"You were saying?" Sensei asked. A defeated John hung his head.
"I spoke to you, boy. What did you say?" Sensei repeated.
"I said that I could kick your ass." John mumbled, still looking at the ground. Although enormously skilled in martial arts, as well as being head, shoulders, and torso above his sensei, John still had a lot to learn. And his Sensei wouldn't let him forget it.
"And who won?" Sensei asked. He was seriously enjoying this.
"You did." A clearly deflated John said, barley over a whisper.
"What was that? I couldn't quite hear you. Perhaps you could say it louder, hmm?"
John looked his sensei straight in the eye. "Just you wait old man, I'll get you one day!"
"Now where have I heard that one before? Oh yes, now I remember. You say it, every time I beat you. Don't worry John, you'll beat me one day. Your only seventeen, you"ll get there eventually. Now go home John. Trainings over for today. Come back next week, and we'll see if your still worth my time."
John turned, grabbed his bag off of the hook by the door, and walked outside. Of coarse, just like any other time he thought his day couldn't get any worse, it started to rain. It was a drizzle, but slowly grew in momentum until it was a full blooded mid-west storm.
"Great! Now Im soaked to the bone! Moms going to love this! Can this day get any worse?"
Of coarse, you don't say that when your having a bad day. for just at that moment, John slipped in some water, and the phone he was holding flew out of his hand. John heard a crash behind him, and his stomach dropped. He turned around slowly, and saw his phone broken. Completely. The screen was obliterated, the back was non exsistant, and all the wires were spilling out of one side. John may not have been the smartest person in the world, but he knew that his phone was gone forever.
"Perfect." John mumbled to himself. Of coarse, his walk home had just begun. There was another five miles before he got to his block.
John walked into the house, and immediately slipped on the tile floor that led into the kitchen. John was glad about the rain. It had washed away most of the dog poop he stepped in, and some of the blood that he had got by being bit by a dog. Already, the blood was soaking through his pants. and, if that wasn't bad enough Johns mom came down at that moment.
"John, What did I tell you about the trash..." Johns moms voice trailed off as she stared at john, soaking wet with dog crap on his foot and blood soaking through his clothes. But Johns mom didnt care that her son obviously had a bad day.
"John! Get up! Your making a mess on my floor! God, don't you have any respect for me? That's it, get out! Im tired of you!"
Johns mom stormed back up the stairs whence she came.
"Fucking perfect. And people wonder why I don't believe in God?"
"John! Why are you still in here? Better yet, you know I hate mumbling! I want your phone outside my door, now!"
Instead of listening to his mother, John walked right past her door. He went into his closet and grabbed his prized possessions. Black armor, that consisted of a chest plate, shoulder bracers, and thigh covers. Also, he had two, jet black handled, twin silver katanas. To top it all off, he had a black cloak which ran all the way down to his black, black metal braced combat boots. The cloak had a hood, which cast a shadow over his face when he wore it. All in all, he looked like a bad-ass. The price of all this, hadn't been so bad-ass. Luckily, he didn't have to buy it. He got it out of a fight. To him, it was more then money. After putting it all on, he did what his mother asked of him and went outside.
In the back yard, John pulled his katanas. He loved the feel of them, the way the very air seemed to bend around them. He was skilled, and had won gold in every fencing match he went into. He also was a third degree black belt in kung-fu, karate, and taekwondo. Also, he was a highly skilled MMA fighter, and had gone through boot camp. He wasn't that big when staring at him, but he could punch with over nine hundred pounds of force. And that was on a bad day. His main fault was acne. He was covered in it. It was on his face, his thighs, his back. He took a shower every night, but to no avail.
"I wish my life would change." He said to himself in the middle of a back slash.
Just then, a lightning bolt hit the ground right in front of him, launching him backwards twenty feet. Being an expert in parkour, he hit the ground and immediately back flipped. He skidded an extra five feet, all the while in a guard stance.
"Well, that was awkward." Remarked John. He looked down at his armor, and was shocked to see that his armor was intact, with no singe marks. More still, his cloak wasn't completely charred either. Then, John noticed a strange glow. Right where the lightning had struck, an odd mist was beginning to form. It started as a speck, but then grew, all the while spiraling. John was awestruck, and could only stare in amazement as the pink mist suddenly became what looked like a 3-D picture. It was of an odd castle. The castle was being attacked, over and over again by strange black things that slightly resembled ponies. There were white ponies with blue manes wearing gold armor and holding golden spears as well. The had a crest, the same crest that was behind them on the wall. It was a sun. John assumed these were the guards of the castle. One of the ponies wearing gold armor let out a war cry and charged, his regiment outnumbered almost 3 to 1.
"To the princess! Save the princess!" The pony shouted. They were slaughtered. They fought hard, and killed a few of the black ponies, but it was a dead attempt, with extra emphasis on dead. There was blood everywhere, on the walls, on the ground, and sadly, very little of it was of the enemy. John did admire their bravery. Risking life itself to safe their princess. Such loyalty and devotion. How they fought to the last man. They died with honor, and they never screamed. But then John saw something that made him proud. He didn't know why, but when your a fighter and you see someone fighting, you just feel proud. And what made him feel proud was a pony that was missing an entire leg and still trying to fight. He stumbled up, grabbed his spear, and with a mighty bellow, charged the enemy. He stood no chance. The spear was knocked out of his hoof, and his throat was ripped out. The black ponies then proceeded to devour the guards. John had never seen such a grotesque scene. The black ponies ripped open the stomach and devoured the contents. They would use their horns to spear flesh from gaping wounds, and then they would dip the flesh in blood. John was enraged. Enraged with the enemies not showing honor. Enraged with the grotesque scenes. Enraged that the princess was being held. He didnt know why, but the princess seemed to fill him with rage even more then the previous two. Then he heard and saw something that pushed him over the edge.
"Help us." A weak sounding voice said. Then the screen was filled with a white pony with a sun tattooed to her rump. The picture was almost void of light, and it looked like it was a dungeon. One of the cell doors were open. It was the one holding a white pony. She was being tormented and used as a play thing. And by "play thing", John saw the pony getting brutally raped. The black ponies took their cocks and were shoving it into the white pony's womanhood. The white pony would scream in agony, and the black ponies would laugh and another would add his cock to the others. John counted seven ponies fucking her, and knew that number would only keep going up. John then saw a female pony. She was black, and looked just like the other, smaller, black ponies.
"I cant tell you how much it pleases me to see you like this. You look awful. Keep it up boys." The larger black pony said. The smaller ponies picked up their pace with vigor. The white mare let out a howl of pain. She was covered in seamen and love juices were leaking everywhere. The "love juices", John thought, probably weren't from love, seeing as how the juices had blood mixed with it.
Somehow, the white mare had enough strength to say. "You wont get away with this, Queen Chrysalis!"
"Oh how naive, Princess Celestia. Seeing as how I already have. My Changelings are eating your guards as we speak, only a precious few remain. Soon, that will be zero. Anyway, I just came to see how you liked your new accommodations. Your dungeon cell looks very nice. Come on boys, lets go finish off her guards. Close the cell behind you. We wouldn't want her to escape, would we?"
As soon as they left, Celestia lifted her head. John could have sworn she was looking at him.
"Help us." Celestia said. Then the screen zoomed out to reveal the doors of the castle. Only two Changelings were guarding the open door. Without a seconds hesitation, John jumped into the portal that he had first mistaken as a 3-D picture, and his vision was filled with pink swirls.
John landed on his feet, in a crouching position. When the motion sickness he felt had subsided and the world stopped spinning, John stood up. He was staring at a draw bridge that was down. On the other side, two Changelings were looking at him. Then, one talked,
"Leave, strange beast. You have no business here."
"Then again," John replied, walking forward, "neither do you." While saying that, John pulled his twin katanas. He could only imagine what he looked like, but from what he got, he looked like a bad-ass.
John got about half-way across the draw bridge before the Changelings hissed, then charged. John kept walking, swords down, points facing the ground. When John had judged the Changelings had gone far enough, he made his move. The first Changeling came at him from the sky. It had flown up and used gravity to pull it down. The Changeling lowered his horn as he fell. John waited until the last second, then moved to one side. The Changeling's horn, instead of impelling John, got suck in a board from the draw bridge. Before the Changeling had a chance to pull his horn out, or even put his hoofs on the ground, for that matter, he got decapitated. The Changeling just stared at the blood that was running down his face, wondering where it was coming from. That question answered itself, however, when the Changelings body fell from the head that was still stuck in the board. John had sliced through its head so fast, the Changeling didn't even know it was dead. When the body fell to the ground, blood from the neck, where the head had been, splashed up, and into the other Changelings face. The Changeling reeled up on its hind legs. Unable to see, the Changeling was panicking. John used this moment to his advantage. John rushed the Changeling and leaped into the air, driving his sword to the hilt straight through the Changelings stomach. Blood and stomach acid fell onto Johns sword. The Changelings mouth opened and closed a few times, and then its entire body went limp. John pulled his sword out of the Changeling with a slow, delicate hand gesture. Ever since John had seen the Changelings eating the guard ponies, he had wanted to do that. Now that he had vanquished two Changelings and could feel, as well as hear, the blood underneath his boots, he was immensely happy. In fact, he drove his sword again, and then again into both Changelings, enjoying the squelching sound that came with each thrust. Enjoying the bloody holes hat were filling the two bodies. John had never felt lust for blood before. But he enjoyed it. It was like a drug, and he wanted more. And John knew just where to get it. With his eyes going bloodshot and a smile that would have resembled that of an insane maniac killer, John entered the castle.
John walked through halls now filled with blood. Stealth wasn't an option. He wanted a fight. He needed it. John had already killed thirty or somewhat Changelings, and their blood dripped in drops from his sword onto the floor. John rounded a corner and found stairs leading down. Also, he heard hooves coming up. The way into the staircase was an arch with stones jutting about an inch away from the wall all the way around the arch. Getting up above the entrance to the staircase was no problem. The Changeling never saw it coming. As soon as the Changelings head cane into view, John jumped down from his hiding place. The wind whistled by as he fell, his sword raised above his head. John slammed his knees into the Changelings spine, breaking its back with a mighty shatter. The changeling never had a chance to whiny, though. John used the momentum from the fall to slam his sword all the way through the Changeling head, brain, jaw and all. The Changeling was suspended in air, before its head started to slowly slid down the sword. John waited until the Changelings head was about an inch from the ground before he whipped his sword out. The Changelings spine had ripped a hole through its stomach, and out of the gapping wound a bloody liver had fallen out. John picked it up with a gruesome smile and ripped it in half with his teeth and his hand. He threw the liver on the ground, except for the part that was in his mouth. That, he swallowed with relish. The hole where the sword had punctured in the head had brains oozing out of it. John stared at the brain some, then jumped on it. The brain exploded, adding more blood to the already stained floor and walls. John let out a howling laugh, and then raced down the stairs.
As soon as John got to the bottom of the stairs, there was but one, dozing Changeling guard. The guard whipped awake in time to see John's foot slam into his face. The Changeling flew backward and his head hit a rock, shattering it. John stood there, his face raised a little, so that he could enjoy the rain of blood, skull ,and brains that were showering him. As soon as the gruesome rain ended, John looked around and realized he had found the dungeon. John raced down one of the two branch offs, but stopped as the smell of sex filled the air. That snapped him out of his high real fast. John realized that he must be near the Princess. John put his swords point down toward the ground. Then, he kept walking. Soon, he found the cell holding the Princess. She was lying down, completely knocked out.
"Princess." John whispered through the bars. "Princess, wake up!"
Celestia lifted her head, then jumped up as she realized who it was
"You!" She exclaimed "Your faster then I thought. I didn't expect you here till nightfall at the latest."
"Isn't it night time?" asked John.
"No, it's evening, right about dinner time."
"If you don't mind me asking, why don't you use magic to get out of here?"
"Don't you think I would have done that by now? These bars are sealed shut by magic, and not even I can break them. That's where you come in. I need you to get the keys and..." Celestia's voice trailed off as she saw John put one sword away and hold the other with both hands.
"What are you doing?"
"If I were you, Princess, I would stand back."
John had just finished saying that before he sliced through the metal bars, using all the power in his hip and arms to deliver a clean cut that cut off the bars.
"Lets go." John said with a smirk to the amazed Celestia.
They walked out without a single incident. Mostly because John had killed all the Changelings before any of them could notify Chrysalis or any other Changelings. Until they Changeling guards shift was over and they never returned, no questions were going to be asked. All the other Changelings were busy else where. As soon as they got out of the castle and across the draw bridge, Celestia collapsed.
"Come on Celestia, we cant wait here. We are still within a spotting distance from the castle, we most get to the town."
"Sorry, John, but I can't. I-Im just...unh." And with that, Celestia passed out.
"Alright then, plan B." And John, grunting, picked up Celestia and started carrying her on his shoulders. The going was ruff. If she wasn't a girl, John would tell her how heavy she was.
John, finally, made it into the town. He went behind a house and dropped Celestia into a heap. He then fell beside her. He awoke to find himself in a house built into a tree house.
"Where am I?" He asked drowsily to no one in particular.
"Your in Ponyville." He heard Celestia reply.
"Id that the place next to the castle?"
"No, that was Canterlot. After I woke up, I saw you passed out. I had enough strength to teleport you and I here to my friend Twilight Sparkle's house. I'm glad your awake, because now we can get down to business. And don't worry. I got rid of your rabbies."
That woke John up "Rabbies!"
"Yes. I don't know how you got them, but you had them."
John thought back to getting bit by the dog. "Oh. So what do we do now?"
"Well, first things first, we need to get to the secret meeting place. I'll teleport us there now."
John saw a soothing green glow fall over him. He was still lying on his back. He felt the soft wood of the tree house turn into hard, damp rock. The green glow faded away, and John sat up. Celestia and John were just inside a small cave. Celestia started walking into the cave, and John hastily got up and followed. As soon as they got inside, a huge boulder fell into place behind them. It was completely dark, except for a green aura coming from Celestia's horn. Soon, John became aware of lantern light ahead that was coming from around a turn. Celestia turned off the green glow, and they proceeded toward the light. As they drew nearer, John became aware of talking. But as John kept walking, he became aware that the talking had ceased. John put his hands onto the hilt of his swords. Celestia, seeing that John was nervous, put her hoof comfortingly on his shoulder.
"Relax." Celestia said. For some reason, John felt calm again, and he removed his hands from his swords.
"Who goes there?" A voice called from around the bend when they were a stone's throw away.
Still walking, Celestia said "Shouldn't you remember your Princess?"
John heard a whistling, and immediately, pulled Celestia back right before she had reached the bend. About a split second later, a spear flew past, barely missing Celestia's snot, and flew into the wall.
"Let me handle this." John said, and before Celestia could deny, he stepped into the open. Celestia followed.
"Nicely done, asshole. You almost killed your Princess." John remarked coldly, as the party of people gathered in the cave turned their eyes and stared.
"Princess! Your alive!" A purple pony with a purple, pink stripped main yelled.
"Of coarse I am, Twilight Sparkle, and it's thanks to my new lieutenant here that I am."
"If you don't mind me saying, Princess," a white pony with a dark, light blue mane started, "what is it?"
"This is a human. I opened a portal to another world and he came through. Luckily he did, to. He single handedly saved me, and carried me to safety. He is more skilled, stronger, faster, and all in all, better then all of you. Therefore, he is my right hand man. My lieutenant. From now on, you all listen to him as you wold me. On top of that, only I can overrule his orders. Now who was it that threw the spear?"
"I did, your majesty." the blue, light blue maned pony replied.
"From now on, Shining Armor, if you hear something and you don't know what it it, aim to wound first. If it's enemy, kill it. If not, you should be happy you didn't. Only time that is overruled is on the battle field or if your one hundred percent sure that it is an enemy. Am I understood?"
"Yes, your majesty. I apologize, you r majesty.
"Apology accepted. Now, my lieute-"
"Your majesty, if I may, I wold like everyone to call me John. You all know my rank, so its hardly necessary to keep saying it."
"Alright, John. I understand. Well, John, I think it's time to get to know everyone. Im Princess Celestia, that's Shining Armor, the highest person here, next to me and you. There's Twilight Sparkle, Shining Armor's sister, and her friends, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Apple Jack, and Rainbow Dash."
"Nice to meet you all. Now, show of hands, how many of you have any actual combat experience?" John asked. No hands were raised. Not even from the hundred and fifty soldiers behind them.
"Great! Well then, lets get busy."
"Busy? With what?" Apple Jack asked.
"I'm going to make warriors out of all of you. Im going to pretend you don't know a lance from a spear, so you so-called "warriors" already are going to go through it again. Only this time, John style."
"U--u-um, e-excuse me, uh, mister J-John?" Fluttershy stammered.
"Yes? What do you need?" John said in a calm, smooth voice. There was something about Fluttershy that he liked, and he hoped to spark a friendship.
"Do w-we all have to f-fight?" Fluttershy replied, hiding her face behind her mane.
"No. But I want everyone that doesn't fight to be a nurse. We're going to have a lot of wounded, and I want as many to survive as possible." John said, looking around as he did so and raising his voice, making it obvious that he meant that to be directed at everyone.
"Anyone that wants to fight, stand over there. Anyone one that doesn't, over there."
Most of the soldiers went against the soldier wall. Only twenty five went to nurse wall. Fluttershy, Apple Jack, and Twilight, and Rarity all went to the nurse side. John was surprised to see Rainbow Dash with the warriors.
"Rainbow Dash, you do know that's the warrior wall, right?"
"Of coarse I do! I can fight better then anyone!" Dash replied with a lot of spunk.
"Alright. Apple Jack, you look strong, come here." Apple Jack walked over, not knowing what to expect.
"I have a special assignment. I need people to be ready to haul wounded friends off of the battle field. That's where you two come in. I need Rainbow Dash to fly down a pick them up, and fly them back to the medics. Apple Jack, I need you to do the same, minus the flying. Now don't think I'm giving this job to you to make you an outcast or to stop you from being what you want because I think you can't do it. Im asking you two to do this because it's one of the most dangerous jobs, if not the most dangerous job. We're talking front lines, heavy fire. And you need to be able to tell freind or foe, whos hurt and who isn't, all in the chaos called war. Do you think you could do this?"
"Easy! Sign me up!" Rainbow Dash replied readily.
"I don't know. Don't you think theres someone else more qualified/" Apple Jack said.
"Apple Jack, I picked you both from a gut feeling. If you don't think your ready, I'll find someone else. I just felt a lot of potential in you."
"Well, shoot, when you put it that way... All right, I'll do it."
"Good. You'll both receive special training from me every day after warrior training is over."
"Excuse me, but aren't you yerself a fighter? How do you know how to do the opposite of what you do?"
"Trust me, Apple Jack. My sensei was smart. So were my instructors. In every fighting skill I learned, they also thought me how to heal that, just in case I had to. Just be ready immediately after the warriors are done. And don't keep me waiting."
"Alright everybody!" John yelled so everyone can hear. "I expect each and every one of you to be ready for hell tomorrow. Dismissed!"
"What did I tell you? I told you to be ready! Now get up that hill, now! Move, soldier, move, move, move!"
John was in the face of one of the guards again. Sadly, they weren't as strong as John had expected. While expert in defensive techniques, they were lacking in the offensive. So John had them saddle up with their battle armor as well as saddle bags with fifty pounds of rocks in them. John then had each and every one of them run up a hill that was about fifty feet high and just under ninety degrees steep. Of coarse, John, knowing that he'll be fighting side by side of these men, thought it best to grab a bag of rocks and join in. John didn't want to get on their bad side. Friendly fire happens more often when you were. John had stopped because a pony had fallen. He was panting and breathing hard, but that was to be expected. They had been doing this since early mourning. It was now late afternoon.
After a few more laps, John called a halt.
"Good work everybody. Tomorrow we start with weapon drills, so be sure to wear armor again, but this time, bring your spears. Alright, back to the cave. Quick step now! One-two-one-two-one-two!"
John led the troops back to the cave at a pace just under a jog. The cave was only fifty yards or so away, but to already weary troops, the exercise was pure torture. As soon as they got back, they all flopped the ground.
"Hold fast, men! We are soldiers, not rag tags. I expect cleanliness. Now get up and put your things away neatly."
"If you want it done so badly, why don't you do it?" A pony mumbled sleepily. John recognized this particular pony as well. He was a slacker and absolutely despised John. Well, John had had enough.
"You! You pathetic excuse for a soldier! Front and center!"
"Make me." Came his reply. Not a good thing to say. John walked over, picked him up bodily, and threw him into a wall. The pony let out a whiny as he struck the rock wall, and fell. He raised his head and looked at his leg.
"I-I think you broke it!" He said, tears welling up in his eyes.
"You pathetic baby. I've had enough of you. Get out of my sight. Hand in your armor and weapons and get out. This is a place for soldiers, not cowards or mutineers. And that goes for all of you!" John said, looking around.
"If I give you an order, you listen. I don't want excuses. I don't want wailing or whining. I want results! And you will listen, or like him, I'll have you thrown out! Am I understood?"
"Sir yes sir!" The other ponies shouted back at him.
"Then I want this place cleaned up. Saddle bags emptied outside then hung with armor and weapons. Move!"
There was a mad flurry of hooves as soldiers hurried to get done what needed done. The pony that had been thrown against the wall was up and slinking away.
"Good to see your leg is feeling better. Now I don't need someone else to bring your shit to the storage box, you can do it yourself. And then I want you immediately out of this cave and far far away. Don't care where you go as long as you ain't here. Now move."
The pony started slinking back towards the cave entrance, before he threw his armor and weapon onto the ground.
"You haven't seen the last of me! I'll be back!" The pony said right before he ran out of the cave mouth.
"I didn't think this was the last time I would ever see you." John mumbled to himself. But right now, he had two medics to go train. He didn't have time to worry about such matters.
"No, no, no! What you just did would have killed him! You don't just slit the throat willy-nilly, you gotta do it right! Now, chest is bloated, they can't get air, where do you cut them? You, Fluttershy! Where? Quickly, now, they're almost dead!"
"Uh...um...t-there?" Fluttershy stammered, pointing to a spot on the pony manikin's neck.
"Good job, Fluttershy! You all see that? Now, Fluttershy, how do you make it so they can breath again?"
"Straw or...uh...a-a rolled piece of p-paper?"
"Were you asking or telling, Fluttershy? C'mon, be assertive!"
John didn't know why, but the other pony's around snickered at that.
"Straw or a rolled up piece of paper." Fluttershy said, not stuttering, which stunned everyone who could hear her whisper.
"Correct, Fluttershy! Alright, everybody, that'll be it for today. It's about, what? Nine? I expect you all here at seven p.m. tomorrow. Don't forget to read chapter twelve, section three before then. We'll be going over that first thing, and expect everyone to know there stuff. Dismissed!"
Two months later
"Are they ready?" Celestia asked.
"As ready as I could get them." John responded. Celestia and John were walking up and down the ranks of their small army. Most would say that to go up against a large army such as the Changelings would be foolish. But the troops were determined to take back their homeland, and would succeed. Or die trying.
"Lets hope its enough." Celestia responded to John. John could see the worry in her eyes.
"Your highness, these are men and woman who are ready to die for their kingdom."
"It's not their hearts I fear. It's there moral. How long do you think they'll stand before they run?"
"Are we about to march, your highness?" John questioned.
"Yes." Celestia replied.
"Then let me speak to them."
John stepped back so that he was standing in front of the army.
"We are about to march into war with a formidable foe. Fight to the last man. Fight no matter what. And don't forget, win or lose, we will all see each other again. Wether it's in this life or another. Now, onward!"
So John led the small army across forest and hill. It wasn't long before they saw what was left of Canterlot. The place was in ruin. As the army walked through the empty streets, they all grew restless. John pressed forward. As soon as they came into sight of the castle, they could see the swarm of Changelings mounting on top of the wall. They could also see the mass of them walking across the drawbridge.
"Medics and doctors, stay back and use these buildings as hospitals. Use all of them if you have to. Have heart men, and never fear. Although we are greatly outnumbered, we will fight. Remember this place. This is our fall back point. We will use these buildings as cover and make a final stand here. Remember that win or lose, we will be remembered. Look to the man beside you. You remember his face. You to stick together. Don't ever get separated. If this turns into one-on-one combat, we will count you two as one."
Turning, John drew his swords.
"Charge!" He yelled, and the army surged forward. The battle for Equestria, had begun.
"War is blood.
War is gore.
The likes that these boys have never seen before.
They say they're ready
There they stand in their place.
Brave heart
Expressionless face.
But then the war cries ring
And blood is spilt.
You kill someone and your filled with guilt.
All the blood and carnage you see.
This is war, son
This bloody sea."
ImmortalAdam (Adam Yazell)
