After The Fall

(Note: this contains the slightest hint of a character in a future story and what he will do. Try to figure it out if you want.)

The next few days were relatively normal considering what Dax and Ajax would normally be doing. They stocked the hardware store and opened it up to the public. It was highly successful as there hadn’t been a hardware store in Ponyville before. Now Dax and Ajax had money to spend.

Dax and Vinyl had moved out of the classics and history and moved on to more modern things. In the last few days they’d covered more modern things. But Vinyl still was avoiding one subject. Electronic music. But Dax didn’t mind. A phycology course in the battle school allowed him to see that she was preparing something and he was more than content to be patient and wait. Today he had nothing to do and was unusually bored. Today he wasn’t learning anything, building a shelter in an asteroid, or being shot at by a battleship. All in all today was unusually uneventful.

Dax was sitting on a bench doing nothing. There wasn’t much to do today. Vinyl was away planning something that Dax still was in the dark about. So he figured he’d do something. There was an aquarium in the next town so he got up and started walking.

He strolled down the road. A rainbow blur passed by above him. Dax’s gaze followed it. It was Rainbow Dash.

“Of course,” Dax chuckled.

He continued down the road. He checked his watch; 2:30.

Alright, he thought. At this rate he wouldn’t get there until dark. He flexed his legs and leapt into the air. He flew towards the town of Sunset Waters. He got a few looks as he landed in the street as he had no wings but most let it go.

The city resembled a modern Japanese city. Tall spires rose into the air while the architecture retained an ocean aesthetic.

“Alright now,” Dax said pulling up a map on his watch, “Let’s find that aquarium.” He found the address and got walking.

The aquarium was a blue building with a teardrop shaped front. Dax walked up, paid, and walked in. Inside was a place of wonder. The main lobby housed a huge tank that contained some species of giant Fluorescent jelly fish. It glowed an amethyst color and bobbed around its tank, seemingly watching all the people who commuted around it. Dax walked up and read the information page on it.

The Northern Giant Amethyst Jellyfish.

Discovered in 1912 A.D. by explorer Captain Nova of the Neptune it is the largest known jellyfish species in the world. It lives primarily in the arctic and hunts in depths of up to 1000 feet by dangling its stingers and waiting for prey to come by. It can go months without eating and was commonly seen with wonder by sailors as it glowed beneath their ships.

Hmm, Dax thought, that’s certainly interesting. He walked on to one of the other exhibits. He passed through a large glass hallway. Fish and other sea creatures swam above him. He looked up as a large whale like creature sailed above his head. He emerged from the hallway in an undersea trench exhibit. There were fish and eels that resembled aliens rather than actual fish. But here he was the alien so he couldn’t say much. He stood in front of the tank and watched as a crystal blue eel swam past. The room was dimly lit allowing for the natural glow of the fist to light the room.

Dax watched in wonder as the alien creatures sailed and danced in their tanks. He was blissfully unaware until a certain call box came into existence.

Dax turned around just as Tardis appeared in a flash of light. His sidearm was aimed at the object before he realized what it was. He lowered his weapon just as the good Doctor exited his machine.

“I say,” the doctor said. He was dressed in a brown pinstripe suit with a bowtie and rolled up trousers. He practically fell out of the machine and dusted himself off as he stood up. He turned back to his machine.

“Oh lord,” he muttered, “How much was I off by this time?”

Dax returned his gun to his holster, “Holy hell Doctor. I nearly shot you in the head.”

He turned around, “Dax! Oh it’s wonderful to see you my boy.”

“Heh heh, good to see you too Doctor. How much were you off by this time?”

“I have no idea. I’m coming from that nasty, giant cyborgs fighting demonic ‘angels’ world again. NERV just wouldn’t let me leave until I fixed up that Ayanami girl. You remember her right?”

Dax laughed remembering the two weeks him and the doctor were gone only to return to find only 14 hours passed, “Blue hair, red eyes, and pale skin? Yeah I remember her. She was a bit quiet but she was nice.”

“I know. She hurt herself pretty bad but she’s alright. Honestly, if those angel things weren’t there it would be a pretty nice place. But enough about me, how are you doing? What have you been up to since our last escapade?”

“Well since you last saw me a little bit has changed. I’m taking a break on whole running for my life thing. But for the most part not much has changed.”

“Good for you. You of all people need a vacation. Oh by the way, what planet are we on?”

“I don’t really know the name for it but it’s a planet in the center of The Devil’s Nebula.”

“Really?! So you humans have finally wormed your way into this crevice of the universe?”

“No, I just happened to find this place on my last run. That ship I got has the tech to get here.”

The Doctor smiled, “So you managed to get to Equestria huh? Well good. If it took that ship of yours to get here there’s no way Earth can possibly get here. Honestly though, I like it here. In fact my side kick is from here.”

“Who’s that?” Dax asked.

“A certain girl by the name of Ditzy Doo or Derpy hooves. Did you happen to land in Ponyville?”

“You missed it by a few miles,” Dax smiled, “After I learned of the planet in here Ajax and I decided to do some exploring. Only part of it that didn’t go according to plan was getting shot.”

“You got shot?”

“While stopping a burglary of another blue haired, red eyes, pale skinned girl.”

“Ah, one miss Vinyl Scratch I see. So how long have you been here?”

“About two weeks. Vinyl’s been showing me all the culture and other aspects of this civilization. Thought today I had free so I came here.”

“That’s nice. It’s good for you to relax. After all those years you need of all people. But while you’re here, a word of advice: don’t do anything stupid or anything you’ll regret. Believe me. You need a ride back to town?”

“Nah, I’ll fly back later.”

The Doctor smiled, “Well alright then. I’m off to get Ditzy Doo. We should catch up later. I’ll tell you where I’ve been the last five hundred years or last five months by your time frame and you can tell me what you’ve been up to.”

Dax grinned. The Doctor was one of his closest friends since his days at the battle school. He and his squad mates had all sorts of crazy adventures and quests with the timelord.

“Sound’s good Doc.”

The Doctor gave a salute and disappeared into his call box. The Device flashed and disappeared. A slight wind blew as a vacuum formed where the Tardis had once stood.

Dax smiled and walked out of the room on towards the next exhibit.

***

Vinyl looked at her schedule for the month and smiled. Only a few more days until June 1st. And she had the trip of the millennium planned. Everything was going to be perfect. She looked up from her book and back at her coffee.

From her vantage point at the café she could see the sun casting an orange glow across the sky as it disappeared over the horizon. She put her book back into her bag and downed the coffee before leaving.

She picked up her phone and called Dax.

“Hey Vinyl. What’s up?” he answered.

“Hey Dax. You wanna meet me at the Ponyville Pub in an hour? There’s some strong ass liquors that you need to try,” she grinned. Hopefully she wouldn’t be the only one stoned tonight.

“Sure. Though just so you know, I can’t get drunk. So no funny business tonight.”

“Buzz kill. Why can’t you get drunk? Something with your body?”

“Something like that. I’ll see ya in hour then?”

“Yup; can’t wait.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

She hung up and smiled. Of course the alien can’t get drunk, she thought. It would still be fun though.

***

“Ha! Ha! Who’s the tough guy now asshole?!” the man screamed. He turned and headed back into the bar.

Dax pulled himself up. Blood poured out of holes in his back. A large shard of glass was embedded in his upper back. He reached over and pulled it out; blood covering the pub logo. He looked back inside the pub and saw Vinyl still rubbing her head as the thug approached her.

“Oh you just done fucked up now,” Dax said, ignoring the pain and running back into the bar.

***

Two Hours Earlier.

Dax landed just outside the pub. The sun was setting casting a red Hugh across the sky. Vinyl lay sprawled out in the café next door; sleeping.

Dax walked up to her. She was curled up in a chair, her blue hair covering her eyes. Dax clamped down on her nose and watched as she coughed and woke herself up.

“Eh uh, what happened?” she yawned.

“Wake up buttercup,” Dax said remembering the old saying his squad used to say.

“Oh hey Dax,” Vinyl jumped up cheerfully, “Ready to go?”

“Yup.”

They got up and walked into the pub. It was dimly lit and was bustling with activity. People were talking or drinking or watching the game on the TV.

Vinyl and Dax walked up to the bar and sat down. The bar tender walked up.

“Hello, what would you like?”

“I’ll have a Lunar Night,” Vinyl said.

“Uh, I’ll have what she’s having,” Dax said.

He left and returned with two drinks. They were amber in color and had a layer of foam on the top. Dax grabbed his mug and sniffed it; beer.

Vinyl grabbed her mug and downed it in one motion. She slammed it down and gasped.

“Yeah!” she yelled, “I’ll tell you Dax, there’s nothing better than a nice cold beer at the end of a hard day!”

Dax sipped his drink. It was delicious and went down smoothly.

“What did you do today that was so hard?” Dax asked, “All I did was nothing. Though I did go to the aquarium in the next town and ran into an old friend.”

“How do you have any old friends here?”

“He’s the Doctor. I would guess you’ve heard of him?”

“Oh the Timelord. He and Ditzy go off on all sorts of shenanigans. How do you know him?”

“Oh he and my squ- I mean my friends and I have been all over the place with the Doctor.”

“What were you going to say?”

“Nothing, my tongue just slipped,” Dax said. Shesh, Dax thought, I’ve got to be more careful with my wording.

“Ok,” Vinyl smiled, “Hey bartender! Another round!”

They drank a lot. Dax’s unique physiology as a result of his super soldier training prevented him from getting drunk but he didn’t mind. He’d seen plenty of people get into all sorts of trouble under the influence and he was glad to not even be capable of getting stoned. But that didn’t extend to Vinyl who was beginning to get a bit tipsy.

“Don’t you think you’ve had enough there Vinyl?” Dax asked.

“Oh Dax. You have to learn to relaxsh,” she slurred, “You only live once and you might as well enjoy it.”

“Yeah well you won’t be saying that when you have a hangover tomorrow morning,” Dax laughed.

“Ah screw you and your logicsnessh,” she slurred, “Stop making perfecshly logical shtatements…” she said before laying her head out on the counter.

“Oh, ow,” she said. The drunkenness in her voice was gone, replaced by one of pain, “Ooh I think you were right about the hangover. Though I think I skipped the stoned stage and went straight to the migraine.” Vinyl rubbed her head.

A man got up from a table and began moving towards the bar. He approached Vinyl.

“Hey girl, wanna come over to my place? I’ll show you how to have a real good time.”

Vinyl seemed unaware of the man and continued to rub her head.

“Hey buddy I don’t think she’s in the mood to talk,” Dax said being as diplomatic as possible.

The man turned, “Fuck off guy.” He grabbed Vinyl by the shoulder, “Hey? Did you hear me? You wanna come over to my place? I’ve got some moves you’d like to see.”

Dax grabbed the guy’s shoulder, “Buddy, she’s not going anywhere. Go home.”

The man made the biggest mistake of the night. He turned and punched Dax in face, knocking him off his stool. He returned his attention to Vinyl. Dax jumped up and pulled the guy away from Vinyl, throwing him to the ground.

“What the hell man?!” he yelled, “What’s your problem?!”

He stood up, brushing himself off.

“My problem is you. She’s not in the mood to go anywhere and I’m certainly not letting some scumbag like you take advantage of her.”

“And who the hell are you to tell me what to do?”

“Her friend and right now her body guard. So I’m giving you ten seconds to get the fuck out of here before I do something you’ll regret.”

“Yeah what are you going to do buddy?” the guy smirked. His eyes traveled over Dax’s shoulder. What was he looking at?

Dax barely had time to get that thought out before a large, burly arm reached over and grabbed him by the neck. Dax sucked in as much air as he could as he tried to pry the guy’s arm off his neck. His training kicked in. He could hold his breath for five minutes so he better make them count. He let his body go limp as he feigned blacking out.

“Hmm, not so tough when you cut off his air. Bear, prop him up,” he turned as Bear held Dax up by his elbows, “Nothing to see here. Just had a little too much drink that’s all. Come on. Let’s dump this shit and bag neon hair over there.” He stood before Dax; studying him.

“Ha, he’s sleeping like a baby,” he laughed.

Dax’s eyes flew open, “Guess again fucker.” Using Bear as support he brought his legs to his chest and thrust outward, hitting the man in the chest and knocking him to the floor. Bear’s grip on him tightened.

Dax pushed tried to head but the man but only succeed in smacking the two meter man in the chest. Bear grabbed him by the arms and lifted him into the air.

Dax found the bar flying under him. He saw the shocked faces of the patrons as he sailed over. His back smashed into the window and he sailed out into the street.

Dax found himself on his back, pain in his back, side, and legs. The thug, now back on his feet, jumped out of the window and kicked Dax in the face.

“Ha! Ha! Who’s the tough guy now asshole?!” the man screamed. He turned and headed back into the bar.

Dax pulled himself up. Blood poured out of holes in his back. A large shard of glass was embedded in his upper back. He reached over and pulled it out; blood covering the pub logo. He looked back inside the pub and saw Vinyl still rubbing her head as the thug approached her.

“Oh you just done fucked up now,” Dax said, ignoring the pain and running back into the bar.

***

Applejack normally wasn’t one for staying out at night but being the element of honesty and losing a bet with Rarity both conspired against her. She’d been dragged to a play and only now had returned. She sleepily walked along as Rarity jabbered on about the nobility of the knight and how he had saved the damsel from ‘those awful ruffians.’

They neared the pub. Applejack looked up. Something wasn’t right. The front window was shattered and blood was splattered on the ground. Commotion could be heard inside.

“Hey Rarity,” Applejack said, “Yall see what’s goin on there?” She pointed at the pub.

“Come on. Something’s happening.”

“Oh heavens no!” Rarity said, “I don’t want to get my hair all messy from a fight. Let’s just keep walking and avoid it.”

“Come on Rarity, someone could need our help-” No sooner had she finished that sentence when a whooshing sound was heard and a man was thrown through the broken window like a cannon ball.

He sailed across the street and impacted Sugarcube Corner across the way. A larger, huskier man soon followed; landing on top of his friend.

Dax jumped out of the window, “If I ever see you guys within a kilometer of Vinyl I’ll rip both your heads off!” The two men nodded and ran off before Dax could carry out his threat.

Rarity and Applejack both wore looks of confusion. Dax noticed them and smiled warmly.

“Hello Miss Rarity, Miss Applejack,” he said in an uncharacteristically formal accent, “Wonderful night we’re having.”

Sounds of a fight, though it was more like a mosh pit, could be heard inside the bar. Bottles shattering and yells and cheers echoed out of the pub.

Suddenly a stool flew into Dax’s head, smashing to pieces. Dax turned murder back on in his eyes.

He grabbed the still intact, round seat of the chair and Frisbeed it back into the bar. An ‘oomph’ was heard as Dax jumped back into the fray.

The bar was in chaos. Chairs were being thrown, bottles being smashed over heads, tables being flipped over, all things consistent with a brawl. Vinyl still sat on her stool, unaware of the chaos behind her.

Rarity and AJ stood in the street. “Um, what just happened?” they both asked.

***

“Of all the stupid, most irresponsible, idiotic things to do!” Ajax chided.

“Are you going to let me tell my side of the story?” Dax asked as he lay on the medical bay bed.

“Getting in a bar fight?! What were you thinking?!”

“I was trying to protect Vinyl!” Dax yelled back. Ajax’s hologram stopped. The medical bot removing the glass and wood from Dax’s back and neck stopped too.

“What?”

“I was stopping two thugs from taking advantage of her. She was drunk out of her mind and couldn’t exactly think correctly. So I tried to stop them and got thrown into a window. After that the rest is history. I threw the assholes out of the bar and managed to get Vinyl back here only after taking a stool to the head. So if me saving Vinyl is stupid then by all means call me stupid, irresponsible, and idiotic.”

Ajax paused, “Well when you put it that way, I’m proud of you.” The bot removed the last piece of glass before shinning a beam on the wounds, healing them shut.

“So where is she now?”

“She’s sleeping in one of the guest rooms,” Dax pulled himself off the bed, “Now if you’ll excuse me; I’ve got some sleep to catch up on.”

He calmly strode out of the room and into his quarters. Ajax’s hologram disappeared only to immediately reappear on the bridge.

Everything was going to plan. Though at some point Vinyl was going to have to find the truth about who they were. Tomorrow she would implement her next phase and if everything went well, she would live the rest of her artificial life here on this world in peace…