The Strange Tale Of Ezekiel Henderson

Henderson hadn't slept well at all. He had tossed and turned, had a nightmare, and his feet hung a good foot off the end of the bed he was provided. To top it all off, the filly introduced as "Applebloom" had had friends over, and their excited giggles and squeaks had woken Henderson on more than one occasion. Long story short, he felt like shit the next morning.

"You ready to go?", Twilight asked him when he, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash arrived at the library.

His response was a curt nod.

Ten minutes later the five ponies and their human companion were on the first train to Canterlot.

An hour into the trip, all of the ponies had fallen asleep. Henderson, who had been observing the pristine countryside, decided to take inventory of his equipment. Starting with his toolbelt, he made a mental list of its contents.

Knife, he unsheathed the eight inch, carbon steel blade, examined it, then replaced it.

He opened the right hip pouch, Three frags, two flashes, five chem lights.

The left hip pouch, Four rifle mags, three for my pistol.

He moved to his holster, removing the weapon it contained. He knew the magazine was full but ejected it anyways, Never hurts to be careful..., he thought as he returned the mag to the handgun, and the handgun to the holster.

He strapped his toolbelt around his waist, then unclipped his backpack from his armor. He unzipped the bag rummaged around inside.

Toolkit, he examined the small box containing assorted tools, used for field maintenance on his armor and weapons.

Five energy bars. He unwrapped one and munched while he continued rummaging.

Topographical map of south eastern Iraq. Fat lot a good that does me here...

He continued through his gear until he came to a picture of his wife and daughter. He held the photo in his gloved hand, suddenly wishing very much to be at home, in Montana. He replaced the picture, quelling his emotions.

He zipped the bag and reclipped it to his back.

He turned his attention to his rifle, propped against the seat beside him. He hefted the weapon onto his lap.

When he had first joined the Marine's, back in boot camp, he had discovered marksmanship was a natural talent of his. After boot he had underwent 8 weeks of hell, sniper school. It was the most difficult thing Henderson had ever done, but it honed his skills as a sharpshooter down to a razor's edge.

He examined the weapon that allowed him to use his talent and training to hit targets up to 1800 meters away, as that was the rifle's maximum effective range. His 'Model 2256 Designated Marksman's Rifle' fired super-compressed, ionized slugs of nitrogen. When the trigger is pulled, 11 grams of the gas is pulled from the magazine, ionized using power from a lithium battery also in the magazine, and sent down the barrel, which was lined with micro-processor controlled electro-magnets. The slug would leave the weapon with a velocity of nearly 960 meters per second. It could puncture an inch and a half of reinforced steel from a mile away.

He noticed the charge level on the mag was below ten percent, he surmised he had never reloaded after the firefight.

Easy enough to fix., he thought as he removed the near empty mag and placed it in a charging unit on his hip. All mk3 ace suits had one, it was a small and crucial asset on the battlefield. A soldier could recharge a mag in fifteen minutes, then use it and charge it again. If this soldier had five or six magazines, he would virtually never run out of ammunition. Crucial indeed.

He retrieved a fresh mag from his hip pouch and inserted it into the M56's receiver with a satisfying CLICK. The readout reset; one-hundred percent.

"Well, that's quite a story.", even Princess Celestia was near speechlessness after Henderson recounted the events leading up to, and the event of, his arrival in Equestria.

"Indeed.", Luna concurred.

The two matriarchs stood in the throne room of their castle, in front of them stood Henderson, behind whom stood Twilight and her friends.

"So, know of any way I can get home?", Henderson hadn't quite mastered the art of speaking to royalty.

The sisters looked at each other, Celestia shook her head.

"Nay, Lance Corporal Henderson, we aren't aware of any means by which you could return to your home.", Luna replied.

Damn, Henderson thought, How'd I know that would be the answer.

"Don't let your spirits fall, Ezekiel.", Celestia soothed, "With time, I'm sure we can find a way."

"Thank you, Cel- Your Highness.", despite the Princess's efforts, Henderson was crestfallen.

"Twilight," Celestia turned her attention to her protigee, "Make sure Ezekiel feels welcome in Ponyville. We will summon you if we discover anything."

Twilight bowed her head, "I will do my best, Princess.".

Henderson bowed slightly at the waist, straightened, and turned to go. In his frustration he began to feel hot and claustrophobic in his helmet, which he removed.

"Lance Corporal Henderson, wait!", Luna called after him.

He turned, looking at the two Princesses with his bare eyes, "Wh- Yes?".

With a full view of the human's face, the sisters looked at each other, then back at Henderson.

"Come with us."