New Life, Same Soldier

Jones was running again. The Everfree forest, this time no weapons and no Rocky. He was alone.

That was his worst fear, being alone. He'd never had anyone to lean on or trust during his life until he enlisted. Then, he made friends with his squadmates, met and raised Rocky. Now, he was alone again in a mysterious place he knew nothing about except darkness and monsters. Monsters that were chasing him.

He knew they looked familiar. He'd seen colorful versions of them exploring the forest, but these were different. These were black and they looked like large insects. He knew they were out to kill him. He had no other choice than to run.

Tearing past trees, jumping over streams, and ducking under branches was taking its toll on him. His lungs were on fire, his legs were weakening, his head was throbbing. But he couldn't stop. He had to outrun them.

Just as he thought he was going to get away, a tree root doomed him. He flew through the air, landing on his back. He looked up, panting and dizzy. The monsters were uglier than he thought. There were four and they were barely panting when they caught up. They spoke to one another.

"What do you think we should do with him? Take him back to the queen?"

"No, you idiot. Look at how pathetic he is. Queen Chrysalis can barely stand us, so what makes you think she would take him?"

"What do you say we do then?"

"I say we kill him and get out of here. Even a Changeling has right to fear the Everfree Forest."

"Fine, let's just leave and report back. Say we found nothing." One of the larger "Changelings" stepped forward, Jones still had a look of fear and anger in his eyes. "Hmm... angry, determined, and uncertain. Resilient, even in death. You are different from the other humans I've killed. With that reason, I will give you enough respect to wish you luck in your next life, should there be one."

Finished speaking, the Changeling reared up on its hind legs and brought its heavy forehooves down on his head.

Jones woke up, hearing Applebloom's panicked voice yelling, "Applejack! Henry's actin' weird an' ah can't get him to wake up!" She sounded on the verge of crying again.

Her sister rushed past her and knelt over Jones. He saw fear in the normally happy pony's eyes. His eyes were filled with the same look. "Henry? Henry, can yah hear me? Are you okay?"

He groaned and slowly sat up. "I-I... yeah, just a horrible nightmare. I'm fine."

He had barely sat up on the ground, bones popping with strain, when Applebloom tackled him. "Henry! Ah'm so glad you're okay!" She held on tightly for a minute then let him get up. "Ah thought you were dyin'! You were just layin' there makin' weird noises and ah couldn't get ya to wake up!"

"I'm fine, really."

"Well, if you really are 'fine', then you won't mind comin' down for breakfast?" Applejack was still unsure.

"Yeah, go ahead. I'll meet all of you down there in a minute." The two sisters left, reluctantly, and Jones saw Big Mac walk past the door. He looked around and walked in, shutting the door.

"Listen, Henry, I don't talk much as yah already figured out, so I'm gonna make this short. I want to thank ya kindly for stayin' with Applebloom las' night durin' the storm. It was mighty kind of yah."

"Well, kids on Earth are scared of storms too, so I knew kind of how to deal with it. It was no big deal." He looked at the closed door. "If you need me to, I wouldn't mind doing it again. She's a nice girl." He looked back at Big Mac and saw concern in his eyes. "Look, I really am fine."

Big Mac sighed while looking at the floor. He shook his head and said, "Nnope." Jones followed him down for breakfast.

They got down to the table, finding Applebloom waiting at the table and Applejack and Granny Smith making breakfast. "So... You got any bacon?" The filly looked confused while the three adults looked shocked.

"I, uh... No, we don't Henry. Can I talk to you in private for a minute?"

He was confused. "Uh, yeah sure." He followed her to another room and heard Applebloom ask Big Mac what bacon was. "So, what is it?"

"Well, I won't hold anythin' against ya since you've only been here a few days, but we ponies don't exactly eat meat. At all. Some don't eat it just because we don't digest it well, bein'... herbivores is the fancy word for it... but the rest don't eat it 'cause they say it's unpleasant and gross. Me? I've been tempted but never tried it."

"Huh. Well, I'm sorry I brought I it up in front of Applebloom."

"It's perfectly fine, Henry. Unless Big Mac or Granny explains it, or, Celestia forbid, she asks another pony in town, she'll be kept in the dark. She might think there's a 'meat eatin' cutie mark. There are so many ways that could go wrong."

"Well, you guys go ahead and eat breakfast. I'm gonna go see Twilight."

"Alright then. Whatever ya do, don't ask her to explain somethin'. That one'll make everythin' too complicated for her own good."

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks. I'll see you later, AJ." He gathered his stuff, saying goodbye to the rest of the Apples, left and went on his way to Ponyville.

Rainbow Dash was flying around, keeping the storm clouds in control, making sure they didn't start up again until later when she saw Henry walking towards town. She flew down and landed next to him. "Hey Dumbass, where ya going?"

"I was planning on going to the library to see Twilight, but now that you're here..." He trailed off, indirectly telling her to guess.

Dash was nervous about his intentions. "Oh, uh, what might that be?"

"You can give me a ride!" A smirk flew across his face.

She just snorted. "I thought you were gonna have me get all soft and give you another therapy session. But, still no."

"No, you're not quite that lucky. Could you give me directions?"

She made a sarcastic laugh. "Ha ha, funny. Yeah, I can give you directions. Big tree in the middle of Ponyville, hard to miss." She looked at the ground and half-heartedly said, "Literally."

"Yeah, Twilight told me about you crashing in there all the time while I was still in the hospital."

"She did?" He nodded. She looked at the ground still, now embarrassed. She talked quietly. "You know why, then, don't you?"

"Uh, no not rea- oh. Oh! I see..."

She looked up at him, tears starting to form. "Please don't tell her. Fluttershy already knows and Rarity might too, and I don't want it to get around town and-"

"Dash, calm down. Your secret's safe with me. I told you about my life and my secrets, it's only fair that I do the same to you. My visit with Twilight can wait."

"T-thank you... You said you wanted to talk with Fluttershy?" He nodded again. "We can talk at her house. If she's not with Rarity, she'll be there." He agreed and she led him to Twilight's house. Trying to get away from the touchy subject for a few minutes, she asked about his gun.

Nodding towards it, she asked, "So how's that thing work?"

He pulled it out of the holster, pointing it towards the ground and studying it. "It's pretty complicated, but when we get to a spot to sit down at a table, I'll show you. I need to clean it anyway." He shoved it back into the slot. "Actually, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"You remember where you guys found me right?"

"Yeah, why?" She wasn't sure where he was going with it.

"I left a backpack there, and I had all of my other stuff in it. It's kind of like your saddlebags, but I wear it on my back. While you're there, there may be a lot of other guns there or near it. If you see them, tell me. I'll find a way to bring them back here and make the best of them."

"I can do that. Just keep going down this road until you find a tree with a lot of animals around. If 'Shy's not home, there's a spare key under the mat. You can let yourself in, just be sure not to go upstairs. She only allows me up there." She got ready to fly off, but stopped. "What do those guns look like, by the way?"

"Big, shaped pieces of metal, to put it dumbly. Gather everything you can, but definitely get my pack. I need it."

"Sure thing. I'll see you at Fluttershy's house." She took off in the direction of where they found Henry that night.

An hour later, after searching for a while, she finally came across the place they'd found Henry. Rocky's blood was still on the ground, though vaguely visible after drying and being disturbed by rain and possibly passing animals. She looked and saw the pack he'd been talking about.

She trotted over and tested its weight, picking it up and hovering for a few seconds. Not too heavy. If I tried, I could probably stuff more of those little boxes in here still carry some of the guns he was talking about. She went to open the pack and immediately stopped. "How do I open this?"

She looked over the thing over and over and couldn't figure out how to open the thing. "Oh well. He can just come back later for the rest." She slipped the pack on her back like Henry would have, fitting her forelegs and wings comfortably through the straps. "I can see why they wear it like this. It's actually kind of comfy..." She hovered in the air and tested if her flying was restricted. Only slightly, but she could still get away in a hurry.

She searched for as many guns as she could find. He was right. These things are pretty awkward to hold. She picked up most of the smaller weapons, fitting a couple of the ones similar to the one Henry had in the pockets in the pack. Then she found the bodies.

She looked in wide-eyed shock at the humans. There were easily ten or more, and all of them were riddled with bloodied holes. "Henry? How... How could he do this? I know what he had to do, but to see it..." She resisted the urge to vomit and quickly took off towards her shy friend's house, dropping everything but the pack strapped onto her back

Jones reached what he believed was Fluttershy's home, and saw the lights on through one of the windows. Looking inside, he didn't see anyone home. Just to be safe, he knocked on the door. "Fluttershy! Fluttershy, are you home?" No answer. He repeated this several times and waited, deciding she wasn't home. He looked under the mat and found the key Dash told him about, then let himself inside.

He opened the door to find an angry looking rabbit. It looked past him outside, then back at Jones, as if wanting an explanation. "It's a damn good thing that you can't talk, or I'd have to shut you up." The animal clearly took offense and kicked him in the shin, though it didn't hurt.

Looking around the home, he saw a staircase, doorway to the kitchen, and typical furniture.  He heard a growl coming from the top of the staircase, so he looked up and found Rocky. The dog immediately stopped growling and did his best to run down the stairs on his three good legs.

Jones got down on the ground and hugged his friend. "Hey, Rocky, I've been wondering how you're doing." There was talking upstairs. Looking up again, he found a sleepy-looking Fluttershy. She sounded very scared and surprised.

"H-Henry? W-what are you doing here? How'd you get inside?"

"Rainbow said she wanted to talk to me and said to meet her here. She told me about the key under the mat outside, so I used it when nobody answered." She looked doubtful, but came downstairs, standing on the last step. "Look, I had her go get some stuff for me so I could talk to you alone."

"What... What is it?" He could see her fear.

"I just want to apologize for the other day, if you're ready to accept it." She looked at the ground, unsure. "I didn't think so. I'll just wait for Dash and-" He was interrupted by Fluttershy rushing up and hugging him.

"Y-yes, I accept your apology. I know you didn't mean it, you were just having a very rough time. I'm sorry if I scared you."

What the hell is with her and apologizing? "You don't need to apologize for anything." He heard his stomach growl. "Hey, have you had breakfast yet?"

"No, I just woke up."

"Well good, I kind of haven't eaten since breakfast yesterday and I'm starving."

"I can fix all four of us breakfast, then." She went along to make a meal for herself, Jones, Rocky, and Rainbow. Jones helped her where he could so she wouldn't have to worry about everything.

As they finished making breakfast, Rocky looking along hungrily, Rainbow Dash ran through the door. She looked like she was going to be sick. "Oh, goodness, Rainbow are you okay? What happened?"

"I'm fine, 'Shy. I got the stuff you needed, Henry."

Shit, she must have seen the bodies. "Thanks Dash." He paused for a minute. "I know what's wrong, Rainbow. I'm sorry you had to see those."

She sighed, looking up at him. "It's okay. I just can't believe it was you that did that."

"I hate it too, but it was me and Rocky, or them."

Fluttershy was standing to the side, looking confused. "Well, I don't know what you two are talking about, but we can still have breakfast if you want. Rainbow, do you want to eat?"

"Yeah, sure 'Shy. Thanks." She shrugged the backpack off, letting Henry help get it off of her back. He set it off to the side, then they went to the table and ate.

As they finished, Rainbow started talking first. "Henry, you said if I talked, you'd listen like I did that night, right?"

"Uh huh, that's what I said. Why?"

"Because it's going to take a while." They cleaned up and went into the den. Jones took a seat on a chair and the two pegasi sitting on the couch opposite.

"Just start whenever you're ready."

When she was finished, Rainbow Dash was in tears and Fluttershy had a wing around her comfortingly. Jones looked on sadly as she tried to console her crying friend. "It's okay, Rainbow, just let it out. You've been holding all of that in for way too long."

When she was finally able to, Rainbow answered. "I-I-I know, 'Shy. Th-thank you for being here and listening, Henry."

He watched her with a sad smile. "It's no problem, Dash. It's the least I could do after you guys saved me. Besides, you did the same thing for me anyway, so I thought I should return the favor."

She laughed, still crying. "You make everything sound so easy, Dumbass." She sighed. "To get off of the subject of everything I just said, how do you feel about pranks?"

Jones was confused. "Pranks? What do you mean?"

"You know! Whoopie cushions, itching powder, that kind of stuff."

He scoffed. "That's all you've got? That's cheap crap."

"What do you have in mind, then?"

"Well, back on Earth, there was one I was planning for Halloween. I'd take a group people, mostly kids, to a forest, tell them a scary myth, then have something jump out at them. I haven't pinned down which one I want to use yet, though."

"What's Halloween?" He explained the holiday to her. "That sounds almost exactly like Nightmare Night! I like your plan. Besides, it's only a week away. We can plan now."

"Give me a bit to think about which myth I want to do, then I'll get back to you. We'll need a magic user, though."

"I would ask Twilight or Rarity, but they're not the pranking type. I've got the perfect pony in mind though."

"Sounds great. I'll get to the library so I can talk to Twilight. Then I'll think of something."

"While you're there, send Spike to Sugarcube Corner. Me and Pinkie will start with sending a letter."'

"Good deal. I'll see you two later. Fluttershy, do you mind if Rocky goes with me?"

"Oh, I don't mind. Just don't let him use that leg."

"I know, thank you. It just feels weird without him with me." He picked up the pack and left with Rocky, leaving Rainbow flying to Sugarcube Corner in town.

Rainbow had been sitting in the bakery, waiting with Pinkie Pie for Spike. He finally arrived, carrying paper and a quill. "You wanted me?"

"Spike, I need you to send a letter to Princess Luna."

"Alright..." He readied the paper and quill. "Just start talking, and I'll write."

"Dear Princess Luna..."

Luna was waking from a short nap when she heard a letter materialize and drop onto her bed. "Oh?" She opened up the letter and read.

Dear Princess Luna,

You'll be happy to know that Henry is getting along pretty well in Ponyville, though he only got  out of the hospital yesterday. He seemed kind of down, so I offered to take him pranking. He said he'd had one planned when he was still on Earth, but he never got to. For the one he is planning on now, he said that he needed a magic user, but never said who it had to be. I thought that you might want to get in on it, since you enjoy a bit of pranking and mischief sometimes. If you want to help, meet us at the library in three days and Henry will tell us the plan. If everything is planned right, we'll do it on Nightmare Night.

Your fellow pranksters,

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie

She looked the letter over a second time, not fully understanding what the ponies were talking about. "I shall see what they plan on at the suggested time. Guard!"

The guard at the door poked his head in. "Yes, Luna?"

"Report to my sister that I shall be gone during the day in three days' time."

"Yes, of course. Anything further you require?"

"No, that is all, thank you." When the guard left, Luna was alone. "I do wonder, though, what prompted Henry to become so close to the ponies. The rest of the humans that have been stranded here were hostile and insane. This one is different..."

It was a few days later, and Twilight had been convinced to go to Canterlot until Nightmare Night. Henry and the other three (Fluttershy and Applejack weren't very good and pranking) were sitting in the library, waiting for Luna. "So you really convinced one of the princesses to come and help us prank ponies?" Henry couldn't believe Rainbow had Luna coming to help them.

"It didn't take much. She enjoys pranking too."

"Heh, well we'll see about that."

Rarity and didn't know why she'd been told to come. "So, why am I here anyway? I am not one for pranking!"

"Just calm down for a bit. I want everyone to be here when I explain."

She huffed in annoyance. "Alright, fine! I still owe you for getting me away from the dreadful Diamond Dogs, anyway."

They waited for another hour until Luna finally showed up. "I am here, the prank planning may commence."

Henry couldn't believe how casual she was. He'd thought she would be a self-centered diva that took control of everything. "You're Princess Luna?"

Her eyes went wide. "Oh, yes I am." She held out a hoof for him to shake. "I assume you are Henry, seeing as how you are the only human here."

He took the offered hoof in his hand and shook. "Yes... That's right. Is everyone ready for what I've got planned?"

Rarity spoke again before the rest of the ponies could speak. "You may now say why I am here. I must know so that I may get back to enjoying my day."

"Don't worry, Rarity. You won't be involved with anything. I just need you to make an outfit for the monster I'm using..."