Chapter 17: Follow Me Home

Slowly, Earl's eyes creaked open, revealing two bloodshot irises. The pain was intense, and pulsated across his entire body. From head to toe, pain surged through every vessel like an army leading a charge. His vision was distorted at first, but after a few blinks, the debris of the crash came into view. As he Frantically jolted himself upwards, he slammed directly into the floor of the overturned car and came crashing back down to the roof. After a groan of pain he groggily brought himself upwards until his forearms were giving him firm support.

"Guys?" He asked weakly.

Almost immediately, Macintosh raised his hand, almost barely noticeable from the amount of dust and debris the impact had caused. Next to appear was Applejack, who groggily lifted herself up as well, crouched to avoid hitting her head on the roof hanging above them. Earl nodded in response, and looked to his left. Thankfully, Twilight was laying at his side, almost untouched by the carnage of their accident, and Shining laying next to her, a thick layer of dust on his face and clothes as he breathed heavily and groaned slightly. He immediately smiled and reached down to slide a lock of hair out of her face, revealing her eyes fully.

"We're all OK..." Earl said, letting out a relived chuckle. "We're all alright..."

It quickly dawned on the human that they weren't alone, and reminded himself that the vehicle pursuing them wasn't too far behind. He shifted his view to all sides around him. Most of the windows had been shattered by the crash, allowing the dust and debris from the destroyed walls to float freely into the vehicle. While most of the windows were shattered, none of them provided an easy escape. Several were too small, and the only one that might let them through was littered with razor-sharp shards of glass. Earl then looked to the final window with a sigh. The only window that they could escape through was perfectly fine.

"Get your weapons, we need to get out of here!" Earl shouted, crawling over to the window and positioning himself for a kick.

"Oh shit! The truck!" Mac shouted, his eyes going wide.

Earl nodded in response and inhaled sharply, then delivered the first kick to the window. He let out an exhausted sigh as the glass didn't even buckle an inch.

"Get Shining out, and get the girls upstairs. The portal should be there. I'll try and cover you." He said, preparing himself for another kick.

Macintosh raised an eyebrow and paused his search for the weapons.

"You're gonna' cover me, from 10, maybe more, of those freakalopes?" He asked.

Earl delivered another swift kick to the window, sending a large web of cracks shooting through the glass.

"Trust me. I said I'd get you guys home, I'm going to do it." He replied, wiping a large bead of sweat from his forehead as he readied for another kick.

"And you?" Twilight asked.

"You matter more than I do." Earl said, bracing himself for another kick.

"Earl... We all matter the same." She replied, trying to make her tone as soft as possible.

The human simply shook his head and cocked his legs back for another attack. He stopped abruptly however, and tilted his heads upwards.

"Earl?" Twilight asked.

He put one finger up in an attempt to silence her.

"Earl... Please answer-"

"Shhh..." Earl said quietly.

It took Twilight a few seconds to know what Earl was listening to, but soon enough, the faint sound of an engine could be heard just barely in the distance. Instantly, Earl began frantically kicking at the window before him, desperately trying to break it open.

"Mac. Gun!" He shouted, still stomping on the seemingly-impenetrable glass

The engine was getting closer.

"Mac! Now!" He shouted, the desperation now showing in his voice.

Twilight tensed up nervously and looked around their metal prison. The sound of the engine was becoming more apparent as the seconds went on. After a moment of searching, Macintosh slid Earl's shotgun over to him.

"Cover your ears." Earl said, trying to sound as calm as possible.

Applejack instantly obliged, followed by Big Mac. Twilight quickly leaned over and helped Shining secure his hands over his ears, then covered her own. After receiving a nod of confirmation from the four, Earl nodded in response and sent two shells flying through each sides of the door. He then placed the weapon at his side and delivered one final, pulse-pounding kick to the weakened door, and sent it flying across the room. A large crash sounded throughout the house as the door slammed into the dining room table, a few feet from the crashed vehicle.

Earl was the first to exit, then turned back and helped Twilight and Applejack out of the vehicle. As he took Applejack's hand however, he glanced upwards through the gaping hole in the home and saw the truck just barely on the long stretch of road.

"Shit... Go! Now!" He shouted, helping Applejack the rest of the way out of the vehicle.

After the girl was successfully freed from the vehicle, Macintosh emerged, Shining Armor draped over his shoulder limply.

"OK. I guess you've got that covered."

Macintosh replied with a nod and proceeded to the stairs just beyond the living room.

Earl quickly noticed that the blonde-man had left his rifle behind and began signaling to him.

"Hey! Dude, you forgot... Your..." He said, slowly trailing off.

The man then looked to the road where the truck was advancing, then to the rifle laying on a pile of debris, then back to the truck. A sinister grin made it's way across his face as he crouched down and reached for the weapon. With a deep breath, he placed the weapon on top of the vehicle, his sights aimed directly at the advancing truck.

In through the nose, out through the mouth, nice and slow.

The words echoed through his mind momentarily as he repeated the action.

"Thanks, dad." He said quietly with a chuckle.

As the truck barreled down the road, Earl took a sharp inhale through his nose, keeping the stock of the weapon securely in his shoulder, and his hands gripping it with an extensive amount of force. He expected that Jackson couldn't see him from his current position inside the house. A well timed barrage of shots would send even the most experienced driver off-course because of shock. He had to time it just right.

Soon enough, the truck came closer. Close enough for Earl to just read the license plate that hung from the massive front end of the vehicle. It was time to strike. With one final inhale, Earl pulled the trigger. Instantly the room was filled with an almost blinding light as a deafening barrage of shots flew from the house and at the front of the large vehicle. As expected, the vehicle swerved slightly to the left, the bed of it tilting awkwardly.

Earl paused momentarily to reposition his sights for a new target. He was attempting to hit the tires of the vehicle. With a sharp inhale, he let out a small burst, but only hit the metal of the front grill. One more breath and a short barrage of shots. Closer, but still not at it's target. As the truck barreled closer, swerving back and forth, Earl gripped the gun even tighter.

"Come on, God dammit!" He shouted angrily, sweat falling from his brow and into the wounds on his face.

Ignoring the pain, inhaled deeply through his nose and held his breath.

In through the nose...

Earl pulled the trigger of the weapon, allowing a small burst to fly in the direction of the vehicle. One by one, the bullets hit their mark and slowly dug into the rubber of the tire. After several shots, the tire burst, causing the vehicle to violentely swerve to the left.

...out through the mouth

The human smiled and allowed a lengthy exhale to escape his mouth as he released his grip on the weapon. Eventually, the violently swerving truck toppled onto the side and began a series of barrel rolls, just as the van had done. Soldiers flailed helplessly as the vehicle rolled again and again, some getting caught in the undertow of the massive rolling vehicle. Needless to say, they were turned to a piles of nothing more than flesh on impact.

Earl's eyes went wide as the crashing vehicle neared the house, it's horizontal rolls not losing any momentum. He frantically ran to his left, into the living room and dived onto the closest couch as the truck made it's final roll into the house, crushing the van almost completely. The vehicle did substantially more damage than the previous one, knocking down the first tier of stairs and several more walls, and landing on it's left side.

After the wreckage had settled, Earl nervously made his way off of the couch from his huddled position. His hands were shaking extensively, along with his legs and clattering of his nervous teeth. He slowly made his way over to the vehicle and waited a moment. It seemed silent, like every one from the crew had been killed in the crash. Thinking back on it, it did seem pretty gruesome in Earl's mind. He'd seen more than a handful of them crushed under it's massive weight, and the bloodstains lining the sides of the bed were only proof. Wearily, he made his way closer to the vehicle. He quickly noticed the destroyed stairs and reached his shaky arm upwards to grasp the side of the sideways vehicle.

With an exhausted moan, he pulled himself up onto the truck and rose to his feet, careful not to fall through and land in the pile of bodies just below him. Most of the soldiers were lying dead in the bed of the truck. Crushed in between the walls of the home and the steel of the truck bed. Earl grimaced at the sight and continued making his way past the carnage.

"Guys!" He said, a small cough leaving his throat due to the debris. "I dealt with the truck! I'm coming up!"

Just as Earl had crossed the passenger-side door however, it sprang open. An arm reached from the darkness inside the front-seat of the vehicle and frantically grasped Earl's leg, causing him to scream in fear.

"G-Gotcha, prick!" A familiar voice shouted from inside the vehicle.

Earl fell to the ground as the arm pulled, and clawed helplessly at the carpet on the stairs. As the arm pulled, Jackson made his way out of the darkness and onto the side of the truck as well.

"Fuck you!" Earl said, kicking his free leg frantically at the Colonel.

After several kicks, the Colonel grabbed his second leg with near-perfect precision, and pulled him closer.

"I'm not lettin' you get away that easy you little shit-stain!" The Colonel said.

As Jackson pulled him closer, Earl prepared his fist, ready to attack at the perfect spot. As soon as Earl was close enough, The Colonel dropped his legs and prepared to grab him by the shoulders. However, The Colonel was cut off when a stabbing pain shot between his legs and up into his stomach.

Earl had landed the world's most perfect nut-shot.

The Colonel fell to his knees just in front of Earl, positioning himself perfectly for a kick from the man. Earl cocked his legs back quickly and delivered a two-foot kick to The Colonel's stomach as he clutched the recently-afflicted area. After the Colonel had fallen backwards, his hands between his legs as he groaned in pain, Earl shot up to his feet and sprinted up the stairs. He cleared the hallway with ease and met up with the members of his group just outside of a large glowing portal. A smile crossed his face as they all came into view. He had successfully gotten them all here, and it was time to go home.

"Ready?" He asked, running through the door to his old room.

Twilight nodded and glanced towards the portal, then back to Earl.

"I'll go first and ready the transformation spell. Should only take a few seconds." She replied.

"That's my mare. Best fuckin' unicorn in Equestria." He said with a smile.

The purple-haired girl blushed slightly in response and threw herself through the glowing portal, a large flash carrying her through. Earl turned to the bed, where Macintosh had set Shining.

"How do you think he's doing?" Earl asked, walking over to the bed.

"I aint' no doctor... But his breathing is get more, how'dju sayit'? Shallow?" Mac replied.

Earl paused for a moment, then reached down and lightly slapped Shining's face.

"Hey, bud? You there?" He asked, trying his best to make his tone soft.

He was failing at it.

Shining groggily opened his eyes and looked up to Earl. The blue-haired man was extremely pale, and beads of cold sweat were lining his forehead.

"Y-Yeah... I'm... I'm here..." He said shakily, a shiver coming to his voice.

"Just hold in there, alright? We're gonna' get you to Redheart, she's going to fix you up, alright? Can you do that?" Earl replied.

"I'm.... realllllly cold, man... Really cold." Shining replied, the shiver becoming more apparent.

"Hey. You're going to be fine. Just keep breathing." Earl said.

The black-haired man then motioned to Applejack.

"She should be ready, go ahead AJ." He said.

The blonde-haired girl tipped her hat to him and threw herself into the portal next, a bright flash enveloping the room once again. Earl then motioned to Big Mac.

"You're up, brother. I'll take care of Shines, get him through. You go ahead." He said.

Macintosh smiled slightly and nodded as he approached the portal.

"Been one hell of a ride, eh' Earl?" Macintosh asked over his shoulder.

"One I'm sure we'd all like to forget." Earl replied with a chuckle.

With that, the large blonde-man made his way into the portal, yet another bright flash enveloping the room.

"Shines... We're up... You ready to go home?" Earl asked, shaking the pale man slightly.

Shining nodded his head weakly as Earl hoisted him over his shoulder and approached the portal.

"Goodbye Earth..." Earl said with a chuckle. "... And good fucking riddance..."

* * *

As Earl made his way through the portal, he was instantly shot by a purple beam of light. The human closed his eyes tightly, expecting what was to come next. When he opened them again, he was back in his unicorn state, a wide smile across his lips. He then noticed Shining was levitating in his grasp, and gently set him onto the floor. Shining had returned to his equine form as well, but his color was of a sicker white. A yellow-ish white that just held the essence of something sickly. As Earl scanned the room, he noticed that everyone had been turned back to their pony forms. Applejack and Macintosh sat in the corner of the room, embracing each other happily, while Twilight held a worried expression.

"Earl..." Shining called out weakly.

"Hang on a sec, man... Twilight?" Earl asked, looking in the purple unicorn's direction.

Twilight remained speechless, and simply pointed a hoof through the portal. On the other side, just faintly, Jackson could be seen crawling down the long narrow hallway that led to Earl's old room.

"E-Earl..." Shining called out once more.

"Shut it Twi." Earl said, a nervous fire creeping into his throat.

"I-I can't!" Twilight replied.

"What do you mean you can't?!"

"That was a portal strong enough to carry five entities to a completely new dimension, I can't just shut it on my own!"

Jackson continued crawling down the hallway, slowly making his way to his feet, a scowl plastered on his face.

"Do... Something! Put a force field around it!" Earl shouted as The Colonel moved closer.

Twilight nodded quickly and aimed her horn at the glowing portal. Instantly, the area around it was engulfed in a large, violet-colored sphere. A magic hum resonated from the shield, signalling it was active.

Seconds later, Jackson reached the portal and slowly poked his arm into it. Earl gently pushed Twilight behind him and readied his horn.

"What the fuck...?" Jackson said, immediately drawing his arm back.

"Stay behind me..." Earl said quietly.

Jackson raised an eyebrow on the other side of the portal.

"Earl...? Was that you, you little fucker?! Is this that light you been hiding from me?!" Jackson shouted.

Without further thought, The Colonel threw himself through the portal, only to be met by the purple forcefield. Earl tensed up slightly as the human entered their world. After a groan and a curse under his breath, Jackson opened his eyes, which instantly went wide.

"W-What.... What the... WHAT THE FUCK?!" Jackson said, his voice growing progressively louder.

Twilight whimpered slightly behind Earl, her horn still glowing.

"What the fuck are you things?!" Jackson shouted.

"Go, Jackson! Just leave us the fuck alone!" Earl shouted in response.

Jackson narrowed his eyebrows quizzically.

"Earl...?" He asked, extremely confused.

The light-grey unicorn nodded in response.

"Now leave. It's over, we're home, you're home. Leave us alone!" Earl said.

Jackson shook his head.

"Wait... So... You cocksuckers.... You're aliens?! Holy shit! You're aliens!" Jackson said, his expression terrified. "You're little horse-looking alien things..."

Jackson's face quickly turned to a scowl again.

"Little horse-looking alien things that killed my men..."

Earl shook his head frantically.

"You gave us no choice!"

"Save it, little pony shithead... Your alien technology may be keeping me from you right now... But I'll be back you little shit... And then? I'm going to gut you, and your little pony girlfriend like a fucking FISH!" Jackson shouted angrily.

Earl stood his ground, his chest heaving as furious breaths left his snout. Jackson smiled and turned back into the portal, allowing the light-grey unicorn to retreat from his stance slightly.

"E-E.... Earl...?" Shining called out for the third time.

The unicorn quickly broke his stare on the portal and looked to the sickly-white unicorn. Shining Armor was shivering on the ground, his chest barely moving as exhausted breaths left his muzzle.

"Oh... Shit! Shines!" Earl replied, trotting quickly to the unicorn.

He fell to his knees just in front of Shining and looked over him as Twilight turned and took in the view of her ill brother. Her jaw immediately dropped and tears slowly began welling in her eyes.

"Shining...?" She said weakly.

"What's wrong?! I don't see a gunshot, you should be fine!" Earl said, scanning him frantically.

"My... C-Coat... It's fine.... B-But.... I can feel... The damage.... is still... still inside..." Shining said, his eyes slowly closing.

"Hey! Stay awake brother, we're going to get you help!" Earl shouted, motioning to Mac. "Mac! I need-"

"Earl..." Shining said, cutting him off.

Earl snapped his view down to the unicorn, Twilight still approaching slowly.

"Earl... I... I'm not going to.... to make it to a hospital..." Shining continued weakly.

"No! We're gonna get you help! Mac-!"

"Earl... Please... Just listen to me..." Shining said, cutting him off again.

The sickly-white unicorn then motioned to his teary eyed sister, asking her to come over.

"T-Twilly..." He said, coughing slightly.

The guilty fire slowly began to spark in Earl's stomach once more.

Twilight hesitated slightly before sprinting over to her brother and falling to his side.

"I... I don't think... I'm gonna'.... Make it, kiddo..." He said, tears slowly sliding into his own eyes.

Twilight shook her head weakly.

"N-No..." She replied, choked by fear.

"You tell..." Shining said, choking slightly as tears began falling from his eyes. "You tell mom... A-And dad... And.... And C-Candence...And... Stars... You tell them... I-I... I love them... Alright?"

"N-No! You're... You're not going to die! Earl... Y-You can save him, right?! Somehow?!" Twilight pleaded.

As if pouring gasoline on his fire of guilt, Twilight looked up to him, her tears now flowing freely.

"Twilight... Please.... Just... Don't blame him... He's.... He's a good... P-Pony...." Shining said as he shook his head, shivering and crying freely.

"D-Don't... Don't die... I... I can't lose you..." Twilight said, sobbing hysterically.

"Twilly... You're not losing me..." Shining said weakly.

The dying unicorn placed a hoof to her chest.

"I'll always be your... Big Brother... B-Best Friend Forever..." He continued, poking her chest "R-Right here..."

Twilight scanned his form frantically before gently resting her head against his chest and squeezing her forelegs around him in a tight embrace.

"I love you... T-Twilly..." He said, slowly fading from consciousness.

"I love you too big brother..." Twilight said weakly, tears leaking onto Shining's coat.

Earl could only watch as Shining's eyes slowly dimmed, and shut for the final time. His breathing ceased, and his head fell gently to the side as Twilight continued sobbing into his chest.

"B...B...B...F...F..."

End of Part 3

Author's Note

Longest chapter ever posted. Merry Christmas.