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Displacement

by hornethead

Chapter 8: Unwinding

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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.

Next Chapter: A New Threat To His Sanity Estimated time remaining: 13 Hours, 11 Minutes
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