Dream of Mirrors

Darkness fell over Equestria as John sprung to action. He sprinted to the edge of town and laid in wait till he saw no one on the streets. Quickly he ran to a nearby alley way and moved down it cautiously.

Reaching the other end of the street he saw a few lights heading toward him. Ducking he crouched behind some trash cans. After a few minutes he saw five white pegasi in golden armor walking past the alley.

"I'm telling you," said one holding a lantern with his wing. "This thing is some kind of monster from another world. It's like that old mares tale, the monster of the Everfree. About that beast that walks on two legs and kills without batting an eyelash. We're like the amazing guards that Celestia assigned to kill the monster."

The other guards snickered at him. "Yeah except we're a bunch of rookies that just got out of basic, that Celestia only sent because she didn't have any other guards to accompany Captain Armor." Said the other lantern bearer.

"Where is he staying anyway? I didn't see him in the barracks." Asked another.

The fourth of the group spoke up. "He's staying in the library here in town with his sister Twilight." So that's where he could find this Twilight at, that's also most likely where he could find all of his things.

Slowly he crept out from bihind the trash cans and across the street. Moving silently he managed to find a town directory. Apparently the Library was up the street. Following the directions he went about a block up, yet he saw nothing.

All there was down the street was a large tree... wait. Stepping closer he saw that there was a door in the tree. Approaching the door he saw a sign saying "Golden Oaks Library". Pulling the pick-gun he used to silently open doors while on an op.

Sliding the end in and putting the torque wrench in at a 40 degree angle. Quickly he pulled the trigger and waited till the wrench fell straight down. After three pumps he flipped the wrench and reset the tumblers, after another three tries the lock finally clicked and he opened the door.

Pushing open the door slowly he could hear faint snoring. Waling in he saw a white pony lightly illuminated by the night light. Silently he closed the door behind him and began to move across the room. Testing each step as he went to minimize squeaking he made his way up the stairs.

Reaching the top he looked around for any rooms, besides the large one he was currently standing in. Across the room next to the bed, which he presumed was holding Twilight, he saw a latter. When he walked over he could see a small trap door at the top.

Climbing the latter he pulled on the handle, nothing. After a few more tries he pulled his knife. It was about 7 inches long, apart of the KA-BAR D2 Extreme Fighting/Utility knife collection. It was rugged and very probably the best knife he had ever used.

Putting the blade between the trap door and the ceiling he pried until he could he hear wood cracking. When the handle on the door came out, along with some wood, he pushed open the door ascended into the attic. When he entered a light flicked on behind him. Flipping around he looked at the source of the light.

On the other end of the room stood the purple one, Twilight. She began to slowly trot toward him. "Hello, whoever you are." she said sternly. "My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle, and you are going to meet Princess Celestia." With a commanding tone. Before he could react he could hear commotion outside, looking through the leaves he saw tons of guards. Next to Twilight he could see his parachute and SARPELS.

"Or, you give me my stuff, I go back in the woods, find a way to contact my team for exvile, and our lives continue like this never fuckin' happened." He said standing to his full height of about 6'.

Lifting her head and looking at him disapprovingly. "I'm sorry sir, but due to crimes against pony kind you're officially under arrest." She commanded.

Laughing and sheathing his knife he held his hands up. "You got me, but I'm not surrendering. So, I think I'll take my leave." Twilight was confused by this. He said they got him but he was leaving? Before she could react he turned and jumped out of the tree. Reaching out he grabbed the nearest hoovering guard. Using the struggling guard he lowered himself a few feet from the ground and jumped down.

Slamming the dazed guard into the floor he then took off across town. Eventually running down an alley and kicking in a door. Entering the home he could hear hooves on the floor getting closer. Moving slowly around the kitchen he saw another horse across the kitchen. "Who's there?" It asked, it as obviously a male.

While it's back was turned he snuck up and choked it out. Leaving it's unconscious body on the floor he made for the front of the home. Unlocking the door and slipping out he saw the forest just across the way. Seeing the coast was clear he made a mad dash for the forest and slid the last three feet into the bushes.

Waiting for a moment to see if he had been followed he made back into the forest. He could survive out here for a while until he could find a way to get a hold of the closest base. He had basic survival training from basic, the advanced training that was recommended for snipers, and any training or teachings that had been shown to him from his father before joining the corps.

Sneaking away from the town he made back for that small clearing he was in before. It had a source of water and from the look of it there was probably many small animals there that could be used for food, as well as the small stream that flowed from the pond that could indicate it flowed into a larger body of water and if so he would be able to fish, as well as follow it and find a vantage point besides these trees to look at the surrounding area.

When he reached the clearing he saw a tall tree nearby and started climbing. When he reached about a midway point in it he found two branches that could hold his weight and pulled out some para-cord from his bag and tied himself in; this way he could sleep without being seen easily from the ground, as well as giving cover from the sky because of how thick the canvas was.

After a few hours of sleeping lightly he awoke with the first few strands of sunlight coming through the canvas. Untying himself he got down from the tree and made for the clearing. When he entered he found some sticks and a couple of vines from the older trees. Pulling his knife he set to work on making some snares for animals.

When he finished making ten snares he heard a faint noise from behind him. Pressing himself flat against the tree he sat behind he peaked behind it tentatively. Two of the white guards with golden armor stood behind another presumable guard. He had white fur and a blue mane that had lighter blue streaks going through it. He wore purple armor with golden trim, on his chest was a breastplate bearing the same symbol that he had seen on Twilight's flank inside of a purple shield.

As they approached his position he slowly started moving around the other-side of the tree. As the last one moved by he moved to a crouching position and followed closely behind. He didn't want to fight, yet he felt if he was seen they would attack. What crimes against pony kind had he done anyway?

When he entered this world he killed an attacking animal, acted in self defense against these 'ponies', and then ran from them; how was that a crime?

Deciding it was best to speculate on this later he continued to follow them. "Captain Armor! I found some prints." Said one of the two guards behind the unicorn in the fancy armor. When the leader turned he saw something rustle in the bushes.

"Hey you there! Show yourself!" he commanded. Nothing, Shining decided to try something else, his horn lit up and a small spark started at the end. When it grew a small amount he discharged it and sent it at the bushes.

It struck and threw John to the side. As the guards charged him he put a hand on his knife handle. With almost closed eyes he watched a guard stand over look at him; in one fluid motion he withdrew the knife and slit the guards throat. Throwing his hooves to his throat he clutched at his neck which was bleeding heavily.

Throwing the dead guard off he jumped to his feet and looked over and saw the other guards staring at him; he took it death was an unusual thing here.

In the heat of the moment one of the guards on an adrenalin high from seeing his friend die charged John. Getting into a fighting stance he waited for the guard to close in before bringing the toe of his boot up and kicking the guard in the throat. Falling backward the guard gasped and tried to breath before feeling a heavy pressure on his throat and all access to air cut off.

Looking up he saw the one in special with a ghastly expression. It hadn't attacked yet so he merely stood his ground. After a second the guard ran from the scene back toward town. Huffing John looked around before pulling the bodies toward the pond. Grabbing a long flat rock he started to dig, he may be a trained killer but he wasn't a monster.

He buried the bodies quickly and looked up. Looking over he could see other guards coming through. Acting quickly he jumped up and started to run from the area. Following the small stream that went from the pond. By sunset he reached a large river. Deciding it not wide to stop yet he followed the rivers flow until it was about midnight.

Finding another tree about 10m from the river bank he climbed up and repeated the same action from the night before.

John woke again at around 7 A.M when the sound of the females, along with a few males. "Twilight i really think you and your friends should have stayed back in town. This thing killed two of my finest guards without even blinking, then it knocked me out and I'm pretty sure it ate their dead bodies." What the fuck? He buried them, why the hell would he eat them?

"Oh did you see what it did in the forest?" That sounded like the shy one. "It killed a poor manticore and... g-g-gutted it." She sputtered out with tears in her eyes.

The orange one put a hoof around her neck. "Regardless of what it did, wer here to help. If this thang is to violent we could use the elements to stop it somehow, er Twilight could use 'er princess magic to do something." She assuredly said to the stallion that ran from him the previous day.

Looking at them he realized what this meant. His stuff was unguarded, or at least would be for the most part. Waiting for the column of guards to pass he descended the tree and headed for the town. It was very light out now so this would make sneaking a bit harder... but not impossible.

When he reached the edge of town he saw an apple cart nearby. It was making it's way around the outside of town, a path that would keep him away from most homes and take him close to the library. As they got close he could see another thing of guards approaching the cart and the red horse driving it.

From here it was a straight shot to the library and the only thing keeping him there was the close guards trying to buy from the sales-horse-thing. Reaching up he grabbed an apple and made his way to the back of the cart and looked to see a guard on his rear legs with the front two on the cart as he looked in. Reeling back he aimed and threw the apple at the red one. It hit him and drew his attention to the guard.

"Hey, what the buck was that for!" He yelled at him, the perfect distraction. While they squabbled he ran to the library.

Opening the door he slipped in and looked around. A small voice sounded from up stairs. "Twilight that you?" It was the small lizard thing from the first day.

Jumping behind the couch he waited till he saw a foot breach the edge of the couch. Leaping forward he grabbed the lizard thing and put his hand over its mouth. Eyes wide with fear it struggled for a minute before calming down and waiting to see what he would do.

"You, you are going to go get my stuff and bring it here from where ever she has it." He ordered to the small thing. It slowly nodded under his grasp. releasing it he watched it run up the stairs into the room above. He sat for a moment and collected his thoughts.

He was in a new world it seemed, with new creatures; sentient creatures, he had already killed 2 of these new creatures; 1 'manticore' and two of these horse things, he was being hunted for god knows what, and to top off the list he had been here two days and had made no progress into getting home.

Snapping out of his thoughts he looked up to see an orange guard with blue hair standing in front of him. "What the- Where the buck is Twilight and what are you?" It said walking in and closing the door behind it.

Jumping up he saw just how much taller than the creature he was. "I could ask the same about you, I don't even know where I am hardly. Last I saw her she was out patrolling the river with a bunch the guards." Was he actually having a conversation with one of these ponies. Backing up slightly to put distance between them.

"Now what the hay are you?" It said walking toward him.

John looked over this 'pony'. It was definitely small enough to be a pony, not yet a horse. "I-I'm a human." He said placing a hand on his combat knife. Had this 'pony' not heard of him like the other guards? He certainly looked different. He wore the regular armor except in the front he wore a star emblem holding the front pieces of the armor together. On his back was a bag seemingly holding some flowers and what looked like a box of chocolates.

Looking over he saw the stairs to the right of him. Turning he ascended the stairs and looked over to see the lizard dragging his things across the floor. Running over he grabbed the bag and chute. Looking out the window he could see it was about a 30ft drop from here, he could easily climb down the few branches here and drop the last 10ft to the ground. With the added weight of the pack it could be tedious.

Opening the window and stepping out onto a nearby branch he looked in to see the guard coming up the stairs. Pulling the quick release he saw as the SARPELS fell landing just short of the ground. To avoid any issues he started straight down. When he got to the bottom branch he could see the group from the river coming toward the library. Dropping he started pulling in the rope before running down an alley and making toward the forest.

When he was about to exit the alley two guards ran around the corner in front of him. Stopping he turned and ran at a door. Using his shoulder he forced it open and ran inside. Running through the house he kicked open the front door and ran back in the direction of the woods.

Entering the forest he began to head toward the river. When he arrived he dove in and swam across. All of his things, besides his clothes, were water proof so there was little reason to worry about something being ruined. When he surfaced he could see the guard standing across the river about to fly over when the one with the peculiar armor spoke. "Stand down, he's to deep in the Everfree now. He runs and we'll loose him at the snap of a whip."

Turning he began to run again. Eventually finding a small place between the trees to stop and rest for a second. Here in this part of the forest it was very dark and felt like the jungle he was supposed to have jumped into.

        Leaning back against the tree he hit the clip on his chute and sat it next to him. Tomorrow he'd hike around until he could find a nice vantage point.

        With his last bit of energy he climbed the tree and found a nook to sleep in. Pulling out his SARPELS he cut the rope from it and tied that around himself. Pulling out some para-cord he tied the large bag to another two branches.

        Now that all of his things were squared away he leaned against the tree and fell asleep. It, like the last two, had been a long day.

        Once again John awoke to the sound of voices. "...worry Rarity, just because Twilight's brother called of his guards doesn't mean he called us off. Besides, none of those guards have zip on me and my speed! I could catch this monster easy." Said an arrogant female voice, must be the blue one.

        Looking down he could see them below him. As quietly as possible he undid the rope around his waist. Tying it off to the tree limb he was on he used it to silently descend to the ground behind them. When he reached the ground he laid down and allowed his camouflage uniform to allow him to blend in to the dark under growth of the forest.

        The MARPAT uniform uses fractal patterns that switch from one color block to another rapidly creating large blocks of each color that resemble the smaller blocks. The combination of colors in the small digital blocks in the dark varying colors makes it hard to make out from the naked eye in light (even harder at night) as well as the digital blocks making it very hard to detect by satellite.

        He had stashed the Lightweight Helmet, a lightweight yet heavy protection helmet with V-neck straps, in his bag and allowed the Boonie-hat he wore underneath of it to fold out from beneath. The hat's 'Foliage ring' is usually used to hide the wearers face and neck and is also used to hold foliage and vegetation for additional camouflage. With his face down he was almost invisible in the under growth.

        Looking up he could see them walking away. They seemed to know the area fairly well so he decided it would be best to follow them.

        In a half-crawl he followed after. About a half an hour later they reached an opening where a crumbling castle stood. Staying behind as they ventured forward past the tree line he listened to the last amount of the conversation before he would hike around and wait till they passed through.

        With his back against a tree he could see something strange walking through the forest. Three large, wooden, moss covered wolves with glowing green eyes stalked through the forest toward the ponies. Deciding not to just stand by he jumped on the back of the last one as they passed by. While it thrashed to and tried to throw him off he managed to pull his knife and stab at it's head.

        After about five strikes he managed to land one between the eyes and into the cranial cavity. Twisting the blade he fell to the ground as it disseminated. The others howled and caught the atention of the ponies.

        Another ran at him and he side stepped slashing it across the face. When it turned he was no where to be seen, Looking down he was below it. With a mighty thrust up he lodged the knife through the roof of it's mouth. In a surprised daze it disseminated into ash and fell upon him.

         Jumping up coughing he looked at the final wolf. It snarled and leaped at him. He jumped forward and rolled away as it pounced onto the ground where he had just stood. Coming out of the roll he stood up and got ready to fight. When it ran forward he brought the knife up and slashed across it's face. When it recoiled he took that as an opportunity and kicked at it's foreleg.  The wooden leg snapped and it fell forward.

          As it fell forward he brought up his foot and brought the boot down on it's head. The head splintered and the beast died, again disintegrating into ash.

           Looking up he could see the ponies starring at him. Turning he took off for the forest when he slammed into a wall of purple. Falling backward he started to kick wildly a the wall until a voice behind him spoke. "Excuse me." It was the purple one.

          John turned his head and looked at it. "Why did you save us?" He shrugged. "Well, why aren't you attacking us?"

         Standing up he looked down at them. "You haven't attacked me, nor is anyone in danger. I only attacked in the past because you," He said looking sternly at Rainbow Dash. "Attacked me and I responded in self defense. I killed the lion thing because it attacked me. I killed the guards because they attacked me and i had no other choice. Oh, and I didn't eat them, I buried them next to that pond in that clearing." He said feeling at the purple wall.

Rainbow recoiled a little under his stern gaze. The orange one spoke. "Ya could 'ave just surrendered."

John just laughed. "A marine never surrenders, we fight till our last breath. Then we go to hell and regroup."

In a moment the wall faded and he was about to run when the purple one spoke again. "You don't have to run, we won't attack you." He stopped and looked at it. "I'm only speaking the truth, plus we could get you some lodgings in town. You wouldn't have to live in the woods." It sounded nice but he was unsure.

          "How do I know you aren't going to try and turn me into those guards when we get to town?" He questioned. She did an odd swear and promised that she wouldn't. "And why would you help me? I came to your world, killed, and haven't faced any justice." He questioned the purple pony.

She just looked at him. "You killed in self defense, we may not condone killing here but we certainly under stand when it happens, and when it happens in a case like that we are willing to forgive. Just tread lightly some ponies won't be as kind."

          As they walked he told them to wait while he grabbed something. Looking up at the tree where he slept last night he grabbed the rope and began to climb. The mares watched amazement as the monkey like human made his way up the tree. When he reached the top he released the rope from the branch and stuffed it into the bag. Shouldering the SARPELS bag he climbed down the tree and asked them to continue.

          As they entered the town many guards and their commanders surrounded them. "Stand down guards." Twilight said standing in front of the now defensive John. Shining stepped through the crowd.

          "Sorry sis, but I'm afraid we have to put this beast under arrest." He told his little sister.

          Now John spoke up. "Watch what you call a beast. And unless self defense is a crime I don't think you have any reason to arrest me." He said to Shining, who was very surprised at the talking monster.

            Hefting his things he started off for the forest again. When he was about to enter he felt something warm and tingly hit the back of his head. Lifting a hand he felt nothing there. When he lowered his hand he fell forward and passed out.

            Shining nodded to a guard to retrieve his body. He hadn't killed him, merely knocked him out so that he may be transported to the Canterlot Dungeon. "Shining, why did you do that?" Twilight yelled at him.

            "Because you don't have say over what me and my guards are doing right now." He said starring at her. "We have direct orders from Princess Celestia to transport this beast to the dungeons. Regardless what you say." Shining finished before walking toward the train station with his guards in tow.

Twilight looked to Flash Sentry. All he could do was nod his head signifying he couldn't do anything to stop it. In defeat she hung her head and began to walk back to the library. All of her friends followed; they knew they couldn't help, but they could at least try and get her mind off the subject.