Login

Displacement

by hornethead

Chapter 30: Darkness Inside

Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Chapter 30: Darkness Inside

He was aware. He was aware of himself, yet he was not awake. In all directions was only darkness. Not even the smallest most insignificant feature graced the empty plane. However, he was not alone. Faintly, the flapping of wings could be heard. He looked up to see a murder of crows flitting about on tattered wings, hardly seen as they were almost as black as the darkness itself. They began to caw, bloody beaks demanding flesh and thirsting for blood. Together, they began to descend on him, a cloud of flapping feathers made of misery, anger and pain. He reached for his sidearm, it wasn't there. He reached for his knife, missing as well. He wore no armor or clothing. The crows harassed him, buzzing his head and biting him. Upon the first bite, images flashed through his head, images of his childhood. His father beating him with fists, mother just standing by in a drunken stupor. Another bite, another flash; he was older. Running from home, running from the pain. Another bite on his arm; joining the Navy, finding purpose, training, building strength to fight the pain, earning a family. He flailed his arms about, trying to disperse the demons of his past. He only received yet another bite; meeting Jackson, graduation, becoming brothers. Another bite on his back; his first op, his first kill, the slippery feeling of his knife gliding through flesh, scraping on the cartilage of the trachea. He remembered the blood, the body slumping to the ground, the pleading eyes of a man not yet dead, yet doomed to die. Air whistled through the gap in the man's neck as he silently screamed. A picture that tumbled out of his shirt pocket, a picture of a young woman and two small boys. Without provocation from the flying wretches, another image sprung into his head unbidden; the helicopter, an unknown assailant, finding the source of fire, stopping the threat.

All at once, the crows lifted, but the did not leave. They remained, circling above. He heard the soft padding of unshod feet behind him. He whipped around, ready for a fight, but he wasn't prepared for the sight before him. It was the boy. One accusing eye glaring at him, the other was missing, instead just a gaping bloody hole. The wound dripped as if still fresh, shredded flaps of skin hanging loosely from the forehead and cheek, glistening red muscle exposed. The boy did not speak, just simply stared with the one liquid brown eye. He stared back at the boy, unsure of what to do or say, conflicting emotions boiling up and fighting for dominance. They stood there for a moment, neither moving nor speaking.

"I'm sorry..." he said weakly to the boy.

The boy did not respond, he still stood there, staring blankly. Blood began to leak from his wound, crimson tears crawling down his face and dripping from his chin.

"I don't know what you want, but I'm sorry! I didn't have a choice. It was either you or us!" He said, almost pleading.

Now the boy raised one arm, finger pointing at his chest with the authority of the damned.

"What do you want!"

"Kill" A deep otherworldly voice boomed in his skull.

"What?"

"Monster, Kill!"

"No, just leave me be, I'm sorry!"

"Kill, Destroy, BRING DEATH!"

All at once, the crows descended and tore into his exposed flesh, ripping chunks of skin and muscle from his body.

"NO!"

James sat up, his mind still clouded. He was in a bed somewhere, all manners of tubes and needles attached to his body. He launched himself from the bed, tearing everything from his body. Nearby, a heart monitor flat lined and emitted a long shrill tone as the sensors were stripped from his body. A doctor rushed into the room at the sound. Upon seeing the crazed human, he hit a button on the wall with a hoof. Within minutes, three orderlies rushed in to restrain the human. James still wasn't in his right mind, training and reflex overriding rational thought. As one of the orderlies rushed forward to grab him, James intercepted the foreleg and threw him into the equipment against the wall. The other two decided to attack him together, one brandishing a syringe filled with a sedative. One orderly managed to wrap his forelegs around the human, the other prepared to administer the shot. James snatched the syringe from from the orderly and stabbed it into the shoulder of the one holding him in place. The pony slacked and slid to the ground. The orderly James had disarmed tried one last attempt to restrain him. He only got within two steps of the warrior before he received a punch to the side of the neck. James ran past the doctor and into the passageway. Waiting for him were four members of the RSTG, two unicorns, a pegasus and an earth pony. The pegasus and earth pony both ducked under his swings and rugby tackled him to the ground. Then the unicorns ran up and placed their horns on his body. A powerful shock shot through his chest, limbs and head, sending him back into the inky darkness of his mind.

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

Slowly, James came back into consciousness, as if through a thick haze. He tried to move his arms and legs, but found that they were immobilized. He opened his eyes and looked around, trying to assess his situation. He was in a small hospital room. To his left was a door, on his right was a small square window set in the middle of the wall. The shades were down, but the warm light of a morning sun still seeped through. Directly at his right side was an end table with a few objects on it; a couple of 'get well' cards and letters, some cupcakes and a bottle of the special hot sauce from Cloudsdale all placed upon a hardcover book. He looked down at his body and saw that his limbs had been strapped to the bed frame. In both his arms were IV needles, steadily feeding him a stream of hydration and nutrients. On his chest was a sensor node, a wire connected to it ran up to an ECG machine which was repeating a beep at consistent intervals. His entire body ached in pain, especially his head and his left knee.

Once again, James tried to free his arms, but to no avail. The straps were too well secured. It was the same for his legs. Thinking of no other alternatives, he did the only other thing he could do.

"Hello?" He called to the door. "Is anyone here? I could use some help."

Almost instantly the door burst open, Flash, Sparks and Feather all piling through at once. Together, they rushed to the side of his bed.

"Finally! You're awake!" Flash exclaimed.

"You gave us quite a scare there." Sparks said stoically.

"Where am I?" James asked the trio.

"You're at a hospital in Canterlot." Sparks replied.

"What happened to the unicorns we rescued, are they all ok? The last thing I remember is the explosion."

"They're all fine, just really hungry and dehydrated. Fortunately, it seems we got all of them." Feather told him.

"Yes, the explosion took out a good chunk of the airship, but it didn't inflict too much damage. You were knocked out, concussed pretty badly. Good thing for you, one of the Nightstalkers was a medic in the Royal Guard." Sparks said, filling him in.

"How long have I been out?" James asked the unicorn.

"About eight days now."

"Ok, one last thing. Why am I currently strapped down to the bed?"

The three stallions glanced nervously between themselves.

"There was an... incident the other day." Sparks told the human.

"What incident?" James asked, now highly concerned.

"You kinda... went a little crazy and... beat up some of the hospital staff..." Flash said uneasily.

James felt like a large rock had dropped into his stomach. He had no memory of such an event.

"You're kidding." He said in disbelief.

"No, we're not. It took Captain Alister and three of his team members to take you down."

"Is everyone ok?"

"Aside from some bruises, everypony's fine. The hospital are still a little shaken up, but that's about it." Feather reassured him.

"Good." He lay his head back on his pillow, face becoming a blank mask. "Well then, could you undo the straps please? They're starting to chafe."

"Sure thing." Sparks said, horn beginning to take on a glow.

With a quick spell, Sparks undid the bindings on the bed. James rubbed his wrists a little, trying to get the circulation flowing again.

"Anything else we can do for you?" Feather asked.

"No I... I just want to be alone and chill for a little." James said with a voice devoid of emotion.

"All right, but if you need anything, one of us will always be out in the hall." Flash informed him.

The three ponies left the room, closing the door quietly behind them. James closed his eyes and tried to clear his head. He lay there like this for several minutes. After a while, he got curious and picked up the pile of objects beside him and began sorting through them. He put the cupcake and hot sauce back on the table. There were a bunch of cards from the girls back in Ponyville, some letters and the book. The title of the book was 'Daring Do and the Dragon's Gem'. On the cover was a picture of a tan colored pegasus mare in a vest and pith helmet, dodging a blast of fire from a very agitated dragon. He put it aside, maybe he'd read it later. He picked up the two letters and opened one. It was from Alister. The Captain started his letter off by wishing James good health and then went on to explain that he had taken care of the After Action Report and all the other paper work so he wouldn't have to worry about it. He put this aside as well and picked up the second envelope. His face grew serious as he noticed that it was heavily embossed and bore the royal seal. James tore it open and pulled the parchment out from inside. Of course, it was from Celestia.

'To my faithful protector of the peoples,

I would like to express my deepest gratitude for returning my citizens to safety in such a daring rescue. I was pleased to find that they are all doing well and each one of them is expected to make a full recovery. Without your quick thinking and the steadfast dedication of your team, a feat of this magnitude would surely have not been possible. Therefor, it is with great pride that I inform you that each and every pony involved in the success of the mission is to be awarded the Star of Equestria, our nation's highest honor. The ceremony shall take place in due time. For now allow your team and yourself to rest. You all have certainly earned it.

Princess Celestia'

James put the parchment down and contemplated everything he had just read. The last thing he wanted was to have to get up in front of a large group just to have a piece of metal pinned to his uniform. He never did like going to awards quarters, even when he was a recipient. It just felt like a waste of time. He put those thoughts out of his head and decided to try and walk around a bit. It had been over a week since he had even walked, he also wanted to take a look out the window, having not seen the capitol city except for the flight over it and the interior of the palace. James swung his legs out to over the edge of the bed with a wince. He then lowered himself to the cold floor. As soon as he put weight on his left leg, a lance of pain shot out from his knee, causing him to fall over onto the floor. As he went down, the IVs and the ECG's sensor were ripped from his body, making his arms bleed and the ECG to sound its alarm. A doctor rushed in flanked by four orderlies, who took up positions around the human.

"It's ok, i'm fine. Just took a little spill." James explained.


The doctor trotted over to the fallen biped, "Good to see you're back in a lucid state." Sensing no danger, he waved the orderlies from the room.

"You really shouldn't be up, you must get back in bed." Continued the doctor.

"Yeah, I will. Could you just tell me what's wrong with my leg?" James asked.

"Your knee took quite a hit, it's a wonder it isn't broken. what we found was that a large piece of wood had lodged itself in the back of it. We got you into surgery and removed it, but you will have some difficulty walking for the next two weeks."

"A couple of weeks on crutches, not bad." James said, relieved.

He climbed back into the hospital bed at the doctor's order and waited patiently as the medical pony and a nurse replaced the ECG and the destroyed IVs. When the finished they exited the room, leaving James by himself again. Finding the profound silence profoundly boring, he decided to pick up the book. As he opened the cover and flipped to the first page, a small piece of folded paper fell out onto his lap. Curious, he picked it up and opened it.

'James,

Hospitals can be lame and boring, so here's a book from one of my favorite series. I used to not be so keen on reading, but a stay in a hospital changed that. I hope it cheers you up. Now, as soon as you get out, hurry up and come visit. Remember, you still owe me a favor.'

He chuckled a little bit and put the note on top of the pile of papers. Sometimes life could be harsh, but at least he had some good friends to go with it

Next Chapter: Small Talk Estimated time remaining: 8 Hours, 27 Minutes
Return to Story Description

Login

Facebook
Login with
Facebook:
FiMFetch