Chapter 32: Home, Sweet Home

When they finally arrived in Ponyville station the sun had set and the town was shrouded in darkness. Nobody was waiting for them, there was no fanfare, as they had not told a soul as to when they would be coming back. It did not matter, they weren't doing their jobs for the notoriety. Quietly, James and his three companions cruised through the lamp lit streets at a leisurely pace, taking their time and enjoying the crisp night air. Eventually they reached the edge of town and parted ways; Feather to the HQ where he was quartered, Flash, Sparks and James to their house a short distance away. When Sparks, James and Flash reached the house, Sparks went up and unlocked the door, grating the three of them entrance. It was only eight in the evening, but James was tired so he went straight to hopping up the stairs to his room. Flash and Sparks did the same.

Before he went to lay on his mattress, James went over to his desk and opened the right hand drawer. He reached in and pulled out the revolver that had once belonged to the lieutenant. He ran his fingers over the scroll work, wondering for the millionth time how his old team was doing without him. If he could have one thing, it would be to at least have Jackson at his side again. The man was one of very few that had been kind to him in his life and during their time working together they had been as brothers, inseparable. They had saved each other's asses so many times that it had become custom to just buy each other a beer whenever they finished a mission or returned home.

James' thoughts were put on hold when he heard a knock at the door. He waited a moment, hoping one of his roommates would answer it, but all that earned him was another knock at the door. Cursing to himself, he put the weapon away and grabbed his crutch, then he carefully hobbled down the stairs to the front door. He was a bit irate and was ready to tell off the untimely visitor as soon as he opened the door. However, when he pulled it open half way, instead of some random solicitor, he saw Rainbow Dash standing there.

"Oh... hey. How did you know we were back?" James asked the colorful mare standing before him.

"I was up and noticed your lights turn on. I don't live all that far away from here."

"Uh, ok. Was there something I could help you with?"

"Well, I just came over to see if you wanted to hang out for a little, seeing as how you just got back and all." She said a little shyly.

James really didn't want to. He liked her, but all he wanted to do now was sleep. At the same time, he didn't want to be rude to the pegasus mare that had been anything but unfriendly to him ever since they first met.

"Ok, but just for a little. I'm pretty tired. My roommates are sleeping too, so we probably shouldn't hang here, care for a walk?"

"That'd be cool." The shy blue mare said, eyes lighting up a little.

James quietly limped outside and gently closed the door behind him before turning around and carefully stepping down off the porch. Now that the door no longer concealed his frame, Dash could clearly see the damage done to his leg.

"Ouch, what happened to you?" She asked, some concern coloring her voice.

"Nothing, just an accident."

"What kind of accident did that to you?"

"The painful kind."

"Well, duh. I meant how did it happen?"

James remained silent as they slowly walked out from the house and towards a small grassy hill nearby. Eager to change the subject, he shifted the focus of the conversation to the mare walking steadily beside him.

"What've you been up to since I've been gone, create any new tricks?"

"Just a couple. I have this one I think you'd like though."

"Oh yeah? What do you do in it?" He asked her.

They were climbing the slight rise of the hill now.

"Well, first I start it off with a couple of corkscrews and some barrel rolls between a few clouds. Then I go up over by the lake and gain a little altitude. After that, I drop to the ground and gain as much speed as I can before shooting low across the lake surface, sending a spray of water up behind me!" The rosy eyed pegasus explained fervently.

They reached the top and James grunted quietly as he sat down on the cool soft grass. Dash trotted over and picked a spot right next to the human. James lay back, resting his head on his arms behind him, and stared up at the brilliant show of twinkling light spread out across the night sky above them. Tonight was a new moon, and so almost the whole area was lit entirely by starlight. Without the light of the town or the moon interfering, the two could see just about every single pinprick of light that adorned the great dome of darkness overhead. If they looked hard enough, they could faintly make out translucent hues of orange, green and red.

"That sounds damned impressive, Dash. I'd love to see it." he said sincerely.

Almost unnoticeably, the cyan pegasus sidled a little closer to the human's side.

"You ever wonder what it's like up there?" She asked him, also gazing up to the dancing celestial bodies high above.

"All the time."

"Someday, I wanna try to fly as high and fast as nopony ever has before. I want to try and knock one of those stars out of the sky."

"Dash, knowing you, you'll probably end up bringing a few back with you."

The mare slowly made another advance, now almost pressing up against James' side. She made a few nervous glances in his direction, but he was wholly focused on the tapestry of light stretched across the sky. They lay there for a moment, just drinking in the beautiful view together. James' breathing slowed, actually feeling relaxed for the first time in a few weeks. Even if it was a little cold outside, he felt as if he could lie there all night. Even the soft grass on the side of the hill was comfortable and inviting.

"Hey, James. I still don't know a lot about you or what you do, but I saw some newspapers and I think they were talking about you and Flash and Sparks. If so, that was really brave what you guys did." James did not respond in the negative, or any way at all for that matter. Plucking up her courage, Dash continued. "Still, that all must've been hard and besides Flash and Feather and them, you'r usually alone. I was just uh... I was uh... wondering... if you.. had a uh.... special somepony?" She uncharacteristically forced out nervously.

James still did not respond. Fearing she may have somehow upset him, Dash looked over and tried to talk to him.

"Uh... James? I don't know if you heard me, but I'm sorry if--"

When she turned her head, James had a peaceful look about his face. His chest was gently rising and falling and his eyes were closed.

"Crud, I'll let you get away with it this time." The rainbow maned mare mumbled grumpily.

Going for broke, she closed the gap between them and cuddled up against his warm side. Then she just lay there, enjoying his presence. Soon she felt a little sleepy herself. Gradually, her eyes began to drift shut.

A few moments later, James awoke on the side of the hill. He felt a new sensation on his right. He looked over and saw Dash was now pressed right up against him, fast asleep, her body heat lending him some warmth. Gently, he shook her shoulder, trying to wake her, but to no avail. He shook a little harder, but she was out cold. The night was getting older and a chill began to creep on. James didn't want to leave her there, but her house was too far away and also needed to be able to fly to get there. That left him only one choice. He got up and, balancing on his good leg, scooped her up onto his right shoulder. He then began to carefully limp back to his house on his crutch. As he did, he noticed the pegasus slung over his shoulder was surprisingly light for a pony.

He carefully stepped up onto to porch, taking care not to jostle the sleeping mare while avoiding hurting his knee. Quietly opening and closing the door proved to be a challenge, but it wouldn't be the hardest part. He reached the bottom of the staircase and leaned his crutch against the wall before placing a hand on it to steady himself. Slowly he began to ascend the stairs. He reached his room and gently placed the multi colored mare on his mattress and pulled the blanket over her. Then, as silently as he could with his damaged leg, he limped out of the room, closing the door behind him. He hopped back down the stairs and grabbed his crutch, using its support to make his way to the couch. He set it down and flopped onto the cushions and got as comfortable as he could. He was beat. He didn't want to think, he didn't even want to dream. All he wanted was to sleep. And for once in a long while, that's all he did.

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James woke up to the sound of hooves softly clopping across the floor followed by the sound of the front door opening and closing. He opened his eyes and looked around. It was still early morning, the sun only just beginning to peek over the horizon. On the coffee table next to the couch was a piece of paper. He reached over and brought it to his face so he could read it.

'James,

I'm sorry you had to carry me in last night, I can be a really heavy sleeper. I'm also sorry you slept on the couch. Anyway, thanks for giving me a place to sleep after I passed out. I wanted to maybe stay and have breakfast, but I have work this morning. I'll see you later!

-- Dash'

James put the note back on the table and decided to get up. It had been a long time since he'd had the chance to cook himself breakfast and the mention on it in the note had made him hungry. He picked up his crutch and gently swung his legs to the floor, using the crutch to help himself up. He hobbled over to the kitchen and opened the icebox. There were the usual greens, a gallon of milk and some beer on the bottom shelf. In the corner he noticed a carton with half a dozen eggs. Getting an idea, he went and checked the pantry. Inside, he found some flour and sugar. In no time, he was whipping up some pancake batter. James dropped some butter into a skillet on the burner and spread it around, pouring some batter in after. He had just flipped it over when Flash's door swung open.

"You're up early! Hey, what smells so good?" The matte black pegasus exclaimed at the sight of the cooking human.

"Yeah, I'm cooking pancakes. Want some?" James asked him without turning around.

"Sure, can't pass up a free meal. Especially one cooked by the friggin' Commander!"

"We're off the clock buddy, stow that shit." James said with a chuckle.

He cooked up a few more pancakes and served them to Flash on a plate with some hot syrup and melted butter he had sitting on another burner set low and in a couple of ceramic mugs. James finished up another batch when he heard the door at the top of the stairs open.

"Hey, what's cookin'!" Came Spark's voice from the top of the stairs.

"Sparks, you gotta get down here, the boss is cooking breakfast for us!" Flash yelled back.

Rapid thumps could be heard as the unicorn practically galloped down to the kitchen. James put another plate on the counter just as he arrived.

"Damn, you guys must be hungry, huh?"

"Well, we didn't exactly have dinner last night." Sparks said.

"Speaking of last night, what's with the note?" Flash inquired.

Sparks was a little confused, "What note?"

James and Flash looked at each other, neither moving a muscle. Suddenly, Flash bolted for the living room while James attempted to vault over the counter with one good leg. All it resulted in was him flopping to the floor as Flash walked back in with the note and began to read it aloud.

"..... I have work this morning. I'll see you later!' He finished. "Wow, sounds like you had a fun first night back!"

James had gotten on his good leg by now and snatched the paper away from the pegasus, stuffing it into his pocket.

"It wasn't like that." The human said a little angrily.

"Oooo, touchy!" Flash teased. "Maybe it wasn't like that for you." The stallion then mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing..." the stallion said innocently.

"Then shut up and enjoy your meal, dammit." James snapped back as he returned to the stove and used the last of the batter to make a couple of pancakes for himself.

"All right, all right, sorry!"

James finished making his breakfast and turned off the burners. Then he reached into the icebox and pulled out a beer before retiring to the small dining table adjacent to the living room. Sparks picked up his plate and joined him.

"A bit early to be drinking, isn't it?"

"Sparks, we've been beaten, shot at with crossbows, attacked by a dragon, blown up, hell, me and Feather survived that cave-in somehow, but then we spent over a week finding our way out and then drinking our sweat and urine in the desert just to stay alive. It's time for a beer."

"Ok, ok. Don't bite my head off!"

James put down his fork and sighed, "You're right, I'm sorry. I just got a lot on my mind is all."

"It's fine. Everypony was a little stressed after all that and all the time we spent trying to wind down, you were in a small coma."

"That's no excuse, he was sleeping the whole time!" Flash called out from the kitchen.

This got all three of them to laugh a little.

"You see? It's all good, you're with friends here." Sparks told the human.

"Yeah, I am. Flash, get on over here. And bring a couple more beers, will ya?"

"I thought you'd never ask!" Came the reply from the kitchen.

Flash entered the living room, balancing a plate with a few beers on it. James took the plate from him and opened one of the beverages, setting it down in front of the engineer.

"Really?" Sparks said flatly.

"Yup. We all went through that BS, it's time we shared a drink. We're gonna go get Feather in a bit and do it again any way, so you might as well get in on it now."

"Fine." Sparks conceded.

"Good, 'cause today is gonna be all about gettin' loose."

"To kickin' flanks in the face of adversity!" Flash shouted out.

"Well put!" James complimented.

They all clinked their bottles together and downed their drinks in only a few gulps.

"Ok, let's go get Feather and get this over with." Sparks sighed.

James put a smile on his face as he stood up and gave his friend a slap on the back.

"That's the spirit!"