Twilight was in tears as the crowd cheered on their newest princess. Cadance and Luna watched with happiness in their eyes as Celestia placed the crown upon Twilights head.

She was now being crowned as a true princess and her friends were right there with her. She didn't ask to be a princess or even an alicorn but she would do her very best! Like she always had.

She had done a lot for her fellow ponies and asked for nothing in return. This was her moment, that she bashfully endured.

Unfortunately the moment was not to last.

An explosion shook the castle to it's very foundations as everypony present was blinded by a flash of light, causing them to rush to the sides of the hall. The ringing caused by the explosion was deafening but it soon began to subside and, one by one, ponies began to open their eyes. A rift of blue and orange sat in the air above, a bit above the ground.

The castle shook again as a second explosion emanated from the rift as mist swirled around it and flashes of light blue began and quickly became more frequent as it grew slightly. Twilight readied her magic and her friends quickly ran to her side as the other princesses also readied their magic.

The rift quickly drained of all color, leaving it a pure black, as it expanded in size and something large and rectangular spewed out as the rift shrunk and returned to it's previous state, color included.

Thankfully all ponies had already moved out of the objects way as it crashed into the floor, cracking the marble, and began to tumble towards Twilight and her friends. Thankfully Luna was quick on the draw and erected a deep blue magic wall, a bit before the stairs, to stop it, which it crashed into before settling before Luna's wall.

The hall was silent as they all beheld what just transpired.

The silence continued until something fell off of it and revealed an unkempt, unconscious pony, causing many to gasp and begin to move to help the poor soul. The sudden masses of movement died off as quickly as they began as something else appeared out of the strange object and elicited a few harsh glares.

Gary's ears were ringing, his eyes stung and could barely feel his limbs as they were sprawled out with his Remington to the side of him as he lay his head on the floor.

It wasn't the worst thing he's woken up to but far from welcome.

Upon opening his eyes he quickly decided it was the worst thing he's ever had the displeasure of waking up to.

His RV was trashed.

The windshield was fucked, the miniature kitchen was no longer found in it's usual place, the fridge was missing, the strong box that held the vital scanning equipment was... mostly intact, near every window was broken, even the one on the door and the roll of bandages he saw on the floor didn't say anything good for their medical supplies.

He tried to get his hooves under him but was met with minimal success as life was only just beginning to return to them. He struggled and grunted as he tried to force his hooves under him, deciding the floor was no place to be. Honestly he didn't want to lay in all the broken glass and wasted alcohol. He was fine with drinking but being covered in it was a no go. Shit faced or not.

With no small amount of effort he had gotten onto his hooves and looked over with a tired expression as the door fell off. Still strapped with all his gear and gun in hoof, he made for the door to assess the damage to the RV itself hoping it wouldn't cost a fortune.

The moment he saw what... who was outside he just about had a heart attack. Fix-it was laying on top of the door looking a lot more bloody than usual. Gary rushed to him, he dropped his gun in his panic to see to his injured friend and paid no attention to his environment. The floor being made of marble was entirely lost to him.

Fix-it was a fragile stallion but Gary often forgot just how fragile. The crash had given Gary a mild headache at most but the black stallion was a different story.

Blood was matted to his white mane as blood leaked from the side of his head, his lips and nose were bleeding, the tip of his horn had been chipped and his body was covered in bruises and blemishes that was visible through his black coat coat.

He was about to lay his friend down and go find the first aid kit but the sounds of a crackling storm made him turn around and see the still present rift. He didn't think much of it at first, assuming that they had been teleported or some other magic mumbo jumbo, until it turned completely black. And grew a white, toothy smile.

Gary watched with growing unease as he watched the Jester slowly crawl out of the rift, never looking anywhere but at Gary with it's unwavering white iris's. It's long skinny limbs were a pitch black which ended in four long claws on the fore arms as it settled onto all fours, it's back legs seemed to just be stumps but held it's form evenly and easily, it could stand on it's back legs but seemed to like crawling around to cause more distress in it's victims. The black around it's body wasn't conent with being stuck to the body and seeped off of it like a gas in all directions before dissipating a few inches away from the body. He considered getting Fix-it and getting out of there but a look around gave him pause.

He saw the ponies lined up on the walls of the hall as they stared at the Jester with fear as it continued to crawl out of the rift, he looked back to what looked like a balcony that numerous ponies were standing at, also staring at the Jester's progress with growing terror. He felt like he should recognize them. He turned to the remains of his RV, while he could get a new one he had grown attached to this particular automobile, many memories, good and bad, were housed within. He glanced to his discarded firearm as it sat next to his friend, he stared at his friend's face as it was locked in an expression of pain. He glared at the cause of this scene as it finished crossing over, never faltering in a glare of it's own.

His face began contorting into an expression of rage as he sat his friend down and picked his shotgun back up by the pump and chambered a fresh shell with one hoof, tossed it in the air for flair, then caught it it by the grip with his hoof on the trigger guard. His magic was limited but it was enough to pull a trigger and that was all he needed of it.

Gary isn't the smartest ling but he isn't stupid, at least that's what he likes to believe but when he charged at the most dangerous spirit that clearly wanted him dead, badly, head-on with no plan while being armed with a firearm he doesn't remember reloading, he should really re-evaluate his intelligence if he survives this bout of stupid suicidal rage.

The first shot that was fired startled everypony but Gary and sent them all running, their building fear and terror finally boiling over, it didn't help that they kept bumping into Gary, throwing off his aim and causing the next fired incendiary to be sent into the crowd and lighting the ones hit on fire and bowling them over from the force of the pellets but that didn't concern Gary in the slightest, they caused that to happen by running into him, but it wasn't the worst thing to happen to them either.

The Jester seemed to finally notice the other ponies and diverted it's attention, something Gary's shot to the face couldn't do, to the fleeing crowd of ponies. It seemed to embrace the situation wholly and lifted itself into a standing position to free up it's clawed forearms.

To swing into the crowd with sadistic glee.

Ponies were flayed alive as the Jester swung as fast and hard as possible, to get as many as it could. Gary stood frozen to the spot as he watched the carnage no more than five metres in front of him.

Despite all his experience, all the technology, knowledge and firepower. He was powerless to stop what he was watching. He was powerless to change what he had done, even if it was an accident. Despite not caring about them, the mass loss of life hit close to home.

His head snapped back to Fix-it. He’d hate him right now if he were awake. Not in the fact that they died to the Jester, not in the fact that he had killed a good three ponies on accident, he would hate him for doing nothing to stop it, for watching as they lost their lives. His eyes drifted to the RV.

If he was going to die to a Jester, he'd take it with him at the very least. Three malevolent spirits in one day sounds like a good job if he ever heard one.

He ran straight into the ruined RV and through the ripped curtains. He scanned the room, the couches and TV's that were in the center were either broken or misplaced, Fix-it's workshop was littered with tools and most drawers that were built into the worktable were open, everything within strewn about. The gym had holes in it, likely due to the weights hitting the walls and floor at uncomfortable speeds. The bar, oh god no the bar. The bar was covered in broken glass and wasted alcohol, the alcoholic in him wanted to cry or pounce the bar and try the lick up all the liquid gold he could or both.

He forced his eyes away, but that didn't stop a tear of pure sadness to seep from his compound eyes. He approached his armory, on it's side, and leaned down to let the retinal scan to open it for him.

He rolled his withers as he heard a Click and pried open the doors to gather his instruments of pain.

It was a mess because of course it was. The weapons were all laying down on the wall of the locker that hugged the floor, that bothered him little. He dropped the shotgun and his drifting mind thought the bang! that rang out around the RV belonged to his discarded firearm but he quickly discarded the thought before it could really form.

He pried his hatchet out of it's holder and attached it to the end of his vest by a small clip at the end of it's handle and picked a vial of oil at random, not like the type would matter much on a spirit who's weaknesses weren't known. He picked a few grenades at random, the type of grenade inconsequential as long as it hurt. Badly.

After putting the grenades through the loops on the left side of his vest he looked to the trap rings. The glass had shattered on all but one. The experimental one.

Fuck...

Gary gritted his teeth while strapping the only trap ring to his waist and reached for the Barrett which lay on the lockers wall like the other weapons. He dragged it out by the barrel, not caring that it pointed at him, he unloaded every weapon after use. If there was ever a time to use this monster, it was now.

He heaved it onto his back as he wandered to the strong box that had managed to stay, roughly, in it's original place. He opened the latches on it and pried the crate open, the ammunition was scattered everywhere so finding ammo for a sidearm was out of the question but thankfully the .50 was a very distinct round so sorting through it all wasn't much problem.

Gary stored his ammunition as if he could be caught in a firefight at any moment, the crate wasn't the only place that had a full magazine of ready-to-use bullets but it was the highest concentration of them. He leaned into the crate and retrieved four magazines of ten bullets each. Forty didn't sound like enough but it'll have to do, any more weight and he'll be compromising his ability to dodge which would be suicide in this situation. An idiot he may be but might as well be the second coming of Twilight Sparkle when it came to prepping for a hunt. He knows how much he can carry, he knows what gear to use, he knows the most efficient means of attack, he's memorized the attack patterns and strategies of different spirits. But his short comings barely make all that worth it.

Another bang! shook the RV and nearly turned it on it's side. That definitely wasn't his gun, It wasn't the first time either.

He stuffed the magazines into the pouches that sat on his vest to the best of his ability as he stumbled out from the curtain room and looked for the cause. There!

A purple alicorn was flying around and using it's magic to try and subdue the Jester. What the fuck?

Gary's eyes followed the alicorn as it flew around the hall, it looked exhausted. He squinted his eyes at it and... Holy fuck.

That's Twilight Sparkle.

His mind went reeling as recognition when over his face, trying to understand how he is currently looking at the Princess of Equestria fighting the Jester. She passed away before he was born and now he's in his mid twenties, staring at the purple alicorn with his own eyes. The alicorn that's supposed to be dead. He should of went outside and started helping but he something in his mind, the disbelieving part, forced him back into the curtain room and to start frantically looking for his history book. There it is!

He picked up his book and quickly opened it, scrambling to the right page he saw in big bold text.

The end of Princess Twilight's reign.

The date of her death and the time of her burial were all written down before his very eyes. This book just went from a book to a dangerous item if the wrong ponies saw it. That's what his mind told him anyway, probably the part that absorbed all those TV shows he watches from time to time.

Dangerous, just a book or otherwise, he didn't want to take a chance and choose incorrectly so he went back to his armory, opened it and stuffed it in there before locking it and rushing back to the front of the RV.

He searched for Twilight, the sounds of volatile magic projectiles was encouraging but he couldn't see her anywhere. He looked back to the balcony and saw who he assumes is the element bearers standing in front of the Jester, with Twilight behind them in a heap. Bugger.

He could admire their determination to protect their friend but Applejack's lasso and Rainbow Dash's hooves aren't gonna do shit. The party cannon, which Pinkie just ripped out of nowhere would have been useful if it weren't filled with confetti, at least that's what history said she put into that fucking thing. If Twilight's magic didn't do anything, her being a magic juggernaut, Rarity, a fashion designer, would be less than nothing and Fluttershy... A stare that makes something feel guilty and upset won't do anything to something that revels in the death it causes. There were also royal guards standing in between the bearers and the Jester that was causing the sounds of magic he was hearing. There weren't many left.

He looked at where he left Fix-it and didn't see him, he immediately went from window to window looking for a sign of him as he began to panic, he eventually spotted him also behind the element bearers and began calming down, somewhat. No more stalling then.

Gary crept out of the RV, seeing that the Jester was almost upon them, he looked for something to throw, that wasn't a grenade, to get it's attention. A single leg that had been torn off a pony lay next to him, being his only easy option within reach unless he thought he could throw a piece of his RV that far, he didn't think so. Morbid but it'll do.

Grabbing the leg he threw it with all his might, hoping it would hit and hoping it'll go for him. He saw that leg sail through the air and bounced off the back of the Jester's head and it turned it's head to him.

"Heeey! Remember me? Yeah unless you're to pay for that," He pointed to his RV. "I'm gonna have to pull a mafia on your ass." Gary spoke confidently and loudly, straining his voice and internally shitting himself. He got no verbal answer but the Jester turned fully to him and shot towards him like a dog at the races.

Gary had to move quickly to avoid the lethal swipe that was aimed at him, center mass.

Thankfully he didn't have a full meal before now or this would probably cause him to throw up. He might throw up from the stress he's experiencing anyway.

Despite the weight strapped to his form he managed to jump over the clawed appendage and landed, thankfully with no lost or broken equipment, like one of those old rodeo ponies.

He took a grenade off at random, pulled the pin and dropped it as he was mid-air and quickly scrambled away, through the Jester's legs. He dived into a roll to avoid having to take the Barrett off normally, since it lacked a strap, he let it fall off his body as it was already pointing at his target, caught it and aimed at the Jester's rear.

Click

He'd forgotten to load it.

Now panicking he took a magazine out of one of his pouches and hastily stuffed it in, pulling back the bolt to chamber a round, he was ready to shoot.

The grenade he dropped exploded in a bright blue explosion of electricity, he can never understand how Fix-it puts this stuff in the grenades, or anything he uses. The Jester locked up and brought it's head skyward as blue danced with black.

The electricity forced the Jester to become corporeal so he wasn't wasting rounds. The Jester's actual body was, for some reason, a pure white. He didn't question it, his magic surrounded the trigger as he held the rifle firmly in his grasp.

Boom!

He'll never get used to the sound and recoil of the Barrett, nearly sending him on his ass as the bullet went straight through the Jester's body, tearing it apart. Not really. The bullet made contact and tore a piece off the Jester's body but the amount of damage was underwhelming compared to what he was expecting. There was no huge gash, there was no loud screech and the Jester barely budged from the impact.

Instead it snapped it's head back down, turned and glared at him before charging. Got one might as well use it.

Gary didn't panic, much, he ripped the trap ring off of his waist and set it on the ground, used his magic to set the trigger hidden within the ring itself and jumped back as the glass took on a red hue around the edges near the ring. He planned on getting further away but didn't keep track of how close he was to the stairs and tripped on them, falling on his ass.

He looked at the Jester as it was rapidly approaching, he didn't have time to move so he simply said.

"Fuck."

It tripped the trap ring and--

Of all the things he was expecting the experimental ring to do, it fucking exploding with that much force was the last thing on that very short list.

It had enough force to launch Gary up the staircase and off the balcony.

Author's Note

If you think about it, he only shot once in that confrontation.

The experimental one.