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Displacement

by hornethead

Chapter 16: A Relaxing Day In The Clouds (After A Crazy Night On The Ground)

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Chapter 16: A Relaxing Day In The Clouds (After A Crazy Night On The Ground)

James woke up. It was the first time he had been able to sleep in for almost two months. He sat up and stretched his arms over his head and arched his back, eliciting several pops as he did so. A soreness started to creep through his body as it tried to adjust to the slow Friday morning after being pushed hard for so long. Getting up, he pulled on some blue pants and a black long sleeve button down shirt. He rolled the sleeves up to his elbows and put on his boots, he still didn't have any other footwear.

James went downstairs and out the door, walking in the direction of town. He had couple things he needed to take care of today. He arrived in town a little while later and went straight to Carousel Boutique. He wanted to order a few more uniforms and he had an idea for a special unit patch. Also a special idea that was a little more unconventional, but he still wanted to try. Afterwards, he stopped by the library to ask Spike to send one of his reports on the progress of training to Princess Celestia. He had been sending them by regular post at first when Twilight delivered a letter to him from the Princess explaining Spikes little ability. It still never ceased to amaze him as the small purple dragon breathed fire upon the scroll, the ashes streaming out the window and on their way. Those important errands complete, he decided to go get some lunch at one of the restaurants in town. He was half way there when a certain pegasus dropped from the sky and alighted beside him.

"Hiya James. Long time, no see."

"Hey Dash. Yeah, we've been pretty busy."

"What're you up to now?"

"I was just about to go get some lunch."

"Mind if I join ya?"

"Not at all."

They continued on to a small eatery not far from the boutique. The hostess took them to a table and left the menus to attend to some other patrons. When she came back, James ordered the steamed vegetables again while Dash got herself a daisy sandwich.

"So James, you got any plans this weekend?"

"No. We actually have the weekend off, I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do."

The weather mare's eyes lit up at this information, "then you should come visit Cloudsdale with me! You promised, remember?"

He did indeed remember. He was still a bit apprehensive about it, what with the city apparently being so high up in the sky and cloud walking spell or whatever, but he wasn't about to go back on his word.

"Yes, I remember. So, when would you like to go."

"Aw yeah, this is gonna be so awesome! Meet me at Twilight's tomorrow morning and we can go from there."

"Alright then, I'll see you then."

They finished their meals and paid the check. James started to head back home, but Dash took off, having to get back to work. When the human arrived back home, his housemates were up and awake, taking full advantage of the day off to laze about and relax. James went upstairs and changed into his camo pants and a black undershirt before stepping out the back door. He began to jog, gradually accelerating into a full run. Every once in a while, he would stop to do push-ups or crunches before getting back up and resuming his run. After about thirty minutes of this he returned to the house. He walked up to his room and grabbed a towel and some fresh clothes. He jumped in the showered and gave himself a quick wash before drying off and getting dressed. When he emerged, Sparks was waiting for him with two beers, levitating one over to James.

"Figured we could all use a drink after all that."

"Thanks," he took a gulp of the cold liquid, "I needed that."

Flash was lounging on the couch and got up, "Hey, I got an idea." He got up and went into his room, when he came back out, he had a bottle of rum. He placed it on the coffee table. "Why don't we do some shots to celebrate getting through all that."

"Rum, huh?"

James loved rum. It was easily one of his all time favorite drinks.

"If we're gonna do rum, we should make it interesting. How about a drinking game?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"You got any playing cards?"

James wanted to teach them how to play a game called Pusoy Dos. It was a philippino card game that played poker hands, but it wasn't poker. Instead of each player getting only two cards, everyone started with thirteen. The objective was to play different hands in an attempt to beat another player's hand and get rid of all your cards. First one to do so was the winner. James had picked it up while hanging out with some Navy Chiefs while waiting on a frigate for a mission to get the green light. It was fun and easily converted to a drinking game.

"Alright, this game plays fast, so every three losses, take a shot. Every loss, just drink your beer."

He dealt the cards and had them all play a few practice rounds after explaining all the hands and rules. When the other two felt like they had the hang of it, they started to play for real. James of course won the first six rounds. But soon, Sparks started giving him a run for his money. Before he knew it, the unicorn was winning almost every round. Flash won a few here and there, but he was really starting to get drunk. James was really starting to get tipsy. Both were several shots in and they had drunk a lot of beer. Sparks was the only one still relatively sober. Suddenly, they were out of liquor.

"James!" Flash slurred.

"Flash!" James slurred back.

"The rum's gone!"

"The rum's gone? Why is the rum gone? We need to get more! Where can we get more?"

"I know where there's a liquor store in town!"

"Guys, I don't think that's such a good idea, it's starting to get dark and--"

"No time, Sparky! TO THE LIQUOR STORE!"

Before Sparks could stop his friends, they bolted out the front door. Without breaking a stride, James jumped onto Flash's back and smacked his rump.

"HYAA!!"

The pegasus shot off towards the town, half galloping half flying, a reddish-brown unicorn struggled to keep up behind them.

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His eyes snapped open. The first thing that hit him was the pounding headache. The next thing he noticed was there was no roof above him, just open sky. It was early morning, the sun just starting to rise. James felt as if he was laying on a rough surface and it was chilly. He lifted his head and was startled to see that he was on a roof, shirtless with his pants half way down his legs.

'The hell?'

He stood up, pulled his pants on and looked around to get his bearings. Fortunately, he was on HIS roof. How he got up there was a mystery. He had no idea how he was getting down. He went to the front edge of the house and looked down. Below him was the covering for the front porch. It was still a large drop, but it wouldn't be as bad as dropping straight to the ground. James closed his eyes and braced himself for what he was about to do. He hoped the overhang was strong enough to support his weight. Then, he counted to three mentally and jumped. When he impacted the covering, it actually held. For a second. Then the boards gave way and sent him falling to the deck beneath.

'Aw, fuck that hurt.'

He got up and brushed himself off. Fortunately his only injuries were small scratches on his chest, back and arms and some small splinters here and there. The front door suddenly swung open to reveal a very annoyed unicorn.

"Oh c'mon, we just fixed that last week!"

"Morning to you too."

"At least you're awake. Do you know how much trouble you caused last night?"

"I was actually hoping you could tell me."

"Of course you don't remember. Well, come on inside, I got coffee brewing."

"Oh thank god."

They went inside and sat at the kitchen table.

"So, what happened?"

"You two crazy idiots got wasted last night."

"Well no shit, but what happened, I need details."

"After you two finished of the first bottle, you two ran off to town to get another bottle of rum. You got THREE. I chased you all over town for hours. Eventually, you both managed to elude me some how around midnight. I searched for you guys for about two more hours before I gave up and went home."

"Oh yeah, where is Flash?"

"He's in his room, sleeping off his hangover with one of the guests from last night."

"Guests?"

"Yeah guests. When I got back here, the house was full of ponies and alcohol! By the way, you need to return that sign."

"What sign?"

Sparks took him into the living room and pointed a foreleg to the small dining table. It was pushed into the corner. On top of it and resting against the wall was the 'Welcome To Ponyville' sign, only somepony had crossed out the 'Pony' in 'Ponyville' and replaced it with the word 'Party'.

"Ha, where'd we get that?"

"Some of the ponies I talked to last night said that you and Flash ripped it out of the ground, changed it, went to the bars and lead everypony back to the house."

"Ok, that's pretty funny. How did I get on the roof though?"

"A group of mares made a bet with you and Flash. Which you guys lost. The condition was that you cad to get up and do a striptease in front of everypony. Flash dragged you up onto the roof."

"Nice."

"Yeah, you were about half way through your routine when you tripped over your pants while trying to get them off. You went out cold."

"Not nice."

"Flash didn't think he could get you back down so he let you sleep."

"Well, that solves that mystery. Wait, what time is it?"

"Almost nine, why?"

"Shit, shit, shit. I'm gonna be late."

James rushed upstairs in a panic and grabbed his last set of clean clothes. Quickly, he stripped down and jumped in the shower, rushing to get clean. He jumped back out, dried himself off, brushed his teeth to get the taste of old alcohol out of his mouth and got dressed and was about to run outside when Sparks stepped in front of him.

"What about the sign?"

James ran back upstairs and snatched up a small pouch of bits. He ran back down and tossed it on the coffee table, running out the door without stopping.

"Flash'll take care of it!" He yelled over his shoulder and dashed off without another word.

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James sprinted almost the entire way into town. He should have been at the library fifteen minutes ago. By the time he finally arrived, he was dismayed to see a slightly annoyed Rainbow Dash sitting out front waiting for him.

"Sorry *pant* I was *pant* late *pant* I gotta sit down."

He sat down and attempted to catch his breath. He didn't think he'd ever run that fast for that long before.

"It's cool. Twilight's still prepping our transportation. I almost didn't think you were gonna make it after last night, party boy." She said, smirking.

James had about regained his breath now, "What do you mean? Were you there!?"

"Was I there!? You guys practically brought half the town back to your place, of course I was there! In fact, I saw everything that happened." She added mischievously.

James' eyes went wide. He could feel his face and ears start to burn.

Dash started to laugh a little, "Ha ha ha, you were actually pretty good. There's a place in Canterlot called Clyde's 'N' Dale's that would probably hire ya." She was almost laughing hysterically now.

James was always quick with a comeback. "So I take it that you liked what you saw?"

It was Dash's turn to be embarrassed now. She turned her head away from him in an attempt to hide her blush.

"Th-that's not what I meant. Though you don't look bad for a 'human'."

James chuckled a bit at his success. Just then, Twilight came from around the back.

"Hey James. Dash, everything's ready for... I didn't interrupt anything did I?"

"No!" The two said in unison.

Twilight giggled a little bit, "All right. Any way, the balloon is ready for you guys."

"Is that how we're getting there? Thanks Twilight, that's very generous of you. I promise I'll make sure nothing happens to it."

"I'm sure you will. Now I just need to do one last thing."

"That spell of yours?"

"Correct. Just close your eyes and stand still. This will only take a second."

James did as he was told and stood up straight. The magenta unicorn's horn started to glow with a purple-ish aura. Soon, the same aura enveloped the human. James stiffened a little as he felt a strange dry oiliness slide over his skin. Suddenly his vision flashed white as an icy tingliness shot through his bones. The feeling receded and he opened his eyes. The muscular man checked himself over.

'I don't look or feel different.'

"Did it work?"

"I'm entirely confident it did."

"Still... Dash, could you please go get a cloud for me? I kinda want to test it out. No offence Twilight."

"None taken."

Dash returned with a cloud about the size of the human. It hovered just off the ground. Curiously, James reached out to touch it. This time, instead of his hand passing through it, he was met with some resistance. Now more confident, he went ahead and jumped on top of it. It felt like walking on an air mattress covered in downe feathers. Now just experimenting, James jumped up again, this time belly flopping onto the soft surface. He landed with a muffled *pumf*.

"If you're done enjoying yourself, we really need to get going." Dash stated, amused with his antics.

"Heh, sorry. I can understand why you got a house made of this stuff. If I fell asleep on this, I might never wake up."

"Ok you two. I have a few things I need to get done. Have fun and see you soon." Twilight opened her door and trotted inside while James and Dash went around to the back of the library. Sure enough, the balloon was already inflated and ready to go, small flames flickering in the burners.

"How far is it to Cloudsdale from here?"

"It's about half way to Canterlot."

"Are you gonna pull the balloon all the way there like the last time?"

"Nah, once we get to a certain altitude there's a stream of air that should carry us most of the way there."

"Cool."

James climbed into the basket, Dash jumping in after him. He grasped the lever and gave the burners a couple of short blasts.

"You ready to go?"

"Hurry up already!"

"He he he, Alright."

James gave the lever a strong pull, sending a large blast of fire into the balloon's inner chamber. The super heated air soon lifted the duo up into the bright blue sky.

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Most of the ride to Cloudsdale was spent in awkward silence. Rainbow Dash tried several time to jumpstart a conversation with small talk, but James was never one for such things not being much of a talker himself, so it never really got off the ground. Soon, a white spot could be seen up ahead. Then it grew. It grew and it grew until James could pick out individual buildings, then details and finally many pegasi zipping about in their day to day routines.

"It's beautiful."

He couldn't believe what he was seeing. It really was an entire city floating high above the earth. Dash jumped out and grasped the edge of the basket to guide it in. Then she started to point out land marks.

"Over there is the weather factory, where we create much of Equestria's weather," she indicated a large warehouse type building. Above it, ferocious looking thunder clouds hung. Attached to the side was what appeared to be a smokestack, except instead of cinders and ash, a ribbon of rainbow flowed out the top. "Over there is the Colosseum," she pointed at a large stadium topped with bright yellow flags, "and we're about to land in the downtown area."

One the architecture was beautiful and flowing, as something made from clouds should be. There was just one peculiar thin James had noticed. Much of the buildings matched the Greek style from his own earth. Large, stately columns adorned almost every structure.

"Hey Dash, how long have the buildings been built like this?"

"Umm.... since I can remember. I think longer. Why?"

"Oh, no reason."

Dash maneuvered the large balloon into a wide area sat a short distance from the shops. She set it down, the basket resting on the cloud layer. This intrigued James a little.

'Eh, Twilight must've put the same spell on the the basket.'

James was suddenly very aware of just how high off the ground he was. He was a little nervous as he tentatively climbed out the basket. At the last second, his reflexes kicked in and the rest of his body tried to go spread eagled in preparation to lower his airspeed as he fell. In this case however, it only resulted in a face plant. The rainbow maned pegasus in front of him erupted into laughter at the sight.

He lifted his head up, "Yeah yeah, laugh it up."

"Hahaha, sorry. So what do you want to do first?"

"Hmm, maybe we could--" he was cut off by a loud growl from his stomach. He hadn't even eaten breakfast this morning.

"I think your belly's got the right idea, I'm kinda hungry too. Ooh! I know! I'll take you to my favorite place!"

She led him down a wide 'street' with many little shops and cafés on each side. Eventually, she brought him to a trendy little venue called 'Stratos'. The waitress sat them at a table out back with an outstanding view of the horizon. As she left two menus on the table, she shot an odd glance at James. Whatever, he was used to it now. The menu consisted of a lot of the same things they had in Ponyville. There were some different dishes and recipes, but of course almost all of them were inedible for humans. So James ended up once again ordering a mixture of vegetables. It was getting old. At least here, they had soy sauce on the tables. Dash ordered a hay and oats salad. When their food finally arrived, the server left a small bottle filled with a swirling multicolored liquid.

"What's this stuff?" James asked, picking up the bottle to inspect it.

"That's a special hot sauce they make here. They actually use a small amount of rainbow in the recipe. I don't think you'll like it though, it's pretty spicy."

"I'm always open to new experiences." He opened the cap and poured some over his vegetables.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Dash cautioned.

James picked up a chunk of vegetable covered in the strange sauce and popped it in his mouth. It was spicy, VERY spicy, he almost couldn't handle it. Fortunately, he was able to keep his cool, so to speak, through years of putting various hot sauces on many different military meals from MREs to ships' galleys. They were often not of the best quality.

"Wow, you didn't even shed a tear, I'm impressed. Even Pinkie couldn't handle it when she tried a lick. Although that WAS pure rainbow then."

"You mean I did something Pinkie couldn't? Oh now you're just trying to flatter me."

They both shared a short laugh at the comment.

After finishing, James paid for both their meals as thanks to Dash for bringing him to her city and they left to go to their next event. Though before they did, James bought a few bottles of the special hot sauce from the restaurant. Both because he liked it and he had a few prank ideas in mind.

Rainbow Dash suggested the head to the Colosseum to catch a game of what she said was called 'Airball'. To James it looked like a cross between soccer and rugby. The players passed around a ball made of condensed clouds and had to send it through an oval shaped goal to score. The crowd around them roared as one pegasus tried to complete this objective, but was tackled to the side by a pony of the opposing team. James found it quite enjoyable to watch.

After the game it was about time to head back home. It was late in the afternoon and James didn't know exactly when the spell Twilight put on him was supposed to wear off. He didn't want to stay long enough to find out. After James clambered into the basket, the sky blue pegasus maneuvered the balloon into another stream of air flowing in roughly the direction of Ponyville and jumped in next to her friend. Now it was just a forty-five minute ride back to town. James took out his iPod.

"What's that?"

"This? Oh, this is is a music player."

"That plays music? But it's so small."

"Here, you put this in your ear." He placed one of the earbuds in here ear.

"Now, I've heard that you like rock music," he said while pulling up the genre on his screen, "slide your hoof down the surface to pick a song. When you find one you want to listen to, give it a light tap."

He waited as she went through the individual rock songs he had on file. He was pleased when she stopped on 'Welcome To The Jungle' by Guns N' Roses.

"Ha, nice choice. An oldie, but a goodie."

They sat and listened for a moment.

"This rocks! Do you have any more of this stuff?"

"A ton."

"Can I borrow this?"

"Sure, just don't break it. It's the only one I have."

"You got it! Ya know, you're pretty cool to hangout with."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah, but I'm still about twenty percent cooler."

James chuckled, "Ha ha, whatever you say Dash."

For the meantime, James put his playlist on for rock'n'roll. For the rest of the trip, the just sat there. Listening to music and enjoying the hues of pink, orange and red colors the setting sun splashed upon the layers of clouds as if it were a painting made just for the two of them.

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When he finally walked up the steps and into the house James was tired. It had been a long, but enjoyable day. Dash had wanted to hangout some more, but it was dark now and James hadn't slept much the night before. He looked over to the dining table to see that the sign was gone and the table had been moved back to it's original position. Both his housemates seemed to be out, so he just showered and went upstairs to his room.

James sat at his desk for a moment before going to his closet and pulling out his rucksack. It was still slightly beat up, but he had since cut off the remaining tatters of the pockets the C4 had been in. For the life of him, he still couldn't figure how he wasn't a dried up pile of goop in the sand somewhere right now. He reached into the main pocket and retrieved the revolver he had rescued from the forest. Here was his last link to his own world. The gun his former team leader had owned and cherished. James took out the cleaning kit and got to work scrubbing off all the dirt, grime and filth that had accumulated on and in it. He then oiled and polished it. The .357 revolver gleamed in the low light of his room. Reflections of light and of himself flashed and glinted across the scroll work that had been meticulously engraved into the barrel and chamber piece.

James sat there, admiring it. He wondered what his old team was up to now. They had probably gone back and searched for his body. Of course they wouldn't find it. Eventually he would be presumed dead. He wondered if his parents would even bother to show up. They certainly weren't getting any money. James had willed a small percentage of the money from his life insurance to his teammates, the rest would go to the Navy & Marine Corps Relief Society.

It felt strange knowing that somewhere, an empty coffin was being lowered into the ground in front of a headstone with his name on it. James shook his head and put the thought aside. He needed to sleep. Tomorrow he was going to take it easy. The next couple weeks were going to be physically as well as emotionally draining.

Next Chapter: Hellbent Graduation Estimated time remaining: 11 Hours, 22 Minutes
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