James Conner was sleeping on the floor of a cell. His left arm was bandaged up and his hands wrapped in cuffs. What didn't help was that he was covered in dry blood, soaked in it.The pony guards that were at his cell couldn't help but look at him in disgust.

"What do you think the captains gonna do to him?"

"I don't know… We never caught one of them before, the Princess might make a guest appearance."

"Ah, don't bring you hopes up, I doubt Shining Armor's gonna let this thing live, especially with what it did to his sister.

"True… maybe we should put in the letter that he died already?"

"Wouldn't be the first time."

The two stallions started to let out belly laughs as they laughed at their own joke. They chose a horrible time to break their guard as a very prominent captain walked in.

As the two guard ponies continued to laugh, Shining Armor stood behind them, not saying a word and letting them dig their own grave.

Slowly, the guard ponies stopped laughing as they felt eyes bore into the back of their heads. The duo slowly turned toward the captain and didn't say a word as he walked past them.

"I'll discipline you later…" Shining Armor said as he magicked the cell door open and walked right in.

He couldn't help but look down at the human with resentment and hate, memories of Twilight on the hospital plaguing his mind as his magic built up. In a sudden burst of magic, eater spewed out of his horn and onto James.

James sputtered awake, the cold icy water shocking him to awareness as he tried desperately to see what had happened.

"Wake up," Shining said as James tried to get orientation of himself. Eventually, the human gathered what had happened and looked at Shiningn with a small form of resentment.

"Who the fuck are you?"

"I am the captain of the guard and you have a lot of explaining to do."

"... Yeah I guess that's true. What do you wanna know?"

"Everything… start from.the beginning."

"How far back we talking here?"

"Everything that lead to you ending up in Equestria to you being in this cell."

"That's a long story."

"I have time to kill.

"Yeah I figured."

"So start," James let out a sigh and started to go far back into the depths of his mind. All the way back to what started this chain of events.

I remember that it was my day off; I was wearing my pajamas, and reading a book. The Giver, I must say, it is a very intriguing story, I never thought a utopian society, one so perfect and and calming, could do such terrible, awful things. My eyes would glance from left to right reading the text that was printed on paper, and enjoying the strong sense of trepidation the book gave me.

I was sitting inside my study, just simply reading away at the book as I relaxed. I had spent many nights in that room either working on murder cases or just looking outside the small window upon the never sleeping city. Sometimes I would just stare at the pictures on the wall and just remember the memories that my family and I made. Upon the many photos that was hanged on the walls, laid the family photo that we took. My wife kept fussing over about how bad I looked, and kept trying to fix what wasn’t broken.

Our son, Timothy on the other hand, was bored out of his mind. He was only two years old at the time and kept looking around for something to do, never staring at the camera long enough to get a good photo taken. On the photo that was taken, my short, black hair was slicked back by an overpriced gel, making me look even more ridiculous than I already was. My eyes constantly moving from the camera to my wife as she tried to make me look perfect. The photo was a complete disaster, but we hardly had enough money at the time to take another. So we just kept it, a small souvenir of our misadventures. Our family may not have been perfect, but it was something that we all held strong. My son knew that well, that’s why he smiled all the time when he was younger.

But that was enough reminiscing.

While I was calmly, almost serenely, reading my book, I heard the phone ring. I was a bit annoyed at the interruption as I was incredibly immersed at the time, and I didn't want to even think about picking it up. Although, seeing as it was the only landline phone in the house, it was bound to stir up some emotions from the other occupants. And I was right as I heard the ever lovely voice of my wife.

“Pick up the damn phone!” The muffled voice encouraged me to ignore my annoyed state and listen to my primal instincts of not pissing off my wife. Her name was Kathleen Klein, Kathleen Conner now. We met in our freshmen year of high school, and we hated each other.

We wouldn't get in fights or anything like that. No, no, we just outright hated each other, tried to tell the other one off so we could be in peace. And it's obvious how things turned out between the two of us.

I picked the phone up as fast as I could, and waited for whoever was calling to start talking.

“James, are you there?” I heard the voice of my boss say. I let out a small groan and placed my hand on the bridge of my nose to try and calm myself.

“Yeah, I’m here,” I said, trying to keep out the irritation in my voice.

“Oh, okay, good. Listen, I need you back at the station, I have a case that suites your department,” He said his small stale tone. I let out a small groan as I listened, trying not to show my frustration.

“I know it’s you day off, and I’m sorry for calling you, but the other detectives are too busy with their own cases to take up this one. Can you to at least take a look at it? I'll even pay you over time,”

“Sir, I mainly handle murderer cases, this is a bit out of my jurisdiction.”

“Well, thankfully this one is in your jurisdiction. Got a murder for you, and while I would get another homicide detective, we are currently piled up to our necks in thefts, we don’t have enough detectives. I’m just asking you to look at the damn things and help.”

“... You owe me.”

I hanged up the phone without another word and got up from my chair. When I opened the door, I saw a very angry looking Kathleen on the other side. Her white skin, and brown hair only punctuated the anger that radiated in her eyes.

“Where do you think you’re going?” She said in a scolding tone.

“Work.”

“We agreed you needed time off.”

“You said I needed time off, I didn’t agree.”

“You said you’d take a day off,” She said, purposefully moving in front of my path as I tried to walk past her.

“Kathleen, honey, please move.”

“The doctors said you’re overworking and that you need to rest. Your body is under enough stress as it is, stop putting it under more.”

“With all due respect, they can kiss my ass.”

“Then do it for me! You are under way too much stress, you are tired, exhausted and could get yourself killed. At this rate, you’ll die of a heart attack when you're forty!”

“Kathleen,” I said steadily.

“James.”

“We need the money. Timmy’s books are getting more expensive, we still need to pay off your student loans, and we have bills due in a couple weeks. I can’t let this go to waste.”

“I know we need this James, but… please take it easy,” She said as we walked to the front door of the house. We passed by some decorations that littered the walls of our home. We passed pictures of ourselves, ornaments, even an old hunting rifle hanging on the wall.

I had that gun ever since I was eleven, it was a gift from my grandpa. Unlike me, he was a big game hunter. He’d hunt deer, buck, and even bears sometimes. I was never into the sport as much as him, but he was insistent that I learn how to shoot the gun. It was a Winchester Pre-64 model 70, had a scope, held three bullets, it even had a strap to carry over my shoulder.

Sometimes he’d take me out hunting with him, and would teach me how to catch buck. I never really wanted to shoot a gun before, but apparently he paid over a thousand bucks for it and ‘wasn’t gonna take my whining’.

I guess the reason he bought so much ammo for the rifle was because he thought I’d be a hunter like him. It’s a shame we never really spent much time together. He died at the old age of sixty had something to do with his cholesterol or something, I was too young to understand.

In his Will I was to be given his thick green hunting jacket, the gun he bought for me, and all of the ammo he bought for the gun when I was of legal age. His money would be divided for his grandchildren, which meant a big wallop of cash in my bank account since I only had two cousins. Of course, that went down the drain when… everything happened. I was, of course, a little angry that he wanted me to have his jacket, of all things, but I was too happy with the money to really care at the time.

The gun, on the other hand, I never threw away. Mostly because it reminded me of my grandfather, and to ward off any intruders that just so happened to enter my house. New York isn’t exactly the easiest city to live in, but the experience is indescribable. And even though my grandpa was a very strict man, and would scold me if I did something wrong, he always made it seem like I was important to him somehow. Strict yet kind at the same time, a little bit of tough love if you will.

When Kathleen and I finally reached the door, she gave me a quick kiss on the check and again told me to be careful. I was in the driveway of our house, and walked to our blue car.

Once I was in one of the two cars on the driveway, I casually drove to work.

The traffic in New York was terrible as it usually was, and it took me about thirty minutes to actually see the station. Honestly, faster than it usually was. After waiting for about ten or so minutes, I finally pulled into the station and headed inside.

Walking through the halls of the old building, I was met with lazy glances and short stares; although, they didn’t distract me as I was more focused on a different matter. I walked all the way across the long halls and past many desks to my boss’s office, opened the door, and saw him looking down at a file. He looked up a little surprised before he motioned me towards him.

“Thanks for coming on such short notice,” I nodded my head in response, and sat down on the seat opposite of him.

“I see you didn't bring that revolver this time.”

“I’m here to solve cases, not make them,” I said back.

“Boy, ain’t that the truth. Months of searching and even had our forensic boys look at it just to hit a dead end. Still wonder why they chose you...”

“Not stupid enough to get black market shit.”

“Right…”

“Is there something else, chief?”

“...I’m not sure what to think of this case, it just baffles me,” He said while giving me the file he had in his hands. I looked over it and was a confused myself.

“Sixteen year old girl was found dead inside of her parents’ house. There were no forced signs of entry, no fingerprints, hell there wasn't that much property damage. But it was clear there was a struggle.”

“Anything before that?”

“We tried to ask neighbors if they heard anything, they all said that she was as quiet as a mouse.”

“How’d she die?”

“Morgue’s telling us, she was strangled...:”

“Anything else?”

“We did manage to get security cam footage. After combing through it, showed that a guy walked in with her but didn’t walk out,” John told.

“Anyone she knew?”

“What? The boy, yeah, we asked her parents and they said she’s been seeing someone after school, Mitch Pattrick. But he was with his friends, he has an alibi.”

“So, who’d she let in?

“Don’t know, that’s what we’re trying to figure out.”

“...Could you see his face in the security cams?” I asked.

“Well if we could see his face, I wouldn’t be asking for you to look into this, would’ve had the bastard in jail by now,” He said with a bit of irritation in his tone.

“Is there a backyard?” I replied.

“Yea there is, but there are no security cameras there, we would-”

“How close is the nearest street to her backyard?” I said cutting him off as I was too impatient to hear him ramble on about how he would do something.

“Umm… about three blocks away,” He said in a curious tone.

“Check those security tapes. If he ran on foot, we’ll be able to tell where he went. If he had a car there we’ll have some sort of lead,” I said while putting the file back down.

“I’ll get those tapes and review them, it shouldn’t take that-” Before he could finish his sentence, he and I heard my phone vibrate in my pants. Pulling out my phone, I saw that it was Kathleen calling me; obviously, I answered it.

“James, can you pick up Timmy on your way back?” She asked me in a pleading tone.

“I really don’t feel like going through the traffic today, James. And besides, you’re closer,” I always picked up Timmy when I had the chance. But usually Kathleen would take her car and pick up Timmy herself. I didn’t envy her, having to go through school traffic is hellish enough, but add New York’s bustling populous than you have a recipe for disaster.

“Okay, I’ll pick him up,” I said while I slightly groaned. I didn’t want to go through that traffic, but I do owe Kathleen for getting her pregnant. Then again, that was always her excuse to make me do everything.

“Thanks,” She said before hanging up. I did the same, hanging up the phone as well.

“Looks like I’m leaving early John, I have to pick up Timmy,” I said while getting up and putting the phone back inside my pocket.

“It’s alright James, it would've taken hours to go through all the footage anyways,” He said as he was dialing numbers on his office phone, more than likely calling the tech department to help him get the footage. As I was about to leave, I heard him talk to me one last time.

“You know, you should hit the gym more often, I’m quite certain your wife would like it if you had more muscle,” He said in a playful tone, his fat giggling as he laughed. I simply ignored him and walked to the parking lot.

When I got outside, I got into my car and went back into the hades like traffic of New York. It was boring.

Through tired determination, and many angry honks of my horn, I managed to get to Timmy's school without screaming. As I pulled into the parking lot, I saw that Timmy was sitting alone under a yellowing tree as he always did during autumn. I didn’t need to pick him up every day to know that he sat alone.

I pulled up near him, honked my horn, and surprised him a little. He looked up, and started to walk towards my car. He got in, threw his backpack in the back, and sat down on the passenger seat of my car. I didn’t really mind that he sat in the front with me, but I made sure he put on his seatbelt before we drove off.

Driving to the school was harder than trying to drive back to the house. There was a shortcut that pretty much drove all the way home. I’m certain Kathleen would’ve used it every day to pick up Timmy, and drive back home; unfortunately, it was a one-way street.

After getting out of the unbearable traffic, I had simply taken the empty road and cruised home. I didn’t have much to do but look at the empty road, so I started a conversation with Timmy.

“How’re your grades?” A bit cliché, yes, but I couldn’t come up with anything to make a true conversation.

“They’re fine, dad,” He said in his small yet innocent voice. He was never as expressive as the other kids were, hell he was more punctual than kids his age.

“Are you sure? Because the last time I checked, you had a D in social studies,” I said while giving him a side glance.

“I have an A in math.”

“I know Timmy, I know, and I know you’re really trying hard to improve, but I don’t want you to grow up like I did.”

“But dad, why do I have to read those books?”

“Because these types of things will help you get a better future.”

“But I want to do math, why do I have to know about Lewis and Clark going to California?”

“Timmy, I know where you’re coming from, I do, but these types of subjects will determine what type of opportunities you’ll get in the future. I don’t want-”

“Me to be like you, but do I really need to know this?”

“... From somebody who managed to screw up their own education, I’d say so. Trust me Timmy, you’re young. You have so many more opportunities than I do right now. You are a smart, capable, kid. You might only be in fifth grade right now, but the older you get, the more you’ll understand.”

“I hate school.”

“Timmy, you’re growing up in a better environment than I could ever hope to be in when I was your age-” I looked him straight in the eyes, and told him why I wanted him to be better. “-I wasn’t as privileged as you are right now, I didn’t have as many advantages as you have, I want you to be something more than I’ll ever be. It’s why I always push you to go farther, why I always keep telling you to do better. I want you to-” I was cut off mid-sentence.

I should’ve been watching the road instead of giving a speech. A car on my left hit me head on. The sudden hit caused my head to recoil and hit the side glass window. Oh but it wasn’t even over yet. Because the car was hit on its side, it was forced off the road, and had crashed head on into a tree.

But I didn’t even feel the impact, I passed out before we hit the tree.

A couple of hours later, I was awakened by two paramedics. They were flashing their lights at my eyes, checking my head, and rapidly asking me questions. I tried my best to ignore them, and focus on anything else that didn’t make my head pulsate with pain.

Eventually, after answering their stupid questions, and yelling at them to leave me alone, they eventually left me on the sidewalk. They told me I was lucky my skull didn’t split open, and that I had a mild concussion that should pass tomorrow. Before they could walk away however, I asked them ‘What happened to the kid with me’.

What they said stopped my heart. He was sent to the nearest hospital for intensive care. I couldn’t register it immediately. My mind was blank, unresponsive, like it was just waiting for them to say it was a joke. But when my brain finally came back to the land of the living, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Moving as quickly, and as painlessly, as I could, I pulled out my phone and called Kathleen.

I told her that I got in a crash, and told her where I was. It only took thirty minutes for her to get to me. Without trying to irritate my brain any more than I did, I slowly got in the car and told her where Timmy was. I didn’t even need to look at her face to know that she was panicking. And not even a second later, she stomped onto the gas and proceeded to drive past everything.

It was tortuous to me. Every time she made a turn, I felt like my head was going to splatter against the car's window. I heard her yelling at me; question me, asking me ‘Why weren’t you paying attention to the road’. I didn’t bother to answer her, my head was flushed in pain and it hurt too much to even talk, and her sharp turns were not helping.

We got there, eventually. Kathleen parked haphazardly and ran into the hospital, not even stopping to make sure I was okay while I got out as painless as I could. When I got to the main doors of the hospital, I saw Kathleen at the receptionist’s desk, demanding to see her son.

The receptionist got out of his seat and called a doctor that had looked at him. A few agonizing minutes of pure silence, and pure pain on my end, the doctor soon was with us before she told us to sit and allow her to explain what happened. I listened as much as I could, listening to her moan on and on about what they tried to do and what they couldn’t do. Eventually, after painfully listen to her irritating voice, she outright told us what happened.

“We tried to stop the bleeding as much as we could, but the internal damage is just too much for a kid his age… We tried everything, but there was nothing we could do,” Everything else just sort of blurred together after that, she rambled on and on about technical things and stuff that I didn’t care about.

He was announced dead at 5:37 PM. I didn’t know what to say. I just stared blankly at the doctor. After what she told me, I simply ceased to function.

Soon, weeks passed, my hair grew into a wild mess, I didn’t talk for months, Kathleen wouldn’t even look at me, I stopped going to work, and to top it all off I was sued by the other driver. None of it mattered to me, everything just went to hell. All of our money was drained from our bank accounts to repairing the car, and to the lawsuit that was put against me, which I ultimately lost.

But even though we hardly had any money, Kathleen still planned a funeral. The funeral was held a month after the lawsuit was settled. Kids from his class showed up, parents, teachers, even some of my co-workers. Kathleen cried her eyes out, but I just stared. I couldn’t even utter a word as I looked at my dead son lying in a coffin in front of me.

After the funeral, everything truly went to shit. I was fired because I stopped coming to work, I was sent death threats by some parent groups, and I was to be evicted from my home. Because I was fired, the police came and took my revolver as it was still in their custody, but I didn’t care. I didn’t even try to fight them, I just let them do whatever they wanted to.

I knew that whatever there’d been between Kathleen and I was gone. She didn’t say a word to me, no emotion, nothing, just packed her stuff and drove away.

The only turning point I had was when my car showed up in my driveway. Repaired and payed off, but I wasn’t happy. It only served a small drop of light in an ocean of black. When I was finally kicked out of my house, I had taken whatever I could and just threw it in my car. Cans of food, bottles of water, the boxes of ammo, my hunting rifle, and one photo of Timmy and Kathleen.

I drove out of New York, and just went anywhere. I spent many days on the road, simply reflecting on everything that had lead me up to that moment. I would sleep in the car as the harsh winter winds would penetrate through the air, but I didn’t care. To me, I deserved it all. But on one of many many days of driving, I happened to appear on a near empty road, the black tar invisible as the snow seemed to cover it entirely. I should’ve gotten snow tires.

I stared absently into the blizzard, just hoping that I would find a pit stop or resting area at some point and just wait it out. I was careful, I was so careful, and yet I managed to swerve off the road. Eventually, the car decided that it didn’t like the ground anymore, and rolled on its side.

I don’t know what happened after that, I lost consciousness soon after.

Author's Note

This is the longest piece of literature that I've made and published. I don't exactly know what to think about it, I just hope it's good enough.

If you found any grammar mistakes that I missed, please tell me about them in the comments and I will try to fix it. Thank you for your output, and have a nice day.