Defender

Chapters

The only easy day, was yesterday...
Peace is our Profession
Hearts and Minds
In God we trust, all others we monitor...

The only easy day, was yesterday...

“Where the hell am I?” Jack mumbled to himself. He looked around and saw a familiar face. “Superman? What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same question.” Superman answered.

“What do you mean?” Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well you’re the one who has no business floating a thousand feet in the air.”

“What?” Jack looked down only to see that there was no ground beneath his feet. It was about this time that gravity decided to reassert itself. Jack plummeted toward the ground at high speed, screaming all the way. The ground approached at maximum velocity. He continued screaming in terror as the end zoomed up the meet him…

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOoooooooooohhhhhh I was asleep…” Jack realized, feeling a bit silly. Just the same, something felt wrong. “Why do I feel like I’m dangling?” He rubbed the bleariness out of his eyes and looked around. “Mountain sides?” He looked down, his eyes widened. “Cliff side?” He muttered. Something suddenly occurred to him. Feeling as though he should know better, Jack ventured a peek towards the ground. “OohhhhhhaaaaaAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!” Instead of seeing the ground, or even distant ground, all Jack saw was a dark, black abyss that extended far beyond where his eyes were able to see. “W-w-w-what the fuck!” It took him a bit to realize that he wasn’t falling. He looked up and saw why. Wedged between the canyon walls was a military Humvee, stuck end to end and upside down. Hanging out of the gunner’s hatch was a strap, attached to the strap was the gunner’s harness, and attached to the gunner’s harness was Jack.

“Hey! Is anybody up there?! Hey! …Fuck.” His call for help having failed Jack did the next best thing he could think of, he started to climb. He muttered and cursed as he struggled to pull himself up the strap. He had a good 50 pounds of gear weighing him down and no way to remove it without taking off the harness that currently prevented him from falling to a no doubt gory and unpleasant death. As he made his way up the strap a metallic groaning began emanating from the inside of the truck. The strap suddenly lurched, making Jack almost lose his grip on it. “Bwadanuagayannn!” He babbled, barely managing to keep hold. Jack slowed the speed of his ascent, not wanting to agitate the strap any more than he already had. “Aaalmost…” Jack reached up for the turret plates, his gloved fingertips barely brushing against the metal. The strap suddenly lurched again, harder than before, followed by the pingy snap of something metal breaking loose. In that instant, Jack pulled himself up and grabbed onto the plate. He held on as tight as he could, ever cognoscente that now the only thing between him and certain death was the hold of his grip. Jack heaved himself up, grabbing onto the handle of the .50 cal. From here he slowly made his way up into the gunner’s hatch finally collapsing back inside the truck, gasping to catch his breath. The Humvee was empty of personnel and the only weapon still inside that he could find was his own rifle, meaning that everyone else had left the truck. Jack wasn’t sure what to make of it. How had the truck ended up in this gorge if no one had been driving it? What was this gorge even doing here for that matter? As far as he knew there were no gorges this deep in their area of patrol. Plenty of mountains sure, but no bottomless pits. He couldn’t even remember what transpired that had led to his current predicament, no doubt the result of a concussion. After suitably resting up Jack searched for the radio, only to find it smashed to pieces, along with every other piece of communication equipment in the truck.

“GodDAMMIT!” Jack yelled in frustration, hurling a chunk of broken radio into the wall. He huffed loudly and considered his next move. Then it occurred to him. He snapped his fingers, getting a dull thud due to his gloves. “Locater beacon.” He hurriedly reached to his side and unzipped the appropriate pouch, pulling out the small IR/GPS beacon and switched it on. “Better put it on the roof so they can see the beacon.” Jack kicked open one of the passenger side doors and clambered onto the top of the wreck, placing it so the IR strobe could be easily seen from a passing aircraft. He carefully sat himself down against the cliff wall. “Nothing to do now but wait, after all,” Jack looked up the sheer, 100 foot cliff, “I ain’t climbin’ that shit.” He took off his helmet and sighed. A smoke, that’s what he needed right now. He pulled one out of his vest and lit it up. He took a heavy drag and let out a puff. Smoking wasn’t normally something you would do when separated from your unit, but seeing as he was in a gorge he didn’t see how it could possibly matter. It was at that moment that Jack heard voices at the top of the gorge. What he didn’t hear was the sound of choppers or Humvees. “You gotta be fuckin’ kidding me.” He chucked his unfinished cig into the gorge. It was way too soon for this to be a rescue party. Jack sat quietly and listened as the voices got louder. Definitely Pashtu, definitely not good. Jack put out his hand and waved it around mysteriously. “There’s nothing in the gorge, just go home, nothing in the gorge, nothing at all.” He whispered. Just then a head poked out from the cliff top and stared down at Jack, with Jack just staring back. “This is not the airmen you’re looking for, move along.” He said slightly louder, still waving his hand. The head disappeared without a word. “Huh, it worked.” Moments later the head returned, now armed with an AK. “Fuck!” Jack scrambled across the wreck as bullets pinged against the metal around him. He practically swung his way back into the truck and quickly grabbed his M4. He moved to the driver’s side door and put his back up against it. He hooked his feet into the twisted remains of the truck commander’s setup and steeled himself. As soon as he heard a break in the fire he pushed the door open, weapon at the ready. He immediately spotted the perpetrator fumbling to insert a fresh mag, took careful aim, breathed in, and pulled the trigger. His head snapped back and the rest of him slumped to the ground, dead as a doornail. Jack let out a sigh, relaxing a little. Suddenly there was more shouting and dozens of insurgents appeared on the cliff edge, all armed. “Fuck!” Jack reeled himself back in as rounds flew past his head, suddenly wishing he’s kept his helmet on. He was up shit creek now, but he didn’t just have no paddle, he was in a Goddamn paper boat. Rounds of 7.62 continued to collide endlessly with the truck's armored plating, which Jack prayed would hold up. He would never get the chance to make another shot now. All he could do was keep cover and hope for the best. “This couldn’t possibly get any worse.” He muttered to himself.

Then he heard the rocket fire.

Knowing the rocket was coming was a cold comfort since the sound only gave him seconds of advanced warning before it struck the forward portion of the truck. Jack screamed as the explosion rocked the Humvee, shaking it loose of its wedged position and turning on its side. Jack tumbled around, almost falling out of one of the open doors in the process. He fell facing the gunners hatch. He looked and the gun, it was facing upwards, just where he needed it to be. He took position on the gun, praying that it still worked, racked it, and pressed the trigger. The gun thumped to life, sending rounds into the enemy position with deadly force. Blood sprayed as the giant .50 caliber rounds ripped into the mooks not intelligent enough to take cover when the gun began firing. Jack slowed his rate of fire as the enemy disappeared from the cliff edge, still sending up rounds at regular intervals to keep them wise, and hoping that they would decide that one lone airman was not worth the losses that they had incurred. On the other hand, they may now be pissed off and bent on revenge for their fallen comrades. He got his answer when no less than six RPG’s appeared spread out along the cliff top and fired. He knew there was only one way he stood even a ghost of a chance of surviving this.

So he threw himself out of the gunner’s hatch and prayed as the remains of the Humvee turned into a twisted wreck above him and tumbled down into the darkness. He did not scream, only holding his eyes tightly shut, just hoping that his end would be quick and painless. His life flashed briefly before his eyes. Family, friends, they would all eventually move on. The world wouldn’t be concerned with the passing of one airman, but he would be remembered. He did his duty and fought to the last and that was good enough for him.

Jack suddenly felt as though he’d just fallen into a body of water, except he didn’t feel wet. He felt like his decent had slowed to non-lethal. He opened his eyes but it made little difference, the world was just as dark as it had been with them closed. He felt a strange calmness come over him. Was this it? Was this what it felt like to die? Would some angel come to collect him from this black pit and take him to Heaven? At that moment Jack suddenly felt like someone was forcing his body through a strainer and stretching it out into individual strands of spaghetti. The experience wasn’t painful but it still felt rather unpleasant. Seconds later he felt himself being pressed back together.

“What the fuck is going on?!” Jack yelled at no one in particular. It had occurred to him that, despite the strange things that he was sensing in the darkness, he didn’t really FEEL dead. A sudden flash blinded him, forcing his eyes closed. Seconds later he felt himself picking up speed again. “Dammit dammit dammit!” Jack swore, unable to understand just what the hell was going on. He rubbed his eyes and they slowly came back into focus. What he saw was… disconcerting to say the least. Instead of falling into a lightless trench of unknown depth he was now falling through an open sky several thousands of feet in the air. Jack went back to screaming. The fact that he had no idea when the end would come had been mildly comforting, but now he was all too aware of just how fast the ground was approaching. As Jack flailed his way through the air he noticed that, while he was taking breaths for screams, he could hear what sounded like the beating of powerful wings. His fall suddenly slowed down. Jack looked up, wondering what could have possibly transpired this time. What he saw only added to his mounting confusion. Grasping what remained of the gunner’s harness strap was what appeared to some kind of blue cartoon animal with wings and a rainbow colored tail and mane. The animal was struggling to slow Jack’s fall.

“Dun worry, mm, whadrvr yu ar.” It spoke through its clenched teeth. “Ah got ya.”

Jack gawped at the creature. It had spoken. The animal talked. Animals don’t talk. Granted it was a cartoon, but that just raised more questions about how non-sensical this whole situation was. But, just the same, it was saving his life. He was having the weirdest damned day, but at least he was alive.

Then he saw it.

“LOOK OUT!” He yelled, pointing past the flying animal. It looked up and its eyes grew wide. Barreling towards them were the burning remains of Jack’s truck. The creature went into a dive, shooting past Jack, assumedly to pull him out of the wrecks path. It worked a little too well.

When the strap went taught the harness decided it had sustained enough abuse. Several key buckles broke free and Jack came flying out of it, now free falling through the air again.

“GOOOOODAAAAAAAMMIIIIIIIIIT!” Jack screamed as he fell towards the ground faster than ever with his added momentum. Moments later he heard the flapping return. He looked up and saw the creature diving towards him.

“Grab on!” It yelled, reaching out to him. Jack grabbed its forelegs and held on. The creature locked its back legs around his waist and tried to pull out of the dive. Jack could see that the animal was making an incredible effort to pull out, but it was making no headway. He knew there was only one solution. He freed his grip of its forelegs. Its eyes widened. “What the hay do you think you’re doing!?”

“You have to let me go!” He yelled back. “I’m too heavy for you! I really appreciate what you’re doing but we don’t both have to die!”

“NO!” The animal yelled, tightening its back legs around his waist and wrapping its forelegs around his chest. “I won’t give up! Giving up is just so uncool!” The creature tried harder than ever to slow their fall, actually succeeding but only marginally.

Jack looked toward the ground and saw one of the only stokes of luck he’d had all day. A tree. A big, branchy tree right underneath them. A tree they were moments from hitting.

Thinking quickly, Jack grabbed the animal tightly and held it close against his body, positioned hisself between it and the tree, and braced himself. The first couple of branches slowed them down significantly, the thinnest ones being on the top. Then he started hitting the thicker ones. Jack finally fell out of the tree and hit the ground, landing square on his back and knocking the wind out of him with a great gasp. The horrifying experience was finally at an end.

For a moment they both just laid there. Jack was in an unbelievable amount of pain. He had some bad cuts and gashes on his body and he was pretty sure he had some broken and/or fractured bones. He could even be bleeding internally for all he knew.

The creature slowly lifted its head and looked at him worriedly. “Are you okay?” It asked.

Then it occurred to him. “I’m alive.” He said in disbelief.

The animal stood up and walked off a few paces. “You sure are.” It smiled smugly. “Mostly thanks to me I might add.”

“I’m alive!” He said with some added excitement. He started to laugh. The animal joined in. Jack was overjoyed to be alive, so overjoyed that he didn’t notice that something else was falling through the tree. The last thing he saw was his Kevlar helmet falling out of the branches and hitting him right on the head, knocking him out cold. This just wasn’t his day.

Peace is our Profession

Jack slowly regained consciousness, greeting it with mixed feelings. On the one hand he now knew that he was still alive. And on the other, every fiber of his being was in incredible pain. He just laid there with his eyes closed, trying to block the pain from his mind. He didn’t have to open his eyes to know where he was though. Hospital, he could smell it, that unique hospital smell. Maybe the rescue team had come after all. Maybe everything he had experienced yesterday had all been some kind of crazed hallucination due to exposure. He laughed to himself. That had to be it. It seemed so silly now. Talking, flying cartoon animals, of course it was a hallucination. He heard movement to his right and decided to take a stab in the dark.

“Doc you would not believe the dream I had while I was out.” He said, eyes still closed.

“Oh really?” He heard a voice say.

“Yeah.” Jack continued. “I was falling through the sky from, like, skydiving height, and I got rescued by a flying, talking animal.” He let out a little laugh.

“Tell me,” the voice said, “was this animal anything like, say, a pony?”

“Yeah!” Jack responded smiling. “How did you…” His smile faded as a thought occurred to him. Ridiculous though it appeared, the events had seemed, and felt, real enough. He ventured to open one of his eyes.

There was another cartoon animal, perhaps a pony, standing there.

“Nice of you to join us Mr. Beckett. I assume Beckett is your name?” The pony said, nodding at the grimy and ripped multi-cam jacket that hung on a nearby coatrack.

“Yeah.” Jack answered, his face unchanging

“Well I am Doctor Whooves and I’ll be…” He paused as Jack slowly reached out and grabbed the doctor’s nose, giving it a little squeeze. “Caring for you.” He finished nasally.

“You’re real.” Jack said in disbelief.

The doctor sighed. “This is going to be a long day.”

Jack sat in the hospital bed poring over the history books that the nurse had brought him at his request. He’d spent days reading them, trying to figure out just what kind of place he had ended up in. Equestria, Canterlot, Ponyville, it was all a bit above his head. A world occupied primarily by ponies. Not only that, but they came in regular, unicorn and pegasus, like he had seen on his rather eventful arrival. There was also apparently something called an Alicorn, a combination of the unicorn and pegasus. The world also appeared, for lack of a better word, cartoonish. This included himself, but he was trying not to think about it too much. It was giving him a bad enough head ache already and he didn’t need to further burden his already fragile mental state.

As Jack contemplated his predicament one of the nurses poked her head inside the room.

“Princess Celestia is on her way to meet with you so please be on your best behavior.” The nurse said, quickly shutting the door as soon as she finished.

Jack let out a heavy sigh, aching his bruised body somewhat. He got the feeling he wasn’t completely trusted around here. The ponies never came in less than two at a time and he often heard the deadbolt clink behind them when they left his room. He was isolated alone with no other patients and the staff spent as little time with him as possible despite his attempts to be cordial. It had taken some smooth talking just to get the books.

Jack heard the door open again. The being that walked through was among the more majestic things he had ever seen. He had seen pictures of Princess Celestia in the books but he had expected them to be exaggerations, like many history books of its kind tended to do. From what he could tell the books hardly did her justice. Perhaps it was because the books couldn’t illustrate the fact that her pastel, multi-colored mane seemed to flow steadily in a non-existent breeze. Or the twinkle of what seemed like eons of wisdom in her eyes. She was a good two to three feet taller than any of the other ponies Jack had seen, making her at least as tall as him, maybe taller. She stood before him with a regalness that made Jack the kind of nervous he felt when anyone above a Lieutenant-Colonel talked to him. He almost felt like he was going to get in trouble for not standing at attention and saluting.

“Jack Beckett.” She said simply. Her voice was soft but still had a certain edge of seriousness to it.

“Yes Ma’am?” Jack replied smiling meekly.

The Princess smiled softly at him. “You have nothing to fear from me young one, I am only here to talk.” The edge disappeared from her voice and it now carried an all-around sweetness that put Jack at ease.

“Of course Ma’am.” Jack replied, relaxing a little.

She smiled at his formality. “How are your injuries?”

“Painful.” Jack nodded. “Very painful. But just the same I am beyond lucky to even be alive. And I would like to thank the, uh, pony that saved my life. She was light blue with a rainbow colored mane and tail. She almost got herself killed in the process so…” He made a meaningless gesture with his hands.

“Yes, Rainbow Dash mentioned what happened. She also mentioned that you tried to sacrifice yourself when it appeared that her rescue attempt would result in both your deaths. A very selfless and noble act. One that shows you value the lives of others above your own. And yet,” the Princess suddenly became very somber. “You have stains on your heart. You’ve taken the lives of others like you without a second thought. You carry with you tools of death designed only to take lives. Tell me, can I let somepony like you walk free without fearing for my pony’s lives, or must I keep you confined until we’ve discovered a way to send you back to your home?”

Jack looked at the book in his hand. “I read up on your history. All I can think when I look through these books is how lucky your people are. Despite the obvious differences that exist between them they remain united. You’ve never had the need for a real war. My world isn’t so lucky. Some people, all they can see are the differences between us and to them that’s enough of a reason to lash out. And when they do they don’t care who gets killed. Someone has to stand in their way and that’s what I do. I fight when there’s a fight, I don’t go looking for one. But…” He sighed heavily. “I would understand if you decided to quarantine me. Your people come first after all.”

The Princess looked him over a few more moments before smiling again. “I thought you might feel that way. That is why, when you have fully recovered from your injuries, I will allow you to walk free. With an escort of course.”

“Really? Wow, um, thank you.” Jack was surprised at the level of trust she was displaying to him. He had no doubt that had the shoe been on the other foot she would have been captured, interrogated and likely experimented upon. Instead he was being cared for in a proper hospital and would be allowed to walk about and see the country. “I’m guessing my equipment is off limits?”

“Everything that came with you is being inspected. Items deemed safe will be returned to you, everything else will be locked up until you are returned.”

Jack looked down and thought for a moment. Some of the things in his kit were really dangerous. His rifle, the bullets, not to mention the damned grenades. She was trusting him so he might as well show a little trust back. Besides, he didn’t want anybody to get killed because they were fooling around with a grenade without knowing how dangerous it was.

“Princess Celestia,” he said, looking back up at her, “if you’ll allow me to review my kit I can identify which items need to be locked up. Some things in it like to explode if they get messed with the wrong way.”

The Princess gave Jack a knowing smile, almost as if she had been expecting him to offer. “Very well. The doctor tells me you will be healed enough to get out of bed tomorrow. I will have my student, your escort, come pick you up and take you where we are holding the items. Till then, get some rest. You look like you need it.” She walked out the door, leaving Jack to his thoughts. He fell back into his pillow. He was eager to get out of the hospital but she was right, he needed to get some sleep.

“Reaper 2 Alpha, Control.” The radio crackled.

“Go for Reaper 2 Alpha.” The truck commander, Master Sergeant Johnson, answered.

“Copy, we have an active distress beacon approximately 5 clicks north of your position that Command wants you to check out. Grid coordinates are 16392848.”

“Roger that.” She said, punching the numbers into the GPS. “Do we have any air units conducting a flyover?”

“Negative, high winds in the area and proximity to the mountains are preventing any flyovers at this time. If conditions change we’ll send units your way.”

“Tango control, we’ll let you know what we find when we get there.”

“Copy that Reaper 2, happy hunting.” Control cleared the channel. Sergeant Johnson keyed her radio to the truck column.

“Everybody get that?”

“Bravo copies.”

“Charlie copies.”

“Handsome 1 copies.”

Sergeant Johnson smiled. “Would it kill you to be professional for once Delta?”

“It hasn’t yet, but why take that chance?”

“Roger that.” She accepted, still smiling. “Let’s roll out Reaper 2.” The four truck column changed course, heading for the nearest mountain road that would take them to their objective. The truck bounced around on the poorly maintained Afghan road, slowly making its way into the mountains.

“Sergeant Johnson.” The driver suddenly spoke up.

“What is it Badolato?”

“Well it’s just that these coordinates are almost 3 clicks out of our patrol range. Isn’t this more a job for the Army?” The young airman asked.

White gave Badolato’s helmet and quick smack from behind him. “They want it checked out before the end of the month Bado. You know how those Army guys are, they couldn’t find their own asses with both hands and a map.”

The sergeant smiled. “White’s right in a way Badolato. We’re the closest unit to the signal and distress beacons always take priority. We have a duty to investigate.”

Badolato’s face paled a little. “But what if it’s a trap?”

“I hope it is.” White spat out. “We’ll finally get the chance to kick some Taliban ass.”

Jack just sat quietly in the gunner’s seat, only barely aware of the conversation that was taking place below him. He was working a small, olive drab colored prayer cloth between his fingers. Their deployment had been uneventful to this point and they only had a month left. The worst injury they had suffered in Reaper 2 so far had been when White was bitten on the nose by a hedgehog he had been agitating. Jack was hoping that would be the worst of it. He just wanted to get back home in one piece and finally take a break. Hopefully some moron had just dropped his distress beacon during a foot patrol and one of the locals had accidently set it off. Hopefully.

But all of his hopes were dashed when he spotted figure rise from behind one of the piles of rocks holding a long tube.

“RPG!”

Jack sat up quickly in his bed, only to have his head collide painfully with something hard, effectively pushing his dream induced revelation to the back of his mind. He rubbed his head and looked down and the purple pony that had apparently been standing over him moments before. She was sitting on the ground giving her own head a good rub.

“Ooooh, that smarts.” The pony suddenly notice that Jack was looking at her and quickly jumped to her feet. “Oh! Sorry about that. I wasn’t watching you sleep or anything, well I was but it wasn’t in a creepy stalker kind of way it’s just that I’ve never seen anything like you so I was just studying you, well studying may be the wrong way to put it, it’s just that I find you so fascinating that I couldn’t help but stare at you but I wasn’t trying to get in your face and be creepy or anything I was just curious.” She offered friendly, if not incredibly nervous, smile. Jack just stared back at her for a moment, only adding to the awkwardness of the situation.

“You must be the Princess’ student.” He finally managed.

The pony laughed nervously. “Yes that’s me. My name is Twilight Sparkle.”

Jack inwardly twitched. Was everyone in this place going to have ridiculous names? “Jack Beckett, but I’m sure you already knew that.”

Twilight nodded her head emphatically. “Yes, Princess Celestia filled me in on the details. She said you needed to be taken to the remains of your equipment and the wreck so you could tell us what was dangerous.”

“Right.” Jack huffed, getting out of the bed. “Well if you’ll just give me a minute to change, we can blow this popsicle stand.”

“Take as long as you need.” She said, still smiling at him. Jack just stared back at her.

“You have to leave room.”

“Oh! Sorry.”

Jack was unused to traveling by teleportation. The event had left him feeling very ill and it took all the will power he had in him to not throw up all over his uniform. After he had finally recovered he returned to his original task. Laid out before him was his gear and the Humvee wreck which was in surprisingly good condition considering the fall it had taken. All of it was being guarded by some rather intense looking ponies in almost roman looking armor.

“This is everything they could find.” Twilight said, giving the items a quick wave over with her hoof.

Jack clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “Right, first things first.” He walked over to the handful of frag grenade and pick one up, holding it in front of him for emphasis. “These are only to be touched if necessary. And this,” he played with the small ring on the side of the grenade, “Is NEVER to be pulled out. EVER. They WILL kill you.”

Twilight looked at the gray sphere rather nervously. “If it’s so dangerous why do you carry it around?”

“For bad guys.” Jack said simply as he carefully set the grenades aside and picked up the M4.

“To hurt them?” Twilight asked nervously.

Jack paused in the middle of clearing the M4 out. “To kill them.” He corrected, sending the bolt forward and setting the rifle aside.

Twilight’s face was a mix of horror and sadness. “You mean you really,” she hesitated, almost afraid to say the word, “kill your own people?”

“Only when they make me.”

“But what could they have possible done to deserve death?”

“Other than try to kill me?” Jack questioned her seriously, looking straight at her. Twilight just looked at the ground, unsure of what to say. Jack suddenly felt bad for talking so sharply. “Look, I’m sorry ok? It’s just I’ve had kind of a rough time with all… this.” He waved his arms around, gesturing at everything and nothing at the same time. “I’m not trying to be mean or anything but the questions you’re asking are really hard to answer. You understand right?”

Twilight brightened up a bit at his apology. “Yeah I guess I do. And I apologize for asking such hard questions. Would it be ok if I asked just some general questions about your species?”

“Sure thing, shoot.” Jack said, inspecting a broken Harris radio and tossing it aside.

“Ok!” Twilight said happily producing a floating quill and paper, now looking decidedly more cheerful. “First off, what do humans eat?”

Jack paused for a second, thinking carefully about how he could best answer her question without scaring the bajeesus out of her but not lie to her at the same time. “You have bears here right?” Twilight nodded. “Well our diet is a lot like a bear’s diet. We’ll eat almost anything as long as it’s edible.” Twilight paled a little at the comparison. “But I’m perfectly capable of living off vegetables and fruits.” He added quickly.

Twilight relaxed a little. “Right, so an omnivorous diet. I don’t suppose you can eat hay and dandelions as well can you?” She said with a little laugh, still looking at her parchment. She got no response. “Mr. Beckett?” Twilight looked in his direction, seeing that he was holding up what looked like a large, very heavy vest with lots of pouches.

He looked at it incredulously. In the upper part of the vest, right around where his heart and lungs were located, were three large bullet holes. He stuck a finger into one of the holes, feeling the dent that the bullet’s impact had left in the ballistic plate under the fabric. He sat down, vest still in hand, as it suddenly hit home. Just how many times had he almost died that day? The fall, the crash, getting shot at, getting SHOT. By all accounts the ballistic plate should only be able to take one or two shots before it failed, and those shots had to be a good distance apart. And yet, this plate had stood up to three hits, all in almost the same place. He should be dead at least ten times over. But here he was, alive and more or less unhurt considering it all. He stood up and pulled the prayer cloth out of his pocket, looking to the sky, feeling the knitted fabric between his fingers thoughtfully. Maybe, just maybe, for some weird reason, he was supposed to be here. But why? What possible use could a place like this have for a man like him?

“Jack?” He suddenly realized that Twilight was standing right next to him, looking up with concern written on her face. “Are you okay?”

He stuffed the square piece of cloth back in his pocket. “Yeah, sorry, just got a lot on my mind right now. What was your last question again?”

Twilight just smiled warmly at him. “Why don’t we take a break. I’ll show you around town and you can meet some ponies.” She gave a knowing sigh. “Pinkie will probably want to throw you a party. Oh and Rainbow Dash has been clamoring to talk to you ever since you woke up. And I doubt Rarity will pass up the challenge to make clothes for something other than a pony.”

Jack looked a little confused. “Someone’s going to throw a party for me? Are you sure?”

“Yeah she does it for all the new arrivals in Ponyville. In fact she’ll probably throw you another party for being the first human in Equestria.” She said, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. She gave him a mock look of worry. “You don’t have a birthday coming up do you?” She asked, smiling nervously.

Jack just smiled back at her. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe this world didn’t need him so much as he needed it.

“Wait, we’re not going to teleport there are we?”

Hearts and Minds

One gut wrenching teleportation later Jack found himself looking at what appeared to be one of the biggest apple orchards he had ever seen.

“A Farm?” Jack said, looking around, seeing a large barn. “I thought we were going into town?”

“Sweet Apple Acres isn’t very far from town. Besides, I wanted to introduce you to Applejack first. She’s probably the most understanding and down to earth of all my friends. I think you’ll get along really w-“

“Look out Twi there’s a monster behind yah!”

Jack turned in the direction of the voice just in time receive a swift kick to the gut from an orange pony wearing a cowboy hat.

“Hurk!” Jack doubled over and fell onto the ground in the fetal position.

Twilight ran over to him. “Oh my gosh! Jack are you ok!?”

The young man weakly held up a hand to reassure her. “Yeah,” he wheezed, “just gimme a minute…”

“Oh.” The orange pony said upon witnessing the scene. “I’ve done goofed haven’t I?” She smiled nervously.

“Not your fault…” Jack managed, his breaths still very shallow. “You were just… looking out for your friend.”

The cowpony trotted over and helped Jack get to his feet. “I’m real sorry about that pardner. Ya just looked so gosh darn suspicious creepin’ back there and I guess my instincts just kinda took over.” She blushed.

“Like I said,” Jack accepted her help and got too his feet, “so long as you didn’t mean it.”

Twilight helped him up as well. “Applejack this is, well this is Jack. Jack Beckett. He’s the human you’ve probably heard about. Princess Celestia made me his escort and I thought I would show him around.” She smiled sheepishly. “But I guess I should have let you know we were coming.”

Jack winced as he stretched his abdominals. “Nothing I can’t walk off, I’ve been through worse after all.”

“Well how about we make the walk to my place over yonder?” Applejack said pointing toward a rustic looking farmhouse. “You can meet the rest of the family and I’ll see if I can scare up some grub for ya.”

“I would really appreciate that actually.” Jack said, suddenly aware of how hungry he was. They started heading towards the farmhouse, Jack trailing slightly behind, still working the kinks out of his gut. Despite the physical assault he found the farm to be rather relaxing. Applejack’s southern twang reminded him greatly of his hometown in Tennessee, a place he had only been able to visit sporadically since joining the Air Force. It was the most at ease he’d felt since the crash.

Just when he was getting to his most relaxed he suddenly became aware of a rustling coming from a bush behind him.

“Sister look out! There’s a monster behind ya!”

“Apple Bloom no!”

Jack sat pensively at the table, his left eye obscured by a large ice pack while his right focused on the three fillies seated on the other end of the table. All three of them looked as if someone had just kicked their dog.

“We’re real sorry mister.” Apple Bloom let out slowly.

“Really we are.” Sweetie Bell added weakly.

“Really very sorry.” Scootaloo rounded the three out.

Jack let out a heavy sigh. He wasn’t an angry person by nature. The constant little misfortunes that he had suffered throughout his life had left him with a unique perspective on things. If he let every little thing get to him he would never find the time to be happy. He took unpleasant events as lessons learned and missed opportunities as gateways to bigger things. Besides, he couldn’t stay mad at these three, they were just so god damn adorable.

“Just forget about it.” He said, waving his free hand lazily. “Besides, I should be complimenting you on your courage. Not every kid would attack a big, scary monster like me to protect their big sister.”

Apple Bloom blushed a little. “Well to tell you the truth we were hoping we might get monster slayer cutie marks out of it.”

Jack tilted his head in curiosity. “Cutie marks?”

“Yeah!” Scootaloo piped up, puffing her chest out. “We’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders!”

Sweetie Bell struck an equally dramatic pose. “And we will not rest until we have discovered our cutie marks!”

Jack just looked at them, unsure of what to say without looking stupid. Apple Bloom leaned over to her friends.

“Girls I don’t think he knows what a cutie mark is.” She half whispered to them.

The other two gasped incredulously, the very idea of not knowing what a cutie mark was being the last thing they ever thought possible. The three of them suddenly huddled together, whispering and occasionally glancing over at Jack, who was eyeing them suspiciously. They finally broke huddle and turned to him.

“Fear not Mister Jack!” Scootaloo proclaimed dramatically. “For we have decided to educate you on the importance of the cutie mark!”

“Oh, well thanks, I guess.” Jack replied, rather taken aback.

Apple Bloom started pacing back and forth across the room. “Now I’m sure you noticed the apple marks on my sister’s flank.”

Jack brought his hand up to his chin thoughtfully. “Now that you mention it…” Apple Bloom was suddenly inches from his face.

“So you’ve been starin’ at my sister’s flank huh?” She accused, slowly closing in on him.

Jack backed up as much as he could on his stool without falling off. “What!? No! You just said…”

Apple Bloom turned around and walked back across the table before he could finish. “I’ll let it go this time, but don’t let me catch you doing it again.” Jack just sat there, mouth agape, a little unsure of what had just happened. “Anyway, a cutie mark represents a ponies one true talent. The one thing that they are the best at and enjoy doing the most.” She continued, not missing a beat. “In my sister’s case the apples represent her talent at running an apple orchard.”

“And my sister Rarity has diamonds to represent her ability to make beautiful dresses and accessories.” Sweetie Bell chimed.

“And Rainbow Dash has a thunderbolt to represent her love of racing and speed!” Scootaloo said rather intensely.

“In short,” Apple Bloom resumed, “a cutie mark is a big part of a pony’s identity. The three of us are the only ones in our class that don’t have our cutie marks yet, so we decided to band together and become…”

The three fillies jumped together, striking dramatic poses. “THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!”

Jack couldn’t help but smile at their enthusiasm. “Well then I wish you luck on your quest, sounds like you’ll need it.”

“Hey Mister Jack, can I ask you sumthin’?” Apple Bloom looked towards him with curious eyes as they broke their collective pose.

“Go for it.”

“If humans don’t have cutie marks then how do they know what their special talent is?”

Jack leaned back, stewing over the question for a moment. The truth, he knew, was much more complicated than these little fillies needed to know. That some people, a lot in fact, never really find the one thing that makes them happiest in life. He knew that telling them that would only discourage them. So he settled for the next best answer.

“It’s just something you have to find with time.” He said, offering a smile.

The three fillies let out an exaggerated groan that reminded Jack vaguely of Charlie Brown.

“That’s what EVERYPONY says!” Scootaloo cried out in frustration.

“It’s okay girls.” Apple Bloom reassured her friends. “With time AND tryin’ enough things out, we will eventually find our cutie marks!”

The Crusaders suddenly eyed Jack again and went back into a huddle, whispering and peeking yet again. When they broke Sweetie Bell stepped forward.

“Mister Jack, we know you don’t have a cutie mark. But if you did what would you say it would be?”

“What would my mark be?” Jack repeated, unwilling to add “cutie” at the beginning. He thought for a minute. “Well it’s not really a mark but,” Jack dug into his pocket and pulled out a silver dollar sized, blue and bronze colored coin and set it on the table, “I was given this when I finished learning how to do my job.”

The three fillies gathered around the coin to get a better look at it. The coin was face up, displaying a star with a set of feathered wings at its center.

Sweetie Bell leaned in and read the inner ring. “U-United States Air Force, 1947.”

Apple Bloom leaned in now, reading the outer ring. “Integrity first, service before self, excellence in all we do.”

Jack flipped the coin over, revealing another star and wings, except now the wings had a much sharper, more modern design. Scootaloo was almost on top of it, already intrigued by apparent air based theme of the coin.

“Awarded on the oc-occasion of becoming an airman,” her eyes grew wider as she read, “in the world’s best air force!” She finished excitedly. She looked to Jack expectantly. “Does that mean you can fly!?”

The airman let out a short laugh. “No Scootaloo, I can’t fly.” He answered, ruffling the fillies purple mane, making her huff indignantly. “Even the people that do have to use machines called airplanes to fly. I’m in the Security Forces, basically glorified police officers.”

“Hmm…” Apple Bloom tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Cutie Mark Crusader Policeponies, that’s one we haven’t tried before.”

Scootaloo jumped up excitedly. “All we have to do is find somepony being bad so we can arrest ‘em!”

“Actually,” Jack started, getting up from the table, “why don’t you give Cutie Mark Crusader Monster Slayers another try?”

Sweetie Bell raised an eyebrow at him. “How are we supposed to do that?”

Jack spotted a small apple crate and a devilish grin spread across his face.

“I jus’ don’t know Twi.” The cowpony said, pushing an apple pie into the oven. “I mean, sure he seems polite enough now but so did Gilda when Rainbow was around, and we both know how that turned out. And he’s jus’ got this weird,” she struggled to find the word, “subdued attitude about ‘im.”

“I know, I know.” Twilight said, using her magic to wash some apples. “It’s just… I get this feeling when I look at him sometimes you know? He gets this look in his eyes like he’s been through a lot, seen things nopony should have to see.”

“Maybe yer right Twi. Maybe I’m jus’ overth-” Applejack was interrupted by a sudden scream that emanated from the dining room, drawing both ponies attention.

“Unhoof me you villain!” They heard Sweetie Bell cry out.

The two mares exchanged glances before rushing off to the dining room.

“I told ya we shouldn’ta left them alone with,” Applejack paused as they rounded the corner into the dining room, “him?”

Jack was holding a squirming Sweetie Bell up in the air, wearing an apple crate on his head.

“Put down our friend you fiend!” Apple Bloom said overdramatically, squaring off against the much larger human. “Or face the wrath of the Cutie Mark Crusaders!”

Jack let out his best villain laugh. “I’m not afraid of you, Cutie Mark Crusaders! For I am the mighty BOXOR! Master of villainous villainy and collector of small ponies!” He hammed it up fantastically.

Apple Bloom pointed at Jack in a sweeping manner. “Then you have sealed your fate! Now Crusader Scootaloo!”

“Haha!” Scootaloo laughed triumphantly, jumping off a table behind Jack onto his box helmet.

“ARGH!” Jack fake stumbled back, leaning over to set the “captive” Sweetie Bell back on the ground. Scootaloo jumped off his head and the three fillies lined up in front of him. “A sneak attack eh? I didn’t know the Cutie Mark Crusaders played dirty!”

Scootaloo puffed her chest out. “We don’t play dirty! We play to win!”

“It matters not!” Jack said, straightening out his box head. “I’m far more powerful than you could possibly imagine!” He hunched over in a classic villain stance. “Face me and you will lose! And then I shall have three new ponies to add to my collection!”

“Not if we work together!” Apple Bloom proclaimed. “Cutie Mark Crusaders! ATTACK!”

The Crusaders charged at Jack and jumped up on him. He secured his box in place and rolled onto his back.

“NOOOO! Teamwork! My one weakness!” He cried as the fillies wrestled him to the ground. “How did you know!?”

“Your days of villainous villainy are over Boxor!” Sweetie Bell yelled, holding down one of the arms that just moments ago had held her prisoner.

“This isn’t the last you’ve seen of me Cutie Mark Crusaders!” Jack “struggled” against their hold. “One day I shall return! And when I do-” Jack stopped abruptly when he turned his head and saw Applejack and Twilight gawping at him. He gave them a quick wave with a trapped hand. “Oh hey.” He said awkwardly. “Is, uh, lunch ready yet?”

Twilight let out soft giggle while Applejack tilted her hat with an amused smile on her face.

“I guess this cowpoke’s alright after all.”

“You seem like you’re in a better mood.” Twilight said to Jack happily as they walked down the dirt road, headed into town.

“Why’s that?” Jack inquired, almost unaware of the goofy smile that was plastered across his face.

Twilight giggled. “You’ve been smiling like that since we left AJ’s farm.”

Jack crossed his arms and looked away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just as prickly and grouchy as I was before.”

Twilight just kept on smiling. “Don’t worry I won’t tell “Boxor” that you’re losing your edge.”

Jack slowly clenched a fist in front of his face. “Boxor.” He said with mock contempt. “My greatest nemesis.”

Twilight laughed as they continued to walk. The lunch had gone very well. As Twilight predicted, and once he had decided to open up, Jack and Applejack hit it off right away. Jack’s grandfather had been a farmer so he knew a little about the subject. Though when they got to the raising of cows and pigs Jack suddenly got quiet and little nervous. The visit ended with Applejack telling Jack he could stop by anytime.

“Seriously though,” Twilight continued, “you were really great with the girls. I know they can be a handful, but you really looked like you knew what you were doing.”

Jack smiled fondly. “I have two nieces back home. They want to fight bad guys ‘just like uncle Jack does.’ That wasn’t the first time Boxor’s made an appearance and I doubt it will be the last.”

“Is that why you relaxed so much? Because you were reminded of home?” Twilight asked.

Jack remembered back to his first deployment. When they had returned from Afghanistan they put everyone through a sort of reintegration program. It was meant to help returning airmen decompress and return to normal life in the states. It involved a whole lot of psychobabble, sitting on couches while overpaid officers with psychology degrees asked you how that made you feel. He hadn’t really felt like his deployment had ended until he had taken leave and went to go see his family. His mom had started crying when she opened the door and saw him there, his nieces were quick to jump on his heels, wanting to play games, and his brother and sister were there with warm hugs, glad to see him home safe. In that moment he had felt all the stresses from the past 6 months melt away.

“Yeah, just a little bit.” He said, still lost in thought.

“Well I’m glad you’re feeling even a little bit better. And don’t worry, the Princess has the brightest minds in all of Equestria working on a way to get you sent back home.” Twilight encouraged. By now they were coming up on Ponyville. Despite being a pony town it reminded Jack very much of a human small town in the way that all the ponies greeted each other, and were just friendly to one another in general. That was of course until they noticed Jack.

It wasn’t that the stares directed at Jack had any hate in them; they just kind of eyeballed him. Some of the ponies retreated into their homes upon seeing him. The general response to his presence seemed to be a mix of disbelief and fear.

Jack leaned down and whispered to Twilight. “They don’t appear to be taking to me very well.”

“Well they’ve never seen anything like you.” She whispered back. “But give them time, they’ll get used to you.”

“Found ya!”

The exclamation had surprised Jack but the voice sounded oddly familiar. He turned around and saw the same light blue and rainbow colored pony that had saved his life during the fall.

“Oh hey it’s you.”

“Darn skippy it’s me!” The rainbow pony stormed up to the pair. She pointed a hoof at Jack. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you forever! But every time I asked Twilight about it she just kept saying that you were being monitored and that I would get my chance to talk to you eventually. Well I was just at Applejack’s and guess who she said was there? You two!”

Twilight smiled meekly. “Sorry Dash, I forgot. But we would have gotten to you eventually!”

“I saved his life Twilight!” Dash said loudly. “I should have been able to talk to him first!”

Jack smirked a little. “That worried about me eh?”

“Pfft no.” She scoffed. “Tough guy like you? I knew you’d be fine. I’ve been tracking you down because you never thanked me for being awesome and saving your life that day.” She finished smugly.

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight started in a scolding manner before being stopped by Jack holding up his hand.

“She’s right Twilight. I failed to thank her at the time and I haven’t had the chance to do so since I got here. So, Rainbow Dash, I shall give you greatest gift my people have to offer you. But, you shall have to close your eyes. Would you do that for me?”

“For the greatest gift you have!? You bet I will!” Rainbow Dash said excitedly, closing her eyes and waited expectantly. She thought she heard giggling but she kept her eyes closed, not wanting to lose her reward.

“I will now administer the gift!” She heard Jack say grandly.

Dash suddenly felt something warm and slimy enter her left ear. “Bluh!” She cried out, jumping back and pawing at her ear. “What the hay kind of gift was that!?”

Jack was laughing, wiping his finger off on his shirt. “The one prank that ponies will never be able to do.” He wiggled all ten of his fingers at her teasingly. “The Wet Willy!”

A wide grin of realization spread across Rainbow’s face. “Oh so that’s how it’s gonna be huh? Alright then, but you haven’t seen the last of me!” With the challenge accepted, she sped off into the sky.

Twilight was still giggling a little. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Started a prank war with Rainbow Dash? She’s one of the best you know, you heard Applejack’s stories.”

“If there’s one thing you learn in the military, its pranks. No, don’t you worry about me Twilight Sparkle, I can handle this one.”

“If you say so.” Twilight said knowingly. “Anyway, next stop is Rarity’s boutique, maybe we can get you some fresh clothes made.”

“What’s wrong with these?” Jack asked, a little insulted.

“Nothing, provided you like clothes with holes in them.”

She had him there. Jack’s uniform had numerous rips and tears in various places. It didn’t bother him but maybe it would be best to get some less ragged clothes. He started to follow Twilight when he found his vision blocked by a pair of huge blue eyes and pink fluff.

“Wowee! I’ve never seen anything like you before! You’re all tall and weird! What are you!?”

Jack opened his mouth to answer.

The pony jumped back. “Ooh ooh ooh, don’t tell me! You’rrrrre aaaaaa sasquatch with a really bad balding problem!” She interrupted quickly. “No no no, you’re a dragon with no scales! Hang on, you’re a genetic experiment gone wrong! Or maybe…”

Jack just continued to stare at her, mouth agape, as her guesses became more and more outlandish. Twilight was standing just down the road, a bemused smile on her face, watching the chaos.

Suddenly the pink pony clopped her hooves together and smiled wide. “I’ve got it! You’re an interdimensional being that somehow, in some unknown way for some unknown purpose, ended up in Equestria and now you’re waiting for the eggheads in Canterlot to figure out how to send you home and in the mean time you’re getting to know ponies in Ponyville so everypony won’t be so afraid of you!”

Jack just kept staring. “Actually, that’s pretty much the gist of it.” He finally said, still very surprised.

The pony started jumping up and down, pumping her hooves in the air. “Yes! Ten points for Pinkie Pie! Woohoo!”

Twilight walked up, also very confused. “Pinkie how did you know that?”

“It was easy silly!” Pinkie replied. “All I had to do was put two and two together to get seven! Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a lotta work to do!” Pinkie started hopping down the street slowly, humming a cheerful tune, leaving the very confused duo to themselves.

Jack watched the pink mare hop down the street. “Does she do that a lot?”

Twilight just shook her head. “More often than I’d like. But when it’s Pinkie Pie you learn not to question it. Thinking about it too hard will just give you a headache. Trust me, I know. Come on, let’s get to Rarity’s before your brain starts dripping out of your ears.”

To Jack, Rarity’s Carousel Boutique was just another example some of the more impractically elaborate buildings he had been seeing. It took its carousel theme namesake to the next level. As they walked inside Jack saw a white unicorn pony with a purple and very stylish mane and tail. She had her back to them, working with some colorful material at a table.

“Hi Rarity.” Twilight said cheerfully.

“Twilight?” She started to turn around. “Pinkie Pie was just here, she said that you were bringing- OH MY CELESTIA! IT’S HIDEOUS!” She cried out, cringing back in disgust.

Jack was a little put off. The fact that he might look scary to the Ponyville residents had occurred to him. That fact that they might find him ugly had not. “Well gee lady I’m sorry I can’t be a pretty pony like you.” He said sarcastically.

“Oh no, not you darling.” Rarity said quickly. “But your clothes! You poor thing, being forced to wear such a garish outfit!”

“Is it the holes?” Jack asked, having quite enough of people getting on him about his uniform.

Rarity’s nose scrunched up. “Well the holes are just the start! That, that pattern, if you can even call it that, is actually offending my eyes! And why would so many pockets ever be necessary?! And the VELCRO! Ugh! I simply must get you into some new clothes!” Her horn glowed blue, making a nearby measuring tape float in Jack’s direction. “Take that jacket off so I can get some proper measurments.”

Jack set his multi-cam top on a nearby coatrack. “I’ll have you know that this uniform is made for functionality, not style.”

“Yes yes, I can tell darling, arms up please, but just because you prefer function over form doesn’t mean you can’t look fabulous from time to time.” Rarity jotted down Jack’s measurements as the tape wrapped around various parts of his body. “And pockets in the joints! What could you possibly need them for?!”

“They’re for knee and elbow pad inserts.”

“Well not to worry darling,” She said, continuing to write down Jack’s numbers, “by tomorrow I should have a positively dashing outfit ready for you.”

“Actually if you could keep it simple I would really appreciate it.” Jack said, a pleading look on his face.

Rarity was taken aback. “But I had such plans and ideas! I’ve never had the chance to tailor for something like you before! This is such an opportunity!” She looked back a forth between Jack and Twilight, vying for any kind of support. When none came she slumped in defeat. “Very well, simple it is. Just let me know what you need and I shall have it ready. And do stop squirming, you’re making it very hard to measure you properly!”

“I can’t help it, I’m not used to flying tape measures!”

Just as Rarity was about to retort they heard the door open.

“Rarity I hope you’re not too busy.” A soft voice said. “I found these really beautiful stones in the forest and-” The voices owner, a yellow pony with a pink mane and tale, stiffened up and froze in place upon seeing Jack in the room. After a few seconds of staring the pony, still frozen in place, fell on her side like a fainting goat.

“Fluttershy!” Twilight cried out, running over to her friend and tipping her back on her feet. “It’s okay he’s not dangerous.”

Jack heard the faintest of whispers issue from Fluttershy’s mouth.

“Yes I’m sure.” Twilight answered. “I’ve been with him all day. I know he looks kind of weird and scary,”

“Hey!” Jack interjected.

Twilight smiled at him. “but he’s a good pony, er, person.”

Fluttershy looked at Jack as he offered the friendliest smile he could muster. “Okay.” She said quietly, loosening up a little bit. She cautiously stepped a little closer to Jack. “Um, how do you do? I’m-m Fluttershy.” She offered up a shaky smile.

Jack did his best to appear harmless. “Nice to meet you Fluttershy, I’m Jack. And I promise I won’t do anything to hurt you.”

“A-alright, thank you.” She managed. She turned her attention to the white unicorn, almost like she was pretending Jack wasn’t there. “Rarity I found some really beautiful stones in the forest and I thought you might want them.”

“Let me see them dear.” Fluttershy opened up her saddlebag, allowing Rarity to float the colorful stones out. “Oh my, they are quite beautiful.”

The next thirty or so minutes consisted mostly of friendly conversation, though much of involved pony fashion so Jack just did a lot of listening. He gave Rarity a list of things he would need. Shirts, pants, boxers, and socks. Twilight decided it was finally time for them to leave so they said their farewells and headed out into the street.

“So what’s next?” Jack asked.

Twilight tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Well that’s more or less everypony I wanted you to meet so I guess we’re done for the day.”

“Oh no.” Jack grabbed his stomach. “That means we have to teleport back to the storage area and the hospital doesn’t it? Please Twilight I don’t think my insides can take much more jumping around.”

Twilight giggled. “Actually I was thinking the sorting could wait until tomorrow. As for the hospital, you were released into my custody so you can stay at my place for now.”

“Oh thank God.” Jack huffed out, so relieved that he wasn’t even bothered by being in the custody of a small, magical purple pony.

Twilight smiled. “Follow me, it’s not too far away.”

True to her word the walk only took a few minutes. Jack marveled at the literal treehouse that stood before him. “Nice place you’ve got here.”

“Like it?” Twilight beamed. “It doubles as the town library so there’s plenty of books to read as well.”

“Very cool.” Jack opened the door to step inside only to be assaulted by a storm of confetti and streamers, leaving him a little dumfounded.

“Surprise!” He heard several voices cry out.

Jack looked around the room. It was obviously set up for a party. Bright balloons, cake, bowls of punch, it was all there. Hanging across the room was a giant banner that said “Welcome to Equestria.” Stationed across various parts of the room were all the ponies Jack had met over the course of the day. Pinkie started jumping up and down in front of him.

“Were you surprised!? I tried to get more ponies to come but they wouldn’t for some reason. They would just get all nervous and say they had plans.” Pinkie scoffed. “But what plans could possibly be more important than a PARTY!” She bounced off, assumedly to go do… Pinkie Pie things, and Jack was approached by a small purple and green lizard creature.

The lizard stuck out his hand. “Hi I’m Spike, Twilight’s number one assistant.”

Jack leaned down to accept the handshake. “Jack Beckett.”

“Nice to meet ya Jack.” Spike said cheerfully. He looked around and beckoned Jack closer. “Just between us guys it’ll be nice to have another dude around. These mares can really drive a dragon crazy ya know?”

Jack looked at all the smiling faces across the room. “Oh I dunno, they don’t seem so bad.”

In God we trust, all others we monitor...

Princess Celestia was galloping as fast as her legs would take her through the castle’s elaborate basement. Urgent news had come to her. Urgent news that not just demanded, but required her attention. She turned a corner just in time to see a pony pushing a metal cart with something on it covered by a sheet into a room. The pony was accompanied by several members of the Royal Guard, including its captain.

“Your Majesty!” The captain said, bowing quickly. “What are you doing here?”

Celestia slowly walked up to the metal cart. “When I heard that another had been found I had to see for myself.” She turned, eyes wavering, to the Royal Guard Captain. “Is it true Shining Armor? Has there been another?”

Shining Armor’s head lowered solemnly. “I am afraid so your Majesty.”

Celestia looked upon the sheet with a mixture of sadness and fear. The first time had been one time too many, but this was the fourth and they were still no closer to an answer. “Remove the cloth.”

Shining Armor’s eyes widened. “Your Majesty?”

“I wish to see her.”

“But your Majesty-”

“CAPTAIN Armor.” Celestia said firmly, eyes still on the sheet. “I know it is your job to protect me from all forms of harm but I must do this. Now please,” her voice gradually quieted down, “remove the cloth or I will do it myself.”

Shining Armor let out a heavy hearted sigh and nodded to the pony pushing the cart. The pony nodded back and clenched his teeth on the sheet. After hesitating for a moment he finally pulled the sheet off, doing so gently as if he might break what was underneath if he pulled to hard, and revealed the carts grim contents.

Tears flowed freely from Celestia’s eyes now.

On the cart lay a young pegasus mare. Her once shining silver coat had faded to a dull gray, her bright, sky blue eyes now closed forever in eternal stillness. The only mark on her other than her silver arrow cutie mark was a small, circular wound above her left foreleg, just about were her heart would be.

“This is Lieutenant Steelwing’s niece isn’t it?” Her voice wavered. “Silverstreak.”

“Yes your Majesty.” Shining Armor replied quietly.

“If I remember correctly he was quite fond of her.”

“She’s been like a daughter to him since her parents passed.” Armor said, his eyes now on the mare as well. “She was going to attend the Royal Flight Academy at the start of the next semester. He was very proud of her.”

Celestia closed her eyes and laid her forehead on the mare’s side, tears still rolling down her face. “I am sorry…” She whispered. “I am sorry I could not protect you… I am sorry I failed you…”

“Your Majesty…” Armor said, coming to her side. “The doctors, they must…”

“Yes, of course.” Celestia lifted her head from the mare’s side and gave her one last glance as the sheet was thrown back over her. The cart was pushed into the room, followed closely by the Royal Guards. Except Shining Armor, who stayed with Celestia.

“Do we know anything new?” The Princess asked, wiping the tears from her face.

“I’m afraid not.” Armor said, doing little to mask his frustration. “She was… killed like the others, a single puncture wound in a vital area.” Celestia remained silent. The captain now looked to the floor. “There’s been some talk among the guards. Most of them think the human has something to do with this.”

The Princess turned to him in surprise. “Beckett? But how could that be possible? He’s been under constant watch since he came here, there’s no way he could have committed these crimes!”

“To be fair we have no idea what these humans are capable of.” Armor said. “And one of the guards confirmed that he saw something similar to what was pulled out of the victims in the human’s equipment. Not to mention that the first killing just happened to occur on the day he appeared here!”

Celestia shook her head. “It also took place while he was still unconscious in the hospital. If it will make you feel better I will ask Twilight Sparkle to keep a closer eye on him. However, the last report she sent me indicated that she sensed no unusual potential in him, magical or otherwise.”

“That only brings us to a more troubling alternative your Majesty.” Armor lowered his voice to a whisper. “What if there are more of them?”

The Princess closed her eyes in thought. “The draw of magical energy that opened the portal just to let Beckett, one human alone, through was massive and I sensed it right away. If there had been another I would know.” Her eyes suddenly snapped open in realization. “Unless…” Celestia suddenly took off down the hallway, heading back up to the main floor. A rather surprised Shining Armor did his best to keep up with her as she raced out the castle and into the royal gardens. She slowed to a stop as she came upon a large statue. The statue itself could be mistaken for a failed attempt at modern art. It looked like each body part had been scavenged from whatever animals were available at the time. The casual observer would likely assume such a creature couldn’t possibly exist, but Celestia knew better. This was Discord, the Draconequus. Almost half a year ago he had nearly succeeded in plunging Equestria into never ending chaos. Luckily the Elements of Harmony were able to defeat him and banish him back to his stone prison. But there were precious few creatures in Equestria that could open a dimensional hole of such magnitude while simultaneously being able to mask the magic energy signature, and he had already escaped once before.

Celestia turned to one of the guards posted on the statue. “Has there been any change? Anything unusual at all?”

The guard threw up a crisp salute. “Ma’am! Sergeant Chevron reports this post all secure with no unusual activity!” The sergeant dropped his salute upon finishing.

Celestia continued to eye the statue. Something felt… wrong. She couldn’t put her hoof on it but something was bothering her. “You wouldn’t happen to know how much of our magical research staff is free would you Shining Armor?”

“The last I heard was that most of the staff was working on sending the human back.” Armor said.

“I want you to give them new orders. They are to pull their best off of that project and start examining the statue for any strange magical signatures.”

“Right away your Majesty.” Armor turned to depart to the magic labs.

“And Captain.”

Armor stopped in his tracks and turned back. “Yes your Majesty?”

The Princess’ face became somber. “Has the lieutenant been informed?”

“Not yet.” Armor replied. “I was going to inform him myself.”

“I will do it.” Celestia said. “He deserves no less.”

Shining Armor nodded slowly. “Of course your Majesty.” He continued to the labs, leaving Celestia at the statue.

Celestia sighed and looked up into the night sky, at the moon that she had raised. “I wish you were not ill sister, I need your support now more than ever.”

***************

Jack was standing outside the Ponyville library, taking in the night air. Unlike the air in Afghanistan, which seemed to constantly force dust and sand down your throat, it was crisp and clear. The airman smirked to himself. As beautiful and clear as this night was he still found himself wishing he had a cigarette. He hadn’t had a smoke since he’d got here and the cravings were compiling on top of the stress he already felt. It was late and the party had ended hours ago. Everyone had gone home and Spike had gone to bed. Before going to sleep Twilight had showed Jack the room in the library’s basement that he would be staying in. She finally went to bed after Jack had promised her he would get some rest tonight. That had been two hours ago. Finally being alone had allowed Jack’s mind to drift back to the dream he’d had that morning. Rather than setting his mind at ease with answers it only burdened him with more questions.

Was the rest of the team ok?

What was the distress signal’s origin?

Why had he been alone in the truck?

Just how had he ended up upside down in a ravine?

Before he could delve any deeper into all the possible outcomes of the event Jack was distracted by the sound of wings flapping over his head. He looked up and saw a small owl perched on one of the low branches of the library.

Jack chuckled quietly. “I don’t suppose you can talk as well? Maybe you could offer me some wisdom?”

The owl just stared at Jack blankly. “Who?”

“You.” Jack said stiffly, now in a staring contest with the bird. After a few moments he laughed. “I guess that was a ‘hoo’ not a ‘who’.” He shook his head. “This place is gonna drive me crazy.”

“Hoo.” The owl took off from the branch and landed on Jack’s head.

Jack tilted his eyes up, trying to look at it but only getting a few feathers. “You’re rather personable for a wild animal aren’t you?”

“Hoo.” The little owl settled itself on Jack’s head.

Jack smiled. “Alright I guess you can hang out up there if you want, as long you don’t poop on my head.” Jack reached up and lightly scratched the back of the owl’s neck. “You got a name buddy?”

“His name’s Owlowiscious.” Jack turned to the voice, seeing Twilight Sparkle walking up to them with a smile on her face. “And it seems he’s taken a liking to you.”

“Maybe it’s because we’re both birds of prey.” Jack smiled. Twilight just her eyes at him. “Sorry, I didn’t wake you up did I?”

Twilight shook her head. “No I was just getting some water and I saw the basement door open. When I saw you weren’t there I got worried that you might’ve run off.”

“Hey, I promised to turn myself over to you didn’t I?” Jack said indignantly.

“Yes but,” Twilight gave him a sideways glance, “I also seem to remember you promising to get some rest tonight.”

Jack put his hands up in mock surrender. “You got me.” He put his hands down and looked up at the sky. “Sorry, I was just having trouble getting to sleep, still got a lot on my mind.”

Twilight looked at him sympathetically. “Are you still worried about your friends?”

Jack let out a heavy sigh. “Yeah. I mean, I remember a little of what happened before I came here but not enough to know that they’re alright, only that we were attacked.” Jack looked down at Twilight. “I don’t suppose you could use your magic to dig around in my head and pull those memories back up?”

Twilight offered a small smile. “I wish I could, but being able to do magic doesn’t make me a psychic. And even if I was it would be dangerous to perform that kind of mental intrusion. You could end up a raving lunatic. Now come on, let’s both go to bed. You never know, you might have another dream.”

Jack smiled as he followed the purple pony back into the library. “Yeah maybe you’re right. And Twilight?” Jack said stopping in the doorway.

“Hm?” Twilight turned her head to look at him.

“Thanks for looking out for me.”

Twilight flashed a heartfelt smile. “What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t?” With that she continued up the stairs to her room.

Jack smile, genuinely feeling a little better. Owlowicious flew off his head to the upper bookshelves as Jack walked over to the basement door. He started to walk down the steps when something stopped him in his tracks and made him turn around. It was a prickly feeling, the kind of feeling you get when something real bad is going down. He’d felt this before on several occasions, when convoy’s got hit or ops went bad. Jack’s combat instincts flared for the briefest of seconds before he remembered where he was. This was a place of peace. There hadn’t even been a recorded murder that he could remember from the books. He shook off the feeling and resumed walking down the stairs.

“Probably just someone burning a pancake.”