Sanguine Souls

Revenge will never die so long as the embers of hate that feed it still burn

"You cannot stop me this time. You haven't any more chances. When the skies are burning red with my vengeance, you will know what happens to those who push my limits!" Jayhawk yelled into the empty air, pounding his hand against the driving wheel in which he controlled.

“That’s it, that’s the one!” DJ exclaimed, pointing at Jay excitedly while crouched in the seat next to him. “That has to be your phrase for this hunt. It is quite badass, if I do say so myself.”

“Yeah, I think it suits the situation well. Bloody cultsits” Jay admitted as he focused on the path ahead. Through some peculiar connections, him and DJ had traveled to southern Africa to return to the hideout DJ had spoke of, and were now sitting in a tan safari jeep that tumbled along on a path leading through a small jungle. The fingerless gloves he wore helped him grip the wheel of the vehicle as he drove through the rough terrain. He had also quickly put on a belt before leaving that was fitted with a few pouches and holsters carrying important items such as a few flashbangs and antidote capsules. The holsters carried a canteen of holy water and a Colt M1878 double-action long-barreled revolver with a pouch of 18 silver coated .38 caliber bullets beside it.

“OH! Turn here, quickly!” DJ yelled, pointing to where the path took a sharp right, in which Jay complied by drifting the jeep to the right. The harsh turn caused them both to shift in their seats

“Jeez, I wish you’d tell me sooner when I need to turn” Jay remarked, adjusting the wheel. “You sure you still remember where to go?”

“Mostly. It’s kinda coming back to me as we go.” DJ said as he looked for a map in the glove department in front of him. “Just be ready to take more random turns, or possible detours.”

Noticing his partner's position, Jay quickly pushed on the brakes, causing DJ to slam his face into the glove department in which he was scavenging, to which he replied with a yelp of pain “Ow! What the hell?!”

Jay laughed out loud and spoke “You’d better be ready for any random stops like that to happen at any time!”

“Giant prick” DJ quickly remarked.

“Lil’ bitch” Jay rebutted at the same speed.

They looked at each other, and sudden smiles quickly turned to loud laughs and losses of breath. Jay’s eyes teared up as he tried to continue to drive through the tedious jungle trail. DJ was gasping for air as he shouted “Turn! Turn right again!”

Jay took the jeep around a large mountain beside the turning path and stopped the jeep so he and DJ could recuperate from their laughing fits.

DJ exhaled “Oh man. We haven’t laughed like that in a while, Jay”

“Yeah. Good change of pace” Jay said as he sat back in his seat. After their few seconds of heavy breathing passed, Jay continued driving the jeep forward on the trail. “Alright so, how much farther do you think we have to go?”

DJ looked at the surrounding area as they moved “Stop the jeep. I recognize this place” DJ said, holding his hand out to signal.

The jeep came to a slow halt on the trail at a small, slightly concave spot in the mountain that the path was beside. To their left the forestry had dissipated and revealed a steep hill about ten feet from the path leading down into more trees. DJ immediately got out of the jeep, followed closely by Jay, and inspected the peculiar inward bend of rock.

“I can tell why you remembered this spot. This doesn't seem very natural” Jay relayed, overlooking the area as he stood behind DJ. Jay had noticed that the rock DJ inspected was very rugged and had certain spots where the stone cracked. It looked as if the concave spot had a place where somebody dug through the rock.

“Gotcha!” DJ exclaimed, causing Jay to turn his attention to him and watch as DJ pulled a certain vine hanging over the concave rock. The action had made a small clicking sound, and after a few seconds DJ tapped the ground of the spot to reveal a manhole leading down into a dark tunnel.”Ta-dah, Technology!”

“Wow. Clever.” Jay remarked as he watched DJ climb down the ladder leading into the tunnel. “You’d think they would want to lock it somehow”

“Who needs a lock when the intruders can’t even find the door?” DJ asked sarcastically from inside the tunnel. He beckoned towards the ladder “Don’t be shy, it ain’t rusty or anything”

Jay quickly grabbed his semi-long red jacket from the jeep and slung it over his shoulder as he climbed down the short ladder, attempting to close the manhole behind him. Once it was shut, the tunnel became pitch black as Jay dropped off the ladder

“...can’t see” Dj complained

“I’m on it” Jay replied

Jay stuck out his hand and began channeling a small concentration of light. After a few seconds, a small white orb appeared in it and lit the short tunnel. The tunnel was a mere foot above Jay’s head, and extended a few feet forward until it plummeted down. The was another ladder extending down into yet another tunnel of darkness

“Neat. Let’s go.” DJ said, beckoning Jay to follow as he started down the second ladder

“Wait.” Jay said, halting DJ's urgency. “I have an idea.”

Jay walked towards the ladder and began channeling once more, creating another shining white orb. He then held it out and dropped it down into the darkness. The orb fell for about 3 seconds, lighting the tunnel as it went, and made a loud tap as it hit the cement ground below.

"Nice idea. No need to use this then” DJ said, dropping off the ladder and landing heavily on the ground in a crouching position beside the orb. He stood, dusted himself off and said “Floor is solid and we’re alone. Come on down!”

Jay shrugged and followed, hopping off the edge and landing easily beside the orb. He picked it up and gave it to DJ, who then held it up as he walked forward to light up what was beyond them.

“Well, not much space to work in” Jay remarked at the room in front of him.

The white orbs of light revealed a small room about 15 feet long and 10 feet wide, with tables against the left wall. Against the back wall was an oval statue with square points all around the inside. The tables were covered with different scattered notes, most of which regarded the portal and others that were encrypted.

“Tell me about it. I had to actually work to reactivate this thing” DJ replied, looking around for something “Here it is, the key” DJ said, holding up a small rectangle

“The key?” Jay asked, eyeing the small piece of stone “ I’m guessing you made that thing for the portal? ”

“Yessir!” Dj piped, walking over to the portal. “You didn’t seriously think I would want to do this twice, did you? Just getting the materials was tedious enough”

At that moment DJ knelt down and jammed the rectangle stone into a slot at the base of the portal. The portal began to hum and soon the the square points around the inside extended a green, liquid form of energy that concentrated itself into a swirl in the middle. Soon, the portal energy fixed itself to reveal the scene DJ had described back at Jay’s lookout.

Among very green grassy plains was a town of what Jay guessed could be a few hundred inhabitants. The town sprouted out to different places such as an orchard with yards of trees, a path leading to a cottage in front of a forest, and what seemed to be a train station.

“Nice looking place, isn’t it?” DJ remarked, looking over the scene as Jay did. “Go ahead, inspect it. Use ‘the Hawkeye’” DJ said, raising his hands up to exaggerate the abilities’ affects

Jay did as recommended, and placed two fingers on both his temples. His vision became enhanced, blinding his eyes and allowing his mind to extend forward and see for him. This allowed him to zoom his vision to extensive lengths, and upon doing so, Jay saw what he could barely believe. DJ had described the place accurately

Jay could see dozens of ponies, pegasi and unicorns wandering about the town. He could see them talking to each other, sitting at tables and park benches, shopping with saddles. What confused him most was when he zoomed back out and noticed a cyan blur pushing clouds around the sky.

Upon releasing Hawkeye, Jay stepped back dumbfounded. His wide eyes blinked twice as if he believed he was dreaming, but the situation before him was very real.

“What...the fuck.” Jay remarked, still staring at the portal as he raised a hand to point at it “You didn’t sugarcoat anything. That is the exact scene you told me at my watchtower.”

“Yup. You going in or what?” DJ asked, beckoning to the portal “You’ve got about 10 minutes to decide”

Jay took a deep breath and closed his eyes. In and out. Find and take out the clan leaders and leave...cakewalk He thought, as he opened his eyes again.

“You watch over things here.” Jay said, pointing to DJ confidently “I’m going in”

“Alright , Jay” DJ acknowledged, his arms out in question “If revenge really means that much to you, jump on in”

“It does.” Jay replied, poking DJ in the chest. “Some prissy little ponies won’t stop me from taking these guys down. Wish me luck!”

“Luck!” DJ yelled as Jay leaped forward into the portal. For a moment, all Jay could see was a swirl of the scene in portal before it reorganized in front of him, and began moving up.

“Oh man, I knew that portal was BULL SHIIIIIIIT!” Jay yelled out as he realized he was plummeting towards the outskirts of the town.

Get it together, Jayhawk! You’ll survive this fall...hopefully... Jay thought seconds before adjusting his orientation, crashing into the ground feet first.

“AGH! Dammit!” Jay exclaimed as the pain from the fall shot through his legs, slamming his fist into the small indent his landing made on the ground. After recuperating from the fall, Jay stepped out of the crater. He looked forward to see that he was only about a five minutes worth of a walk from the town. Jay looked behind him to see that the path lead up to a large, steep mountain

Really? That damn portal couldn’t teleport me there instead?! Jay thought, still feeling slightly sore in his feet.

Reluctantly, Jay began to walk when he heard a voice from the sky“Whoa! A.... a human?!” exclaimed an unseen female voice.

Before Jay could look around for the source of the voice, a light blue pegasus with a rainbow design in her mane swooped down and floated in front of him, wide eyed and curious. Jay stared back at the pony, a stern look of annoyance slowly appearing on his face. The pegasus merely reacted by narrowing her eyes and leaning her head forward , giving Jay a suspicious look.

Minutes of the stare down passed before the pegasus spoke up “Are you the thing that fell from the sky just now?” She slowly said in a questioning tone.

“Yes, I am.” Jay replied, keeping the same look on his face “I was teleported here, by an obviously shoddy portal...”

The pony exchanged her suspicious face for her previous confused one “A portal? You were...’teleported’ here?” she asked, almost smiling.

“...that’s correct. I’m actually a superhuman from a world completely different from this one, and I’m only here to track down some other humans” Jay relayed, knowing that the flying pony would laugh off his short story.

Against Jay’s expectations, the pony floated in front of him, with the same confused face. She scratched her coloured mane as she spoke “so..wait...you’re like...a bounty hunter or something?” she asked, noticing the golden-trimmed sword sheathed on Jay's back and various pouches and items strapped to his waist.

“Nope. I’m just here to tie up some loose ends” Jay remarked, annoyed at the pony’s cheap label of his appearance ”Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be heading to town” he said, walking past the floating pony.

“Wait” she exclaimed, blocking his path again “My friend Twilight could help you find your friends. She’s really close with Princess Celestia”

Princess. That’s the kind of word I was hoping to hear. Royalty could help me track down the clan leaders...and they may even hang them for me Jay thought as he scratched his chin while looking at the ground.

“That would be very useful, actually” Jay said, nodding his head in agreement “My name is Jayhawk. Please, take me to see her, miss...?”

‘Dash. Rainbow Dash” replied the flying pony, her tone suddenly piping up “Fastest flyer in all of Equestria!”

Rainbow then followed her statement by sweeping up into the air and performing several backflips before flying back down to Jay. Intrigued, Jay suddenly formed an idea that made him smile unconsciously.

“I can take you to see her” Dash said, floating in a laid back pose “She lives in the library on the other side of town”

“Well, that’s perfect” Jay said, clapping his hands together “How about a quick race then, miss ‘Dash’?”

Dash was thrown out of her nonchalant pose as she stared at Jay, dumbfounded. After a few seconds she burst out laughing, falling to the ground and kicking her legs about. Jay stood before her, still smiling at the unaware pony’s mocking of his idea.

“You’re kidding, right?” Dash spoke through gaps of laughter “There’s now way a human could be as fast as a pony, especially a pegasus! You don’t even have wings!”

“Well, I’d beg to differ on that fact” Jay said confidently. With enough alignment energy already channeled, he threw out his arms wide, causing his spectral wings to sprout outward from his shoulders to about double his arm's length. Rainbow Dash had halted her laughter, marveling the colossal white wings that Jay had suddenly acquired in a burst of light and feathers.

“Wha-...you...they’re...huge” Dash stuttered, now embarrassed at her own wing size compared to her body.

“So, what do you say?” Jay propositioned, moving his wings to adjust and fold them to his back “You’re not...afraid to fly me because of my wing size, are you?” he remarked, locking his gaze at Rainbow, who now lay on the ground wide eyed and blushing a vibrant pink.

Dash caught hold of herself and zoomed back up to flying at Jay’s eye level “No way! I’ll fly anypony, any day. I ain’t afraid of you!” she said, feigning courageousness in an attempt to keep her cool persona alive. “‘ll still take you on, Jay ‘hawk’. Follow me!”

Dash quickly ascended to the clouds as Jay followed her up into the sky. She stopped at what seemed like nearly 130 feet above the ground.

“See that tiny building right there?” said Dash while pointing towards a large tree shaped into a house with a few windows and a telescope atop it. The structure seemed to be about half a mile away from their spot..“That’s the library where Twilight is. First one to the door wins!”

“Sounds a bit too easy” Jay replied “You sure about this, lil’ pony?”

“One hundred percent!” Dash exclaimed back at Jay, as she readied herself to start the race. “I’m not about to let some flying human beat me in a race!”

“Who said I would give you a choice?” Jay joked, also readying himself to fly.

“Alright, on your mark, get set...GO!” Dash yelled as both she and Jay took off towards the Library, racing at the same speed. Jay continued to gain speed from moving in small “U” shaped movements in the sky as Dash swooped up to gain more air. She then looped back down towards the ground in an attempt to perform her signature move.

“Check it out! I call this one the ‘Sonic Rainboom!’” Dash exclaimed to Jay, feeling the speed of her aerodynamics pushing her.

“Why’s that?!” Jay yelled in reply “Something to do with breaking the sound barrier?!”

Suddenly, Dash looked below her to notice Jay heading straight for her from behind at a rising speed. “BAH!” Dash yelped as he soared past her, bursting through the sound barrier in a flash of white light as he passed. The display had left Dash’s jaw without its hinges as she sat floating in the sky, watching Jay take the race with ease with eyes wide as they had been before the race.

As Jayhawk sped towards the library, he took a sharp nosedive and retracted his wings, flipping to hit the ground running through the rest of the street that lay between him and the building and skidding to a stop by the library door. He then walked a few steps and put one finger on the door, looking back to the dumbfounded pegasus in the sky with the same confident smile he had before.

It was nearly a minute before Dash had caught herself and managed to fly over to the library door, where Jay was waiting for her, spinning his engraved revolver on his fingers to pass the time.

“Oh, you out of your trance?” Jay joked at Dash, holstering his revolver. “I thought I’d left you without your brain on that one”

Dash stuttered as she spoke “You...that...that was...”

“Amazing? Crazy? Impossible?” Jay suggested

“...SO AWESOME!” Dash finished, her expression now beaming “How did you do that so easily?!”

“Break the sound barrier? Well, practice makes perfect” Jay replied, remembering that he could barely take off with his wings the first time he used them.

“You must practice like, everyday! You’re even better than the wonderbotls! You-” Dash was cut off by Jay raising his hand, signaling her to stop.

“I believe we came to the library for a reason?” Jay said, tilting his head towards the door.

“...oh, right” Dash chuckled “Twilight should be here” Dash said while knocking on the door. The knock was soon answered by a small purple dragon with green spines running down its body. The dragon mustered a “Oh, hello Rainb-” before his gaze hit Jay, causing his eyes to become wide to an extent that he looked almost terrified.

Jay scoffed “Seriously, people in my world wouldn’t react like this if they saw pegasi or dragons appear outta nowhere. Feels kinda unfair” he said towards Rainbow, almost disregarding the dragon’s urgent call for Twilight to come to the door. Dash simply shrugged back at him i nresponse.

Jay looked back at the door to notice a purple unicorn with a well kept mane that had a pink streak through it. The unicorn’s expression was the same as the dragon’s previous reaction

“I’m guessing this is your friend ‘Twilight’?” Jay said, staring back at the surprised purple pony. “she seems kinda...out of it”

“A human...wow.” Twilight must have realized something, as she began looking around cautiously “Omigosh! What if somepony else sees you? What if...Lyra sees you?! Quickly, you have to get inside, now!” Twilight urged, teleporting behind Jay and attempting to shove him inside the library. Jay complied, and ducked his head slightly under the short door to the building. Dash quickly followed as the small dragon shut the door behind them.

From the door, Jay could see a circular area covered in bookshelves, as well as a small staircase that lead up to what he guessed was the pony’s bedroom. There was a door at the back that he assumed was a basement of some sort. Twilight sat down behind Jay, who still marveled at the mass of books.“Spike, lock the door” she said quickly. The small dragon stood up as tall as he could and reached to push a lock into the door, at the sound of a small click. The purple pony let out a relieved sigh and stood back up.

Jay had begun inspecting the library’s array of knowledge seemingly without care for consent “Quite the archive you’ve got here” he said, looking over the many sorted, unfamiliar books “I don’t seem to recognize anything, though. You some sort of researcher?”

Jay reached for a book titled “Dangers of Dark Magics”, but before he could open it, it disappeared in a flash of purple light. He looked over to Twilight, who now had the book hovering over her with some sort of magic. Her horn shared the same aura the book had as it floated by her head.

“Listen, I don’t know who you are, but we need to talk before you start rummaging through my books” she demanded, a stern look on her face. Jay could tell she wasn’t as lenient as the multi colored pony that stood beside her.

At that moment, Rainbow spoke up “Twilight, this is Jayhawk. He’s a human from another world and he’s come to Equestria to find some other human friends of his” Dash relayed.

“Well, I wouldn’t call them my friends, but that is accurate” Jay remarked, as he returned to overlooking the many rows of books, searching for something else that might peak his interest. ‘Rainbow Dash says you may be able to help me”

Twilight’s expression became concerned, but still confused. “Well...I guess I could contact Princess Celestia about it.” Twilight said, pondering possible outcomes of introducing a human to the princess “She may be able to help you track down whoever it is you’re looking for”

“That would be delightful.” Jay replied, walking back towards the ponies “Now then, may I read the book?” Jay said, beckoning the floating book beside Twilight

Twilight inspected the book “‘Dangers of Dark Magic’?” she asked, a slight tone of concern in her voice. Suddenly Twilight remembered something she had read about mythological creatures , and that humans practiced many things that Equestria denounced as immoral.

She eyed Jay suspiciously, to which he replied “You might call me an exorcist of sorts. I like to know everything I can about my enemy”

“Enemy?” Twilight asked, still suspicious “So who you’re tracking must have something to do with dark magic”

“Perceptive. I like that in a female, it gives great personality” Jay said, in an attempt to demeanor the purple pony like he did to Rainbow.

Twilight seemed unphased “So then, what is the sword for?” Twilight asked, eying the long blade sheathed on Jay’s back.

“Just in case” Jay quickly replied.

She seems to be a lot more held together than “gay pride” over there. Jay thought, nearly laughing to himself

“In case of what? You don’t plan to hurt anypony, do you?” Twilight remarked, noting also his various pouches

“No, I plan on hurting those I’m tracking if they become hostile” Jay shot back

“Ha!” Dash cut in, zooming in between the two. “You ARE a bounty hunter! We know a pony who does the same thing you do”

“Oh...really?” Jay questioned, now intrigued to hear what the pegasus had to say “Indulge me”

“Yeah. His name is Soulless Reaper. He’s always running around the place, hunting down some crazy weirdos or whooping some monster’s’ butt” Dash explained, acting out a round of fisticuff fighting “He also carries around this big pole with three blades on it. He calls it a ‘scythe’”

“Interesting” Jay remarked, imagining the somehow familiar description “So you ponies have what you would maybe call...a guardian?”

“Pretty much.” Dash piped up “He’s a really cool dude too”

“Perhaps I’ll have the chance to meet him.” Jay said, hoping such a scene would come true. Any help was better than no help “But for now, I’d like it if you could contact that princess of yours. I’m a bit anxious to find these others humans as fast as possible”

“Right.” Twilight acknowledged, heading over to a table with various parchments and an inked feather. “I’ll get on that right now”

The same purple aura floated about the feather as the pony focused on writing the letter Jay requested. She sat in front of the table for a few minutes as Jay stood near Rainbow by the door, reading the book about “Dangers of Dark Magic”. After a few more minutes had passed Jay was nearly at his edge, holding in his insurmountable laughter as hard as he could at the book’s misleading facts and huge lack of knowledge of dark arts.

Rainbow noticed, as she inquired “Hey Jay, what’s so funny about that book?” she questioned, concerned that he was laughing at the ‘dangers of dark magics’

“Oh...nothing, Rainbow Dash” Jay said, calming himself to avoid bursting “Nothing at all...”

“Done.” Twilight piped up, dropping the feather back into the ink pot “This letter will notify Princess Celestia of your arrival and what you’re here for”

“Alright. Thank you for taking the time.” Jay said, holding out his hand towards Twilight “I’ll take it to her myself immediately, If you’ll point me in the right direction”

“Oh, that won’t be necessary” Twilight replied, floating the letter over to the small dragon “Spike. Send the letter please”

“Gotcha, Twi” piped the green dragon. as he cleared his throat.

“What is he-” Jay was cut off by the display of magic Spike performed as he breathed a green fiery essence at the letter, causing the letter to disappear in a small poof.

“What...” Was all Jay could muster before taking in the scene and making an assumption “Oh, I see. After taking the time to write that, you just burn it? Real funny, ha ha”

Twilight simply giggled at Jay’s accusation “I didn’t burn it. Spike’s fire is magic” She said, pointing towards Spike who stood high with pride “His fire sends my letters directly to Princess Celestia instantly”

Jay stopped, and sat down on the floor, wide eyed. Of all the things he’d seen fire do, not to mention all the pain it caused him, acting as a magical courier was never something he would have ever expected fire magic to perform

Where the hell am I... Jay thought as he let out an exasperated sigh, hanging his arms on his knees.

“So, now what?” Jay asked, tossing his hands up in question “we just...wait?”

“Yes. Celestia will certainly respond” Twilight replied cheerfully

“And for how long will we have to wait?” Jay asked, slightly annoyed

“However long it takes Princess Celestia to reply. This is an unusual matter, anyways” Twilight said, wondering herself how the princess will reply.

Jay hung his head in depression This is going to be the longest hunt of my life... he thought.

"Well, it's getting dark anyways" Jay concluded, noticing the setting sun through a small window "Wake me up when you get her response"

Jayhawk found himself more tired from the events that had already taken place so far then he'd let on. With the opportunity to do so, Jay laid back against the side of the nearest bookcase and closed his eyes, hoping to drift off into sleep. Soon he was greeted with an unconscious body and a free mind, taking the rest he deserved.