked to be carved out of a tree.

"This is the Ponyville Library. It's also where I live. Come on inside and I'll introduce you to my number one assistant, Spike."

"Alright."

Twilight opened the door with her magic and trotted inside.

"Spike!" she called, "Come meet the human I was telling you about!"

"Coming!" Came a reply from upstairs.

Down came a small purple scaled crocodile looking thing with green trim and claws, walking on two legs.

'What is that, some kind of purple talking crocodile?' Thought James, with a quizzical look.

"James this is Spike. Spike, James."

"What is he?" James asked.

"I'm a dragon!" Spike exclaimed.

"I thought dragons were bigger."

"Spike is just a baby."

"Yeah, but I can still breath fire!" Spike retorted.

"Heh, well it's nice to meet you dude, just don't burn me and we'll get along fine." James extended his hand for a shake.

"No problamo." Spike took James' hand in his claw and shook.

"Well that's about it for town. Anything in particular you want to do?"

James looked out one of the windows, gauging the position of the sun. It was hanging low in the sky.

"Uhhhh, I think I'm good. I kinda just wanna get back to the barn and think for a bit. This is all still new to me."

"Well, for somepony from another world, you seem to be taking it quite well."

"I'll let you in on a secret, Twilight. I may be keeping a calm demeanor, but inside I'm totally freaking out. Panicking never did anybody any good though."

"Oh, well, ok I guess. Do you mind if I walk you back to Applejack's?"

"No, it's cool. I wouldn't mind a little company."

"Can I come too?" Asked Spike.

"Sure, why not. Couldn't hurt."

Just A Couple Of Surprises

Chapter 7: Just A Couple Of Surprises

The sun was close to setting when the three finally arrived at the Apple Family homestead. Curiously, there wasn't a soul in sight.

'Huh, I wonder where everybody went.'

"Hey Twilight, there isn't some special event going on in town today, is there?"

"No, nothing I've heard of."

Seeing nobody, James walked off towards his current place of residence.

'Something doesn't feel quite right. It's like one of those feelings I get when shit's about to hit the fan.

Nearing the old barn, he noticed a faint glow coming from inside.

'Funny, I definitely didn't leave any lanterns on in there and my flashlight is still in my rucksack.'

Fearing a fire, he swiftly ran up to the doors and threw one open.

"SURPRISE!!!"

'HOLY SHIT!' James dove to a table, kicking it on it's side while drawing his pistol, punch flying everywhere. When he realized he wasn't getting shot at, he took a peek over the edge. What he saw was a group of now equally surprised looking ponies staring in his direction. Slowly, James slipped his pistol back where he had pulled it from.

"Uhhhh, my bad." He said, gradually standing up. "What's going on here?"

Suddenly a bright pink mare with a darker pink frizzy mane appeared from out of thin air behind him.

"It's your welcome to Ponyville Party silly!" She said energetically.

"GAH! Where'd you come from? There's no door there!" James screamed, tumbling backwards over the table he had just knocked over.

The strange pink mare giggled and bounced over to him. "I dunno, want some punch?" She said, giving him a cup with a smile.

James took it and looked over to Twilight.

"This is Pinkie Pie, isn't she?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Ohhh, just a hunch."

Rainbow Dash floated down from the ceiling, her sides bursting with laughter.

"Nice! That was probably the funniest thing I've seen this week!"

She put her forelegs under his arms and lifted him up onto his feet with her wings.

Twilight walked in as the rest of the guests began casually talking amongst each other.

"Wow Pinkie, I didn't even know you were setting this up."

"Sorry Twilight, I would have told you, but you were showing James around Ponyville, and I wanted it to be a surprise, so I couldn't tell you without tipping James off, and that would have ruined the surprise!"

James went towards the back and sat down on a barrel, trying to get his heart rate down. He had almost shot one of these ponies by accident and he was a little shaky. Rainbow Dash and Applejack trotted up to him, looking concerned for their new friend.

"What's wrong James, aren't you going to join the party?"

"Why so glum, sugarcube?"

"Nothing, I-I could just use a beer right about now is all."

"Well, we don't brew beer here, yer gonna hafta go inta town fer that, but we do make the best apple cider this side of the Everfree here!" Applejack said proudly, hoofing James a wooden mug filled with frothy cider.

James took a sip. It was sweet and delicious, he could even taste a small hint of alcohol, but not too much.

"This is really good!"

"Drink all ya want, Ah got plenty after what happened last year."

"I might take you up on that."

"Jus' be careful, that'll get ya buzzed mighty quick."

"Ha, don't worry. I got a high tolerance for this sort of thing."

"Ya wanna put that to the test, buddy?" Rainbow Dash challenged.

"Ha, sure. Just gimme a moment."

"Alright, come get me when you're ready to do this!"

"I'll do that." James promised as she trotted away.

Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy and Twilight came over to see how their guest was doing. Twilight started to ask a question, but Pinkie Pie beat her to it. About ten times over.

"Hey! I know your name is James, but I didn't know what you were, Applejack says your human, what's a human? Do humans like parties? Do you like this party? I didn't know things like you existed, Twilight said you just kinda appeared or something, how'd you get here? Did it hurt? I heard you took a tour of the town today, whad ya think? Did you like Sugarcube Corner? What do you want to do now?" She blurted out, seemingly all in one breath.

James just looked at the pink party mare for a second before replying.

"Yes."

She gave him a blank stare before simply stating; "Okie-dokie-lokie!" and bouncing off to join the rest of the party.

The other three mares stared confoundedly at James.

"What?"

"It's just that, we've well.... uh, we haven't ever seen that handled quite that way before." Said Rarity.

"Why, is that normal for her?"

The trio just gave him uneasy smiles. Just then an ash colored mare with a gray mane approached the group.

"So, this is the 'human' you told me about, Twilight."

"Yes Mayor Mare. Like I said, his name is James."

The mayor turned to James, "How are you liking our humble town so far?"

"I like it very much, ma'am. It's clean, calm and collected. I wish we had more places like this where I'm from."

"Thank you, and where are you from exactly?"

"Earth."

"Right..... well I hope you enjoy your time here." And with that, she trotted away.

"That went well." James said flatly. "I think I'm going to go walk around for a bit."

He stood up and walked over to a table with a couple of casks sitting on it. Upon closer inspection, he saw taps at the bottom of each one.

'Hopefully this is the cider.'

He placed his mug under the tap and pulled the tab. Thankfully delicious golden cider flowed out and filled his cup.

James wandered around the barn, but found almost no one he could talk to. eventually, He ran into Rainbow Dash.

"You ready to live up to your challenge?" He asked almost drunkenly.

"Am I ever!" was the response.

They sat down at an old wire spool that was serving as a table.

"So, what are we gonna do, just keep drinking cider until one of us passes out?"

Applejack trotted up with a tray full of mugs and shot glasses balanced on her back.

"What's that there?" asked James, noticing the shot glasses.

"It's our special whiskey, made and distilled from mashed apples. The deal is that ya both take a shot after every two mugs of cider."

"Sounds good to me!" James said enthusiastically.

"Bring it on! I'll have you under the table in ten seconds flat!"

Applejack set down four mugs and a couple of shots between the pair. Immediately James grabbed a mug and started chugging. Rainbow Dash, surprised by his quick start, fumbled a bit before beginning to empty her own. Once she had finished her first she looked over at the human as she grabbed the second only to see that he was almost finished with his second and was reaching for his shot. She tried to pick up the pace.

"We're gonna need more drinks over here!" Applejack called to her brother.

"Eeeyup!"

==============================================

It was almost midnight when the party finally started winding down. Guests had begun leaving and James and Rainbow Dash's contest had come to an end. James was pretty tipsy, but Dash was far worse off. They had both consumed about fifteen mugs of cider and half as many shots. She had called it quits after the seventh shot of whiskey.

"Wow, yer the firsshst one to give me a, a run fer mah bitsss." She said, stringing her words together in a slur.

James just sat there with a half full mug, a slight smirk on his face.

"Eh, I've had a lot of practice over the years." he said, taking a sip.

The whiskey was pretty good. It was sweet, less sweet than the cider, but it still burned going down. All in all, not bad. Rarity trotted over. To collect her friend, having only had a few drinks for the evening.

"All right, Rainbow Dash, it's time to go home. James probably needs his sleep."

"Don't worry, I ain't that tired yet. Although it does look like she is." said James, pointing to a now passed out pegasus, her head resting on the table.

"Oh, I am terribly sorry, she doesn't usually get the intoxicated."

"S'alright, no worries."

A tipsy Twilight trotted over, Applejack and Pinkie Pie close behind. Applejack looked a little buzzed, however, the pink party hostess looked as if she hadn't had a drop to drink all night. This was strange as James was certain he had seen her downing drinks with almost as much regularity as he was. She bounced over to the table.

"What a great party!"

"Yeah, we did some damage tonight." James said looking at all the streamers and cups strewn around the barn.

"Hehehe, don't worry about that, I'll have it all taken care of."

"I was talking about all our drunks here, but thanks."

She giggled at that.

"Well it is getting late, you all good to get home?" James asked, carefully standing up. "Wait, where's Fluttershy and Spike?

Applejack spoke up, "They left jus' a short while ago, 'Shy said somethin' about her rabbit, Angel and Spike whus jus' tired."

"As long as they made it back safe. How are you all getting home?"

"I'll take Twilight back, Pinkie, can you take care of Rainbow Dash?"

"Sure thing, Rarity. C'mon Dashie, we gotta go."

Dash had finally been roused by Rarity and started stumbling towards the door with help from Pinkie Pie, following the two unicorns.

"Be safe!" James called out to them as they walked out the door.

"I will. Ssee ya later stud!" Rainbow replied with a sultry look.

'What.'

"Heh, don't pay her no mind, hun. She's jus' a might drunk right now."

James shrugged, "S'all good."

"Well, Ah guess Ah'll see ya tomorrow. C'mon Big Mac."

"Yeah, see you later."

They turned around to leave and James went to climb up to the loft. The left over cups and streamers were still scattered everywhere, but Pinkie said she would take care of it so he left it out of mind. The night sky was beautiful once again. He checked his gear to make sure it was still all there. Seeing that it was, he grabbed his iPod and headphones. Popping them in, he put on some Daft Punk and lay back on his makeshift bed.

'I just got drunk with a bunch of strange technicolored ponies. I wonder what my teammates would think about that. If I even ever get a chance to tell them, they probably wouldn't believe me. Huh, next time I should get pictures.'

His mind slowly drifted off, his thoughts on his home.

==============================================

When he awoke in the morning to a slight hangover. He peered over the edge of the loft to see that everything from the party last night had mysteriously disappeared.

'Funny, I didn't hear anyone come in, I would have woke up. Cleaning up all that would have been loud as well. I SHOULD have woken up.'

The thought of this spooked him a little.

The next few days were spent working the farm and entertaining Twilight's many questions. Even Rainbow Dash stopped by a couple times a day, sometimes demonstrating her tricks for him, eliciting claps and cheers from the human. In about three days Princess Celestia was due to arrive in town. Twilight said that if "anypony" could explain how to get back to his own world, it would be the princess. Apparently she was highly skilled and powerful in magics. He wouldn't get his hopes up.

James sat awake in his small bedroom loft. It was pretty late and he was unable to sleep that night. He had just had a terrible nightmare, one of death and destruction. Gunshots nearby, bullets whizzing through the air, explosions in the distance. James was in a small building at one end of a street and at his feet lay a young man about the same age as him. Only the scraggly young warfighter was bleeding from his throat, a large slit running from ear to ear. James looked down at his hands, one was clutching a sharp knife, both were coated in warm sticky blood. He quickly wiped his knife and hands on the insurgent's clothing.

"I'm sorry brother, I had no choice."

Unfortunately, the corpse at his feet wasn't going to be able to accept his apology.

The now dead hostile soldier was a sniper taking pot shots at a group of marines engaged in a heavy firefight with taliban forces. He had already shot two roughnecks and was lining up on a third when James had crept into the room and silently ended his life. James picked up the sniper's rifle from where it had been laying on the dusty concrete floor. He propped up in the window and began dropping Opfor like flies. Once the rest of the attackers noticed their comrades dropping left and right, they turned tail and ran, the marines giving chase. His task complete, James left the room and descended the stairs. His hands starting to shake again.

James tried to shake the images out of his mind, but to no avail. He looked to the almost full moon for comfort and noticed that he could not see the usual 'man in the moon'. No, instead he could just discern a dark spot that resembled the sleek head of a unicorn. Once again, it hit him just how far from home he was. He couldn't even measure the distance. It was then, deep in thought, that he heard a strange sound. James grabbed his pistol -- attaching the silencer -- and his knife and NVGs. He swung down to the packed dirt floor and strapped on his goggles.

'I hope this is a normal occurrence and not something unpleasant.'

Cautiously, he eased open one of the doors, and turning on his goggles, scanned the scene in front of him. He observed what looked to be three or four equine shapes further into the orchard. None of the silhouettes matched any of the ponies he knew. The dark outlines moved as if they were collecting numerous objects from the trees and the ground around them.

'I hope they're not thieves for their sakes. I fucking hate thieves.'

He quickly and quietly made his way closer, silently stalking his prey, blending with the shadows. James witnessed a unicorn and two earth ponies grabbing apples off the trees and picking them up off the ground.

'Fucking thieves.' He said to himself with a tinge of malice coloring his thoughts.

"Hurry up you dolts, if that damn farm mare wakes up and catches us, we're finished." The unicorn whispered angrily.

James removed his NVGs, sheathed his knife and pocketed his pistol. He probably wouldn't need those deadly weapons for this part. Casually, he strode out into the moonlight.

"Honestly, she's not the one you need to worry about." He stated, hands in his pockets. "If you three just leave the apples here where they belong and take off without any trouble, it would be easier all around. Either way, you're leaving those here, they don't belong to you."

One of the earth ponies jumped back, "Aahhh! Where the hell did you come from?"

"Don't worry you idiots, it's just that freak that's been staying here. Just kick it's flank so we can get out of here." The unicorn said with contempt.

"That, would be a very unwise decision. My offer still stands by the way." James retorted.

The other earth pony tried to look as intimidating as he could, "I can take him! He doesn't look so tough."

*sigh* "Everyone wants to learn the hard way."

The large earth pony charged at James, no doubt trying to flatten him against the the behind tree. At the last moment, James stepped to the side and gave the foolish stallion a swift kick in the rump, sending him tumbling into the afore mentioned tree without even taking his hands from his pockets.

*yawn* "Can you guys just go now? I really do need to get some sleep."

The smaller earth pony went to charge as well, but stopped and spun around, trying to buck James in the chest. Quick as lightning, James pivoted around, dodging the kick and delivering a roundhouse to the stallion's side, twirling the would be thief around. As the pony's head came around to face James, the warrior sent a devastating knee to the side of his face. The pony crumpled to the ground in a heap. Suddenly, James felt a strange tingling sensation as he was surrounded by a red aura.

"Let's see you try that fancy fighting after I've slammed you into a tree a few times!" The unicorn's voice was dripping with malice.

Thinking fast, James reached into his pocket and pulled out his pistol. Aiming at the ground directly in front of his assaulter's face, James squeezed of a round, the firearm making a muffled snap and causing dirt to explode into the unicorn stallion's face, distracting and making him release his hold on the warfare specialist. James took the opportunity to run up and bring his gun down onto the back of the ring leader's head, knocking the pony out cold. James looked around at the bodies, still at the ready. He dropped his hands once he realized all three were unconscious. The entire fight took about two minutes.

'Too easy.'

James collected his gear and went back to the barn, returning with some lengths of rope. He tied the three together and, making sure all the knots were good and they wouldn't be able to escape should they come to, left them next to their bucket of ill gotten goods. Exhausted, James went back to his loft, lay down and finally drifted off into a gentle slumber.

Unwinding

Chapter 8: Unwinding

James was pulled out of his slumber by someone yelling just outside the barn.

"Hey, James! What in tarnation was goin' on out here? Who are these strange ponies?"

'Ha, this should be interesting.'

James climbed out of bed and threw on his shirt and boots before walking out the barn to greet the confused country pony.

"Mornin' Applejack. I see you've found the late night guests."

"Sugarcube, what in Equestria are ya talkin' 'bout?"

"Those three right there," James pointed at the group, no longer unconscious, but rather just asleep. "I caught them last night trying to steal all those apples."

"What? Aw, Ah knew it! We kept findin' bare trees we ain't bucked yet. Well that was mighty brave of ya, James. Ya didn't have ta do that fer us, Ah mean, ya already put work in on th' farm."

"Hey, you guys gave me, a complete stranger and a strange being from another world, a place to stay. Plus I just really don't like thieves."

"Heh, ya did put quite a number on 'em."

"So, what are you gonna do with them now?"

"Big Mac'll load 'em up on a cart and take 'em inta town. Th' guard will deal with 'em from there. In th' mean time, we'll get started on today's work."

Just then, a cyan blue mare descended from the sky.

"Hey Applejack, did you see what happened last night?! Some ponies were taking your apples on the trees when something appeared out of NOWHERE and kicked the crap outta them!"

"We know, hun. That 'something' was our friend James here."

"Wow, really?"

"Yeah, it was really no big deal. That's what my job was, remember?"

"No way dude, that was SO awesome."

"Wait, you saw the whole thing? What were you even doing out that late?" He hoped she didn't witness him using his 1911.

"I heard the yelling. I don't live that far away, ya know."

"Where? There aren't really any houses nearby."

"I don't live on the ground, I live up there." She pointed a foreleg towards the sky behind her.

James looked up and saw a large cluster of clouds. He squinted his eyes and realized the cluster was in the shape of a house about two or three stories. Only it was floating high above the ground. Also, it had rainbows pouring out the sides.

'What? Rainbows don't pour. They aren't even tangible.'

He just passed it off as another strange phenomenon of this world.

"You live in a cloud? How do you keep from falling through, or the house from coming apart?"

Rainbow Dash chuckled, "I'm a pegasus, duh. I can walk on clouds."

"What? No way."

"Here, lemme show you." She flew up and grabbed a random tuft of cloud, bringing it back towards the ground and jumping on top of it. James swiped his hand through the cloud only to find that it was just as insubstantial as he expected.

"Now that's cool."

Applejack explained a bit, "Pegasi can manipulate th' clouds and weather. Without their help, runnin' this here farm would be a might harder ta do."

"Weather control? Wow, you guys got a good thing going on here."

"If you like that, then you should see Cloudsdale. It's the pegasi capital of Equestria." The weather mare said with enthusiasm.

"I think I'd like that."

"Well if'n ya don't mind, I gotta steal James away here from ya Dash, we gots some work ta do."

"Awwww, I wanted to hang out some more."

"I can hang out with you after work today Rainbow." James compromised.

"Yeah, and why don't ya take a half day today as thanks." Offered Applejack.

"Alright, I got some things I wanted to take care of today too. Thanks Applejack."

"Jus' call me AJ hun."

"Yeah, and you can just call me Dash."

"Alright, thanks."

After the pegasus mare left, James and AJ got to work. A little while later, Big Mac had returned from taking the three robbers to the town's small guard post. The work was hard, but James was happy to help his new friends in a way that also gave him a bit of exercise. At noon they all broke for lunch. As James sat down, Applejack surprised him with a small bag.

"Here's some wages fer th' help ya been givin' us."

"Aw, you didn't have to--"

"Stop righ' there. You've been workin' along side us without th' slightest complaint and last night ya saved our crops from those rotten ponies. Ah insist ya take it, ya've earned it."

"Then how can I refuse?" He pocketed the bag.

James wandered back to his residence to wash up a bit before heading inside.

Closing and securing the barn doors behind him, he climbed up into the loft and grabbed his pistol and rifle and the cleaning gear for his firearms. He hadn't done any maintenance on them in a while and he wanted to make sure they would still work, should he ever need them. He put on some music and got to breaking them down into their individual components. James cleaned and oiled them both before quickly reassembling them upon hearing a knock at the barn door.

"Hey, James!" Came a familiar scratchy voice, "Me and the girls are going out tonight. Ya wanna come with?"

James stowed his equipment and made his way to the door, unlocking it.

"Oh, hey Dash. I'd love to." She smiled at this, "Is it ok with everyone else?" Her ears dropped a bit.

"Oh, uh, I'm sure they won't mind."

"Well, alright then. Just please give me a minute." He said, stepping back inside.

"Sure thing!"

James switched into his spare uniform, as it was clean. He rolled up his sleeves and made sure he was presentable overall.

'Ha, going out in uniform like this is way outta regs. Too bad I ain't got nothing else to wear and there's nobody around to give a shit.' He still felt a little uncomfortable going for a drink in a desert camo uniform, but for now there was nothing that could be done. Seeing that he looked respectable, he stepped back outside and joined Dash.

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's go."

The duo stepped off towards town, Dash opted to walk be side her strange friend instead of flying.

"Isn't AJ going to come with us?"

"She's gonna meet us with the rest at Twilight's. So... how do you like it here so far?"

"It's not so bad. This place is definitely a lot more peaceful than my world. Something I could get used to. I don't think I've ever heard about any kind of conflict since I've arrived."

"Conflict?"

"You know, things like war."

"There hasn't been a war in Equestria for over a thousand years."

James was surprised to hear this, but was glad at the same time.

"How often does your world have war?"

James sighed. He probably souldn't have brought the subject up and he didn't want to tell her how violent his race was, starting a new war every few years, lest she get the wrong idea.

"More often than I'd like. It's not something I like to talk about."

"Oh, uh, I'm sorry." Dash apologized, looking a little down.

"Don't fret about it, let's just go have fun, ok?"

"Yeah, tonight should be great. First we're gonna go to a chill restaurant in the downtown section before hitting the club."

'This should be interesting.'

They made good time and reached the leafy library in only about ten minutes. As they walked up, five mares were trotting out the front door. Rainbow Dash went to join her friends.

"Hey girls. I hope you don't mind, but I invited James."

"That's actually a great idea," assured Twilight, "this way he can learn more about about the ponies here first hand. Plus it did seem a bit anti-social, always hanging out at that musty old barn. This will be a good experience for him."

Rarity couldn't hold it in any more, "Ugh, I'm sorry, but that outfit simply looks ghastly, especially for a night on the town. You don't have anything else to wear, dear?"

"Nope, 'fraid not."

"Then you MUST allow me to make you some more reasonable clothes."

"Sorry, but I don't think I have enough money for that. Thanks for the offer though."

"Whatever do you mean? This, of course, will be on the house."

"Wow, that's.... very generous of you. I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything dear, just stop by my shop tomorrow so that I can measure you."

Seeing no point to argue, he agreed.

"So where are we off to?" James asked.

And Pinkie Pie answered, "We're going to a super-duper yummy-tummy restaurant! The food is soooooo good."

"But not as good as your cupcakes, Pinkie." Fluttershy said calmly.

The group of six mare and a human walked up to a small restaurant called 'The Green Tulip'. Twilight trotted up to the hostess.

"Hi, I had a reservation for six, but we have one extra."

"That's no problem, I'll just have the staff just pull up an extra cushion."

"Thanks!"

They all sat down at the table the hostess lead them to. James looked at the menu as he tried to get comfortable on the small cushion. He looked down it seeing things like 'alphalpha burger and hay fries' and 'dandelion sandwich', none of it looked appetizing. He missed meat. He especially missed bacon. Maybe he'll take a few days and go hunting somewhere deep in the forest. Eventually he ended up ordering steamed broccoli and carrots over rice. Not the best tasting for him, but he could digest it. The girls talked amongst themselves for a time, but James mostly stayed out of conversation, not knowing what he could possibly talk about other than the weather. That is until a boastful blue mare interrupted his contemplations.

"Did you see how fast I went in that one dive the other day?"

"Yeah?"

"That was so cool, I could literally feel the air pushing back at me. Any faster and I woulda performed another sonic rainboom."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"It's when she goes so fast that she breaks the sound barrier and makes a supie-loopie-doopie explosion of color in the sky!" Exclaimed Pinkie Pie, as only she could have described.

'Heh, not likely. Organics can't survive those speeds without some kind of protection.'

"Eh, it's no big deal to me. Have you ever gone that fast buddy?" Dash asked James.

"Only a few times."

"What!? No way, you don't even have wings!"

"That's right, but neither does any other human. However, we are very technologically advanced. We built and designed machines we call aircraft that use to fly. Some are so aerodynamic and powerful that the can surpass the speed of sound a few times over. I've been lucky enough to hitch a few rides in some of these fast movers." He didn't mention, though, why he had to ride in such things. He had ridden in F-18s a few times, but only to get him in various parts of the world in short times for his missions. He was still trying to play the part of a simple guard.

"Whatever," Dash huffed, "I'M still the fastest flyer here."

"No one's arguing that." James chuckled a bit.

They finished up their meals, everypony chipping in for the bill, and made their way towards the bars. James was a little nervous. He didn't know how the social spots were here. He hoped they didn't have the same D-Bags and A-holes as earth had. Those were the ones always picking fights and truth be told, James liked to avoid fights when he could. That wasn't the thing he was worried about most though. He couldn't dance. He had rhythm, he obviously had a sense of timing, but he just couldn't put it together on the dance floor. The entourage soon arrived at a large building with brightly colored neon lights wrapping around the top. Thumping music pulsing from inside.

"All right, LET'S PARTY!" Pinkie Pie hollered out before rushing to the door with a large bouncer pony standing beside it.

"Pinkie, do please calm down. We haven't even entered yet." Rarity sighed.

They all paid the three bit entry fee, James getting a suspicious look from the bouncer, and made their way inside. The volume of the club music was almost over powering. Which was unfortunate because James was more of a dive bar kinda guy. But, for his new friends, he would bear it. The hyper cotton candy maned mare shot strait for the dance floor, dragging Rarity and a reluctant Fluttershy with her. Twilight went to go find a table while Applejack and Rainbow Dash took James over to the bar.

"So James, what'll ya have?" Applejack queried, trying to speak over the music.

"I don't know, usually I just get a beer, but I don't know what you have here." Trying to sound coherent over the sound was annoying.

"We got Wheat Rider, Stallian's, Dos Equine, Scarlet Filly, Buck's and Buck's Light." Listed off the barmare, who had apparently been listening in.

James turned to him, "Any of those a good red draft?"

"Stallian's it is." He watched her pour him a pint before sliding the glass to him. "That'll be seven bits."

'Well, that hasn't changed....'

James' two companions ordered their drinks, Applejack getting a hard cider and Rainbow Dash a Stalliongrad vodka and cranberry, and headed to the back where Twilight had grabbed a table where thankfully the music wasn't so loud. The three sat down next to Twilight and James took a test sip of his beer.

'Not bad. Almost the same as one of my favorites.'

"How is your drink?" Asked the lavender unicorn.

"I actually kinda like it. It's not much different than what we have back home. Aren't you having something?" He noticed that she only had a glass of water in front of her.

"Uh, no thanks. I'm not that much of a drinker."

"That's not what it looked like last week."

"Oh, that's only because I was at a friend's place. I don't like to really drink at all out in town. Fluttershy doesn't even drink at all."

"I get it, that's cool. Someone, or should I say somepony, has to be sober to help the alcoholics back home." He said, shooting a playful glare at Dash. AJ and Twilight giggled.

"Hey! That was one time!"

"I've only seen you drunk one time." James replied slyly.

"Well... yeah, but...." she started to stutter, red starting to form on her cheeks.

"Don't worry, I'm just messin' with ya." He said with a laugh.

She hesitantly smiled, a little embarrassed. "Oh, I see, you wanna play it that way, huh? In that case, I had no idea you were such an exhibitionist."

"Hmm?" James raised an eyebrow while taking a sip of his beer.

She continued, "I saw you the other day, doing push-ups in your underwear with the loft doors wide open!" A smirk forming on her snout.

James' beer nearly exploded out of his mouth, but he forced it down his throat, coughing and gasping for air while his face started to grow hot. Dash started laughing hysterically, AJ and Twilight still giggling beside them. Slowly, James caught his breath when something came to mind.

"Wait, those doors face away from the orchard and town, there's nothing out there. So what were you doing watching me?"

Now it was Rainbow Dash's turn to get flustered, a scarlet blush spreading noticeably on her cheeks.

"What!? No... I wasn't.... I was just.... practicing. Yeah! Practicing some new tricks, I didn't want and pony to see them yet!" She shook out the explanation, trying to hide her blush by turning away and taking a few gulps of her drink while James chuckled to himself.

"Don't worry sugarcube, everypony gets a little curious sometimes," Applejack said teasingly.

"Ugh, whatever." Dash huffed and walked off.

"She gonna be ok?"

"Oh sure, she'll be fine in a minute." Twilight assured him.

They spent the rest of the night drinking and talking casually. James had a few more beers and even a couple of shots with Applejack and Pinkie Pie, after which he had to convince Pinkie not to throw him out on the dance floor. Which was difficult. VERY difficult. He saw Rainbow Dash a few times, but every time he went to go talk to her, she somehow disappeared. Eventually the night came to an end and the group met back up at Twilight's table where Fluttershy was also sitting. James had to admit, he did have some fun that night and he had a nice buzz going.

"Yeah! How fun was that!" Pinkie was bouncing as always

"Shucks, that was one hay of a shindig ya pulled out on th' dance floor there Pinkie!"

"I'm glad everypony had fun, but can we please go home now? That is... i-if you all want to."

Just then Rarity came trotting up, a troubled look on her face. "Has anypony seen Rainbow Dash? I've looked everywhere and the doorman said that he hadn't seen her leave."

"I got this," James volunteered, "I'm a bit taller, I should be able to spot her. You guys go on ahead back home, it's pretty late."

"Are you sure James? You're still new here, we wouldn't want to trouble you."

"I'm sure Twilight. I've done this kind of thing before with my teammates back home. I'll make sure she gets home safe."

"That's mighty kind 'o ya James."

"Don't mention it." He turned towards the interior.

James wandered through the thinning crowd, looking for that tell tale flash of multicolor that would betray Dash's presence. He circled the entire room twice without so much of a glimpse before arriving at a side door that was slightly ajar. He thought he heard arguing on the other side. He was about to turn back when he caught the familiar scratchiness of the voice coming from the door. Curious, he peeked through the crack. Outside James saw a small alley with trash bags piled on one side and two pony silhouettes on the other. Further down the alley, he could just see the outlines of three more ponies. Fearing RD could be in some situation, he eavesdropped on the pair.

"Lightning, I thought I told you to leave me alone. We're through. This is the third time you've bothered me when I was with my friends, the second time you've done it while drunk. Now please for the last time, just leave me alone." Rainbow warned harshly.

James had inferred enough from her words and tone. 'I guess no matter where you go, they're everywhere.'

She was talking to a brown pegasus stallion with a black mane that had a jagged yellow streak through it.

"Aw, c'mon slut, you know you liked it." 'Lightning' slurred.

"No, I didn't. You were always getting wasted, horrible to my friends and when I stood up for them you tried to hit me!"

James had heard enough. He quietly slipped through the door and stealthily approached them.

"Well, maybe you need a little smack in the mouth now!" The belligerent stallion said, raising a hoof as if to strike her.

Faster than either ponies could see, James stepped between them, catching the offender's hoof in the air.

"Hey! Get outta here freak! This ain't none of your business!"

James let go of his hoof and leaned in close.

"Leave. Now." He said as menacingly as possible.

"You asked for it!"

Lightning reared up on his hind legs, intending to strike James with one of his forelegs. In one fluid motion, James caught his hoof, spun it around the stallion's back, heaved him over the shoulder and threw him into the large pile of garbage. The drunken colt pulled himself out of the refuse. James pushed Rainbow Dash behind him.

Over his shoulder he told her, "You can fly, get out of here, I can handle this."

"No, you can't fly, I'm not leaving you! And the rest of his gang are blocking the only way out of the alley!" Almost on cue, the other three ponies came racing down the alley at the loud noises. One of two of them producing knives.

"Please, this is going to get ugly. I don't want you to get hurt." Stubborn as ever, she stood her ground defiantly, her rose colored eyes burning with determination. *Sigh* "Then at least stay out of my way as I work my magic."

"What do you mea--"

She was cut off as one of the aggressors lunged at James with a knife. Expertly, he stepped aside letting the hoof holding the knife pass through the space he had just been in, before grabbing it and pulling the thug forward, kicking him in the gut while disarming him at the same time. When the gangbanger tried to come at the warrior again, James faked stabbing at him with his own knife which caused the gang pony to flinch. James took this opportunity to slug him across his jaw with a hard left hook, knocking him unconscious.

Just then, the other two tried to get the jump on the defender. James reflexively threw the knife at the other armed one, the blade planting itself a few inches in his thigh. As that one screamed, James ducked a punch from the other, dropping low and performing a leg sweep that cause the stallion to fall flat on his flank. Keeping his momentum, the human kicked the bleeding thug hard in the face, sending him sprawling against a wall where he lay unmoving. The spec war operator then turned back to the last one, winding up for another strike, and stopped when he saw the colt cowering with his forelegs up over his face. Lightning had recovered now and was staring at the thing that had so rudely interrupted.

"You wanna play to?" James asked.

The 'gang leader' looked around at his crew. Two were knocked out, one bleeding, and the third was just cowering in front of the strange creature. Lightning then hollered, "Guards! Help!"

'Yep, Douchebag to the core.'

"C'mon Dash, we gotta leg it."

"Wha?"

"Chuck rocks!"

"Uh..."

"RUN!"

James snatched up one of her forelegs and took of down the street towards the outskirts of town. Glancing back, he saw several ponies in metal armor converging on the scene so he picked up the pace. They ducked into a few alleyways here and there, emerging on another street, to evade any pursuers. Soon they were finally on the road back towards Dash's house. James checked behind them again and seeing no ponies chasing after them, slowed down to a walk.

"Think you're good to go home Dash?"

"I don't know. He knows where I live and might head there, maybe with a few guards. He'll probably put the whole thing on you and me." She said sadly.

"Yeah, dirtbag alright."

"Wait! They don't know anything about you though!"

"But doesn't the mayor know where I live? She was at that party after all."

"Yeah, but those hoodlums have been a pain lately so I'm sure she'll look the other way, but the guard answer directly to the princesses."

"Yeah, that would look pretty bad, seeing as I haven't even met them yet. Couldn't you go to Fluttershy's? She lives pretty far out and I'm sure she could hide you better."

"Pleeeaase?" She looked up at him with large puppy dog eyes.

'Dammit.'

*sigh* "Alright."

"YES! Uh... I mean... thanks."

They made their way back to James' borrowed home under the cover of darkness. Once the reached the doors, James stopped outside.

"Hold on a minute, I gotta do something real quick. He rushed inside, closing the door behind him and climbed up to the loft. Quickly he took his rifle, knife, grenades, rain poncho and pistol. Returning to the ground, he hid them behind a line of hay blocks, except the pistol and poncho, before putting one over the items. James went back and opened the door to a disgruntled Rainbow Dash.

"About time, I thought you were gonna leave me out there." She said, trotting inside.

"I would never!" James said, faking being hurt. "Anyway, there's already a bed made up in the loft and a few extra blankets in the far corner, so go on ahead up and get some rest."

"But what about you?"

"I'll sleep down here. I can make a nice little comfy spot underneath."

"Well... ok." Dash said slowly flying up to the loft.

James got to work gathering some hay and spreading it around again in a corner under the loft. He grabbed another couple of spare blankets that were sitting on a bench there and put them over the hay like he had done in the loft. James unbuttoned the poncho all the way, kicked off his boots, took off his top and lay down on his new mattress while spreading the poncho over himself. Sleep refused to come easy however. He lay there for a bit, half asleep and in a haze of darkness and violence for what felt like an hour. At one point he thought he felt something large, warm and furry crawl up under the poncho and curl up next to him, but he gave it no mind. Soon after, his thoughts found peace and finally gave in.

A New Threat To His Sanity

Chapter 9: A New Threat To His Sanity

James slowly came back to awareness. He rolled over to.... nothing.

'Strange. Coulda swore....'

He quickly dismissed the thought and got up to put his top and boots on. Finished, he called up to the loft.

"Hey, Dash! You awake yet?" No answer.

He climbed up for a look. Nothing was there. She must have gotten up earlier and went home. Then he noticed how bright out it was.

'Crap, I'm late. Applejack must be mad.'

James ran outside to find either AJ or Big Mac. Searching the orchard didn't turn up anything though. Shrugging, he made his way to the Apple's house. Outside resting on the porch he saw Granny Smith relaxing in a rocking chair. She spotted him and waved him over.

"Well good mornin' uh, Jamie, Jim, no, James! Good mornin' James, how're ya doin'?"

"Good morning Mrs. Smith..."

"Aw, yer practically part 'a the family now, just call me Granny dear."

"Oh, ok Granny. Excuse me, but have you seen Applejack or Big Mac? They aren't anywhere in the orchard."

"They're around somewhere, probably in town or picnickin' or whatsit."

"Don't we have work?"

"Shucks young'en, can't work every day. Y'all'd run yerselves ragged that way. Today's a day off! Go do somethin' fun fer Celestia's sake."

"Alright then, thanks Granny!"

"Yer welcome Jibbers!"

James remembered Rarity's offer and decided to head over to her shop after washing up and throwing on some clean clothes. He would have to be cautious and sneak into town though. After last night, there could be ponies on the look out for him. He started off towards the general direction of Carousel Boutique at a light jog.

It wasn't easy, but he managed to make his way to the back door with out being seen in broad daylight. He knocked a few times before it was answered by Sweetie Belle.

"Hey James! How're you doing?"

"I'm doing alright. Yourself?" She nodded with a bright smile. "Hey, your sister wouldn't happen to be here, would she?"

"Oh yeah, she's upstairs in her 'idea room'." She informed while rolling her eyes.

"Great, is it ok if I came in?"

"Of course!" She turned and trotted over to the stairs as James entered. "Rarity! James is here!"

"All right, I'll be right down!"

James waited a minute before Rarity came clopping down the stairs.

"James! So nice of you to come. Please stand on that pedestal over there and we'll get started."

He did what he was told and stood there as the fashion pony made measurements of his arms, shoulders, legs and waist, using her magic to manipulate a tape measure. She scribbled down a note or two every once in a while.

"Oh this will be so fun. I've never had a challenge quite like this before. Now, is there anything you want specifically?"

James thought for a moment. "I just want something practical. You know, nothing fancy, I'm not really a fancy kind of guy. And absolutely NO sparkly gems please." He added, noticing the majority of the garments in the room were 'bedazzled'.

"Well, of course. I always take my customer's preferences into consideration. Any thing else darling?"

"No, that's it. I trust you."

"Why, thank you! Now, it will take a day or two before your clothing will be ready."

"Alright, and thanks again, I owe you. You need help with anything, don't be afraid to ask." James offered, turning to leave.

"That's very gracious, I'll remember that dear. Ta-ta now."

James slipped out the back again and returned towards the farm. When he got there he spotted Applejack walking towards the well.

"Hey Applejack, what's up?"

"Not much sugarcube, how're ya enjoyin' the day?"

"Alright I guess. When do we get back to work?"

"Not for a few days now. Th' zap apples are comin' in a few days and we can't harvest them 'til they're exactly ripe. So if'n ya got somethin' to take care of, now'd be th' time ta do it."

"Ok, thanks for the heads up."

'The hell are zap apples?'

He couldn't think of anything else to do besides checking up on Rainbow Dash and he hadn't seen her all day. He couldn't even go to her house because of his inability to fly.

"AJ, could you do me a favor?"

"Sure hun, whatcha need?"

"Can you make sure Dash is ok? She had kind of a rough night yesterday. She got home ok, but she ran into some trouble. I haven't seen her all day and I got some things I need to do."

"Sure thing sugarcube, I'll ask Fluttershy to see if she's home." She promised, seeming concerned.

"Good. It's good that she has friends like you guys." James complimented, walking away.

James headed back to the old barn, only one thing in mind. Meat. It had been so long since he's had it. James thought that if he went far enough into the forest and he buried his kills, he could avoid scaring any of the locals. Not to mention the six friends he had made. He donned his tac vest and ball and a boonie cap he always kept on him. It was way more comfortable sniping in that than a heavy kevlar helmet. He threw a couple of the MRE's he had left, the NVGs, the solar recharger, his iPod and some spare mags of ammo into his rucksack. Then he jumped below and removed a couple of flashbangs. Just in case. The only weapons he took were his knife and trusty pistol. He didn't really like going anywhere without his pistol, last night being the only exception. The last thing he did was leave a note by the door with his spare radio. He had taught Twilight how to use it after she had walked in on him tinkering with it, trying to get some kind of signal, last week. He was taking his throat mic with him.

'To who ever finds this, I'll be back in a couple of days. I just need to take care of a few human related things. Don't worry about me, I know how to handle myself well enough around here now. See you all again soon.'

- James

James left the farm and trod down the road that ran near the Everfree. About two miles down, he turned and disappeared into the dark foliage.

=================================================

James continued through the brush. He had been marching through the forest for half the day now, but he didn't know how far he should go. He remembered that he had found Sweetie Belle, Applebloom and Scootaloo about a two hour's trek away from the edge of the forest a few weeks before. He would have to go much deeper before he could start his hunt. About an hour before James had met a strange rhyming zebra. She met Twilight's description of the forest dwelling potion maker he heard about. They had even talked for a bit.

"What is this strange creature here? No wonder the animals flee in fear."

"You must be Zecora. Twilight told me about you."

"That indeed is who I am, but who are you and of what land?"

'What a strange way to talk. Twilight didn't mention any of this. But I guess it didn't really matter.'

"I'm James, and I'm currently Equestria's only resident human."

"It's nice to meet you James and I've a surprise, the items you carry match those I've found nearby."

"Huh? What do you mean by that? You mean like my clothing and equipment?"

"Clothing is but one form I've seen, also there have been monstrous machines."

James asked her for more details and she told him of a place that sounded like it was not far from where he had first woken up. She gave him some quick directions and he was on his way. This little trip was turning into much more than the simple hunt he had planned. He kept going until sundown, when he made camp in a small clearing. He slept until the early morning hours where he ate a quick breakfast of some raspberries he found and two vegetable crackers from an MRE. Afterwards, he resumed his journey. After a while, he could spot what appeared to be little paths through the forest. At first James believed them to just be game trails. Until he found a low broken stone wall. And then he noticed that some of these 'games trails' had been paved at some point in time, cobble stones poking through the grass here and there.

'I wonder what this could be. It looks like some old ruins. And some of these trails look like they're converging somewhere.'

James started to follow the path cautiously, scanning the environment around him for threats. The cacophony of the forest started to fade before becoming eerily silent. James now knew something was off here. He kept going down the old path, but stopped when he saw something glinting in the underbrush. Drawing his sidearm, James approached warily. Slowly he pushed aside the plant growth to reveal an old broken watch. He recognized it, it was man made with certain cartoon mouse featuring big round black ears, his own arms acting as the hands for the watch. Upon closer inspection, James noticed that the watch wasn't all that old, just exposed to the elements for what seemed like only a few years.

'But how did it get here?'

This wasn't looking good. Nevertheless, James pushed on, his curiosity piqued. After about thirty yard he came upon half a building. It was missing the roof, it's walls made of stone, though half of them had collapsed long ago. James decided to explore a bit and found a back room with scorch marks in one corner. There was a metal object laying on the floor where the scorch marks were originating from. It was in the shape of a revolver. James picked it up and bushed of some of the soot that had caked on to it. What he revealed shocked him. Underneath the blackened dirt and soot was ornate scroll work. That wasn't what shocked him though. What shocked him was that he recognized it, he had seen this before. It was his lieutenant's sidearm.

'Now what the FUCK is this doing here? How can this be possible? He lost this only a year and a half ago, how could it have gotten here?'

The weapon had been a gift to Lieutenant Bellis from his wife, years ago. But the Lieutenant had lost it during a raid on South American drug cartel a little over a year ago. James' team had been sent in when the cartel had kidnapped some American peace corps volunteers and demanded ransom. As he recalled, after extracting the hostages, they left nothing but a smoldering crater.

James shoved the revolver into his rucksack and pressed onwards toward the source of the paths. Soon he emerged from the thickest brush and stopped, stunned, at what he saw. They were ruins. Aged, dilapidated, weather worn and over grown with plant life as the forest sought to reclaim this place. It was a broken down castle, centuries old. Gazing around, James determined he was standing in a courtyard of sorts.

'How did I miss this? Even from the air, I didn't see it. Well, it is pretty overgrown, I could have easily over looked it.'

Suddenly, he heard a noise off to his left and shifted to a crouch, his pistol snapping to the ready in a fraction of a second. James slowly moved towards a broken down section of wall for cover, never taking his eyes off the spot he heard the noise come from. A minute, then two passed without anything happening. He lowered his weapon, but still kept his guard up. Something felt wrong.

Warily he approached a beautifully carved archway. Striding inside he noticed bas reliefs set into the stone to his left and right. They featured two ponies posed regally, crowns set upon their heads and flowing manes. They were different from other ponies James had seen though. Both had a horn and a set of wings. The only difference between the two was their 'cutie marks'. One featured a large sun symbol while the other had a crescent moon set against background resembling an ink blot. James followed the scene down the hallway which depicted the two interacting peacefully. That is, until he had almost reached the end. The one featuring a moon on her flank was seen rising to power, smaller ponies despairing beneath her, the moon high and large in the sky. Then the royal sun pony intervened. A battle was fought, ending with a sequence showing the pony of darkness being sent to the moon itself.

'Wicked. I wonder if these are the two princesses Twilight told me about. But that would be impossible, this place has to be at least hundreds of years old.'

James continued down a large vaulted passageway that was partially open to the element, dead leaves and shards of glass were strewn all around the cold stone floor. Then he heard the tinkling of broken glass being moved across the ground. James snapped to the ready again, his heart rate starting to rise. He approached the space he thought it came from firearm raised, he also unsheathed his knife with his other hand, just to be prepared. As he neared the entrance to the room, a powerful rotting stench suddenly hit him like a slap to the face. Something here had died.

James flattened him self against the wall adjacent to the doorway. He peeked around the corner and saw a most gruesome sight. Blood was splattered all on one side of the room, entrails leading back to a hollowed out deer carcass in the corner. Laying about here and there were crude knives and even a sword or two made of black steel. James had seen other such weaponry scattered about the ruins earlier. The difference was that those were more refined and heavily rusted. These laying before him weren't. they were jagged. And they had been used recently.

The next thing James noticed was tracks. They were humanoid, but instead of toes they sported claws. He spotted a bloody hand print, again ending in claws instead of fingers. He didn't like this. James began to back out when he heard a low growl behind him. He whipped around and brought his weapons to bear. Before him was a large bipedal creature with yellow and brown mottled skin, standing at a little over six feet. Yellowed and cracked teeth the shape of jagged rocks grimaced from a ragged mouth. A flat nose sat beneath two red eyes with pupils black as tar that bespoke a savage and carnal intelligence, a top it's head was greasy mane of obsidian locks sat unkempt it's ears resembled cauliflowers. It's feet were bare, tipped with claws. The rest of it was clad in a mismatch of rusted metal plate attached with strips of leather. It clutched in it's hands two of the jagged swords James had seen in the other room. It grunted and tossed one of them to James' feet. James brought his pistol up, ready to take a shot, when heard another bellow above him and off to his right.

James looked up to see another one of the terrifying creature training a nasty looking crossbow on him about fifty yards away. He scanned the rest of the room and spotted another two standing at his only known exit with spears in hand. James felt like a child to have been ambushed like this. It was embarrassing to say the least.

'I've gotten rusty while living here. I should be dead.'

James under stood the challenge. If he used his own weapons, he'd take a crossbow bolt to the chest. James had fast reflexes and they'd save his ass several times before, but he didn't know if he could dodge a bolt. He pocketed his sidearm, sheathed his knife and dropped his rucksack before picking up the dastardly weapon at his feet. The crudely made hand-and-a-half sword didn't feel right in his hands. He hefted it and gave it a few practice swings, trying to get used to it's weight. Fortunately he had taken some martial art classes in the past and was familiar with swords, but he had never actually fought with them before except for sparring matches with the other students.

James brought it to a ready position, studying his opponent as it mimicked his movements. The creature was muscular in a brutish way, as if it spent most of it's time surviving in some hostile environment. That's when the creature lunged at the special operator, bringing it's sword down in an arc upon his head. James quickly reacted and caught the sword with his, inches before it cleaved his forehead in two. The blow almost drove him to a knee. James countered with a kick to it's stomach. The tactic worked and it was shoved back a few feet. James immediately followed up with a downward diagonal slash at it's neck, but it almost effortlessly blocked it and shouldered it off, following through with a swing at his midsection. James jumped back and drew his own stomach inward, barely escaping disembowelment. As he performed this move his arms shot forward for balance. The monster brought it's own blade down on James', knocking it out of his hand. Now he was weaponless.

The creature started hacking and slashing with wild abandon. James could hardly duck and dodge the deadly metal singing through air. He couldn't keep this up much longer. Finally the retched beast made a mistake. It swung at James in a wide arc, intending to halve the human. The elite warrior caught it's wrist with his left hand and grabbed it's shoulder with his right. Then, placing his leg between the thing's legs, threw it on it's back. As it fell, James stripped the sword from it's grip and in one motion, swung the sword high over his head and brought it down directly upon the creature's face. Blood splattered out to the sides as the blade burrowed it's self into flesh and bone.

The two blocking the entrance with their spears wailed in anger and charged. The sword was stuck in the skull of the first beast so James retrieved the one he had dropped. The first one to approach stabbed at his belly. James swatted the spear tip aside and slashed at it's exposed arm, lacerating it. The second tried to bring the spear into an upward swing, James countered it by kicking the shaft of the spear and bringing the sword up into the sick warrior's throat, blood spilling everywhere and staining his arms. The other recovered and stabbed it's weapon through the meat of his right calf. James cried out in anguish as the crossbow wielding creature aimed to take a shot. But then the unexpected occurred.

"JAMES!!!"

In the archway stood Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Time slowed to a crawl. The ugly crossbow wielding creature shifted it's aim towards the new comers, thick brow furrowing in concentration. James had only a second to react. Swiftly he drove the sword through a gap in the spear monster's armor and fluidly drew his 1911 and lined up on the shooter. He steadily pulled the trigger, the firearm emanating a sharp, massive roar and launching a lead slug strait through the creature's cranial vault, dropping it instantly. It was beautiful. In but a moment it was all over and James sank to his knees, head bowed. As the girls galloped towards him in a panic, he reached behind himself and snapped off the head of the spear that was still lodged in his calf, pulling the shaft out the other side. The shocked and concerned mares gathered around him in a half circle.

"I'm a monster."

His hands started to shake.

The Proposal

Chapter 10: The Proposal

They stood there a moment, the human still kneeling before them, head down and arms at his sides.

Applejack spoke up first, "Darlin', ya've worked and lived at mah farm fer almost four weeks now and Ah've seen nuthin' but a hard workin' stallion."

"Yes, and ever so generous, working there for next to nothing while even helping everyone who asks for your help. Nothing short of a gentlecolt if you ask me," Rarity added.

"And so kind, going out of your way to save three fillies from those vicious timber wolves." Fluttershy had maneuvered behind him to inspect his wound.

"Yeah, and you're one of the most awesome humans I know! Even if you're the only one I know...." said Rainbow Dash.

"Not to mention you're super duper fun at parties!"

"And you've helped me learn about stuff I could have never thought existed."

Both Pinkie and Twilight added.

James looked at his hands, still shaking and covered in blood. The coppery smell was almost too much for him.

"There's something you should know about me." James said to the group before him. "I was never just a 'guard'. I did pull some guard duty, but in reality, I'm a killer. I was trained to carry out specialized missions that conventional forces just couldn't. I have so much blood on my hands, it's a wonder that they aren't permanently stained red."

He continued, not really caring about their opinions of him any more. James felt he had betrayed their trust and he didn't deserve friends like them.

"The wounds that you found me with? They were a result of a fight between myself and my own kind. It was in defense of others, but I'm a monster, I've killed so many."

Fluttershy was in the middle of bandaging up James' calf when he stood up and limped towards the exit. The six mares watched him for a minute, in a stunned silence.

"But--" Rainbow Dash began to say, but James sharply cut her off.

"NO. I don't belong here." His words echoed off the vaulted ceiling. As he limped away James shouldered his pack. He was half way down the main passageway when he heard the clop of hooves on stone behind him. James looked over his shoulder to see a sky blue pegasus mare with a look of deep concern on her face. Still, it didn't cover the fear he could see in her rose colored eyes.

"Don't follow me."

"James, you're hurt. You need to let us help you!"

"No. I can't risk hurting you. All of you. I'm too dangerous. Just leave me be."

"If you go back out into that forest alone and injured you could die!" She was almost pleading now.

"I've already died once before, it can't be that bad a second time around! Just Leave. Me. Be!" He snapped at her.

James continued on his way out without looking back. It pained him to do this, he had actually come to like those quirky little ponies, but he wouldn't been able to live with himself if they came to harm because of something he did. He didn't even know how they had found him. James exited the old castle and entered the forest. It was starting to get late and the sun was going down. His calf started to bleed again, the bandages were wrapped loosely because he had left while Fluttershy was in the middle of applying them. Clenching his teeth, James knelt down, gripped the ends of the dressing and pulled tight, putting pressure on the wound. It hurt like hell, but he wouldn't bleed out and he would be able to walk a little better.

James trudged on until he came to a small space that was cleared of under brush, but was still covered by the forest canopy. It would have to do. The sky was darkening to the point where he wouldn't be able to continue. He gathered some wood for a small fire. James plopped himself down in front of his small conflagration to keep warm and dug around in his pack for the small bottle of ibuprofen he carried with him. Pulling out the bottle, he shook two out and popped them into his mouth, taking a swig from his canteen to wash them down. James sat there a moment, wishing he could see the stars and unsheathed his knife. This next part was gonna suck. He stuck the blade into the flames. He hadn't thought to bring his first aid kit and as such, lacked any anti-septic. Rookie mistake.

While he waited for the metal heat, James took out his iPod and put on his headphones. He scrolled through the albums and started playing Darkside of the Moon. James unwrapped the bandages from his leg to assess the damage. Both the entry and exit wounds were approximately the same size. Blood began to trickle from both openings. Carefully, he ripped off the bloody sections of bandage. By now, the blade should be hot enough. Cautiously James extracted the hot steel from the fire. He picked up a nearby stick and bit down on it. Then, taking a deep breath, he pressed the searing metal to his flesh. His cry of anguish was muffled by the stick in his teeth as he bit down hard. He repeated the act a second time, cauterizing both sides, the smell of burnt flesh making him a bit nautious.

James re-wrapped the now closed wounds with the clean bandage scraps he had salvaged. He popped another two pills and took a long draw from his canteen to help calm himself. James rolled his pants back down his leg, retrieved his rain gear from his rucksack and laid back. The painkillers started to kick in as the throbbing went down, although it still burned a little. He put his iPod on shuffle, and after adding wood to the fire, closed his eyes in attempt to sleep. It didn't come willingly, but after an hour, the exhaustion from the days events finally caught up with him.

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Panting, running, sprinting for his life as bullets impacted the dirt around him, kicking it up into his face. The bundle he carried was weighing him down, but he had to reach the building where the marines were pinned at all costs. They had wounded and could not wait for casevac to bring more medical supplies. He launched a stream of rounds back towards the source of hostile fire, not really aiming, just trying to get their heads down.

"RPG!" Someone bellowed a warning

A streak of propellant burned by in front of him, detonating on a wall to his left and sending chunks of concrete shrapnel at him. It stung horrible, but he kept running. He saw a side door burst open on his target building, two infantry men gesturing wildly for him to get inside. Picking up the pace, he vaulted over a pile of rubble and through the doorway.

"Man, are we glad to see one of you guys! The triage is right through there," the marine said pointing while the other closed the door.

He could hear the moans of pain before he even walked in. There were four men, three stretched out on rickety wooden tables, one laid out on the floor. There were also two body bags in the corner, and they were occupied. There was blood smeared everywhere. A corpsman and two other marines grabbed the supplies off his shoulders and quickly broke them out, going to work on the injured. Another marine walked up and pulled him into the front room.

"Good to see ya soldier, I'm Sergeant Maddox. We're really grateful for the med supplies, but where's the rest of your team?"

"They're on their way. The street was too blocked up with burnt out cars and they had to find another route. Give 'em about five more minutes."

"That's about all we have left, another wave of insurgents were spotted a block away by our roof team. We gotta--"

*BOOM*

The room exploded inwards, shrapnel flying every where. He picked himself up off the ground from where the detonation had thrown him. Everything ached and he had a ringing in his ears. His training kicked in immediately. Running up to an intact section of the wall he brought his rifle's optics up to his eyes and went to work, aiming at a building on the other side of an intersection opposite him. Three marines joined in repelling the attack, 7.62 mm rounds striking the area around them.

"We gotta fall back further into the building!" One of them yelled.

"Go go go! I got you guys covered!"

The two to his right retreated to an adjacent room as he switched to full auto and sprayed lead at the muzzle flashes across the intersection, but the one on his left stayed put, not paying attention. He had the tunnel vision.

"Marine! We have to get going!"

A round struck the soldier in the chest, winding him and sending a spray of ceramic shards from the ballistic plate into his face when the top seam of his vest ruptured.

"AAHHHH! MY EYES!"

He grabbed the back of the marine's vest and dragged the injured roughneck backwards to the door way. The hostile soldiers renewed their assault, bullets whizzed and snapped through the air. Three rounds impacted his chest, but his dragon scale armor stopped them, dissipating the energy across the vest. He pulled the marine through the door and looked down to check on the fighter.

"Hey buddy, are you al--"

There was blood and brain matter covering his front. The marine's head was bowed down. He could see a large hole in the back of the leatherneck's helmet which was ringed red with blood. He continued to drag the body around the wall, gently placing it in a corner of the room. The other two marines ran forward to see their friend when a grenade rolled through the entry way.

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James sat up in a cold sweat, his heart thumping wildly in his chest, he clutched his head in his hands, willing the images out of his mind. They were getting worse. His leg was throbbing again. The clandestine warrior noticed it wasn't as cold as it should have been. In fact, the fire was still going strong as if someone had added more wood. It had been at least a couple of hours, it should just be smoldering. James snatched up his knife from where he had left it, the metal now cooled, and looked around. There was a large winged unicorn -- larger even than Big Mac -- with a flowing multi colored mane. She had a golden chest piece featuring a purple gem set in the middle, her head was topped by a crown. She lay across the fire from him, legs tucked comfortably beneath her. She looked at him with kind eyes that matched the gem.

"Bad dream?" Her voice was warm and motherly.

"Who are you?"

"A little blunt I see. Didn't Twilight and her friends tell you about me?" She asked, smiling.

"That depends, who are you?"

"Well, it's not all that important."

"The hell it's not. You're wearing enough gold and jewelry to pay my rent for five years."

"A blunt in your questions, yet you have a sharp mind. Just as Twilight described you in her letters."

"Letters. So, you're one of the Princesses then. I'd expect the one named Luna to be sporting a moon, but since you've got a sun on your flank, I'm guessing you are Celestia."

"You certainly don't disappoint."

"Forgive me for not getting up and bowing ma'am, but at the moment I might have some trouble standing."

"Ah yes, the injury you sustained."

"How did you know? Did the girls tell you? They got out ok, right?"

"Yes, they're all fine, but very worried about you James. Why did you leave them?"

"To protect them."

"How would you be able to do that if you are not there for them?"

"Because I'm protecting them from me. I'm dangerous. I kill. I killed all those... things back there. What were those even? I come from a race addicted to violence." His head hung low.

"James. You are not a bad person. No matter what atrocities humans have committed, YOU have done nothing but give and think of others."

"Atrocities? What the hell do you know about my races 'atrocities'? If you knew the kinds of things my people have been responsible for, you'd have me put down!"

"You mean like the world wars or the genocides?"

James sat there at an absolute loss for words

"How... how could you possibly know about that? Can you get there? Can you send me back?"

Celestia had a slight hint of sadness on her face. "Unfortunately, no."

"Then how did I get here? How did THIS get here?" He asked angrily while producing his Lieutenant's revolver.

"The magic that brought you here occurs naturally in this forest, especially near those ruins. It permeates the air, water and even the ground beneath you. Apparently it can sometimes shift objects from your world to ours. I have been collecting and studying any of those objects my scouts happen to come across, locking up the more dangerous ones. You are actually the only organic specimen to cross over. This magic is very powerful and can not be replicated to the same degree, even by ones as powerful as myself."

"So this is it, huh? I can't get back."

"I'm afraid not. James, I must ask you a favor. Those creatures you fought in the old palace are unlike any I've seen in my lands. All we know is they came out of the mountains to the east and have been pillaging villages of the griffon colonies, breaking their nests and slaughtering their subjects. Reports from survivors say the monsters are skilled warriors. Griffons are warriors in their own right, so to hear this from them is disturbing. And yet, you defeated four of them in open combat."

"Let me guess, you want me to fight and kill these things on your behalf." James said, sounding annoyed. "I'm done killing. I already killed for one country, I don't want to kill anymore."

"I don't necessary need you to kill, nor do I want you to. But I would deeply appreciate it if you saw fit to train my royal guard. They are skilled in small matters, but in large conflicts, they have no experience. I fear this threat may grow to that."

James considered it. "Have they killed before?" The Princess was a bit taken aback by the question.

"Excuse me?"

"Have they killed before?"

"Well... no, but...."

"Because that is what you're asking me. You are asking me to turn the ponies of your royal guard into trained killers like me. If you want them to effectively combat this, they can give no quarter. Those creatures are blood thirsty and absolutely without mercy. The first thing they did when meeting me was challenge me to a death match. I don't want to do this to them."

"James, think of the friends you made back in Ponyville. Think of the innocents that live there and the suffering you could spare them from."

"Wow, that was... that's low." *sigh* "Fine, I'll do it."

"Thank you James. You don't know how much this means to me. You can have access to everything you need at our Canterlot facilities."

"No, I will conduct their training near Ponyville. I'll need wide open spaces and a nearby body of water to do this. We will also be spending a lot of time in the forest. The training will include survival and small unit tactics. Now I can't train everyone at once so I need you to send five of your most intelligent and physically fit guards. Once they've been trained, they can pass it on to other units."

"Well I'm certainly not used to one of my subjects giving ME orders." She giggled.

"I'm not one of your subjects."

The Princess of the Sun stopped laughing, surprised by the comment.

"We might have to consider making you a citizen here. The guards might take it better getting bossed around by somepony of their own country."

"I wouldn't mind that. It's not like I have anywhere else to be." They both laughed a little at that.

"I'm sorry, but I must be getting back to Canterlot. Would you like a ride into town?" She asked, yawning wide.

"Thank you for the offer, but I'd like to make my own way back. Give me some time to think."

"If you insist, but before I go..." she rose to her hooves and walked around the fire to James. She knelt down and placed the tip of her horn on his leg as her horn began glow. The pain in his calf receded before vanishing altogether. The Princess leaned away and James unwrapped and inspected the wound, miraculously finding nothing but smooth skin.

"Thank you," he murmured, still astounded by the whole magic thing.

Princess Celestia just smiled, her horn starting to glow again. Then she vanished in a flash of light. James sighed again before laying back down to sleep. He had a long walk in the morning.