DEFCOИ: Rewritten

A Friend...

Date: 2ND DAY SINCE ARRIVAL

Time: 07:00 HOURS

Location: FARM LANDS

Objective: GO EAT SOMETHING

"Nocturne..." Sam said quietly, waking up from his, for once, blissful sleep.

Sam opened his eyes slowly, light from the sun bathing his face in golden light. He turned toward the orb of fire, and wondered why in the hell that mountain couldn't have just been a few feet to the right. The rays were being cast over the peak of the distant landmass, and frankly, it pissed Sam off.

'Time to get up, that Sun isn't going to be moved by someone.'

He got up and did a brief inventory of what he had on him. Clothes and rusty chains. He lowered his standards and accepted the gift of clothing and the makeshift whip-cuffs he had, making his way toward what he believed was a farm. There were fields of corn growing nearby, and it seemed awfully obvious that they were planted there. He continued on his little trek to what he could now identify as a house, beside two large silos and a barn was placed nearby. A dog was barking somewhere in the house, and the sound alone made Sam drop into the dirt and scan the area.

His hand subconsciously drifted down to his missing holster, and he pulled back his hand in disgust, realizing how very cruel they were to take his sidearm. He gazed at the farm-house, and his eyes widened in recognition when an orange mare with a stetson trotted out, yawning.

"Ah, we meet again." Sam whispered with a grin. Perhaps he could hold her hostage, and get his things back in return. And maybe tacos.

He looked over toward the porch, and noticed a rope hanging on a metal loop on the support, and an idea sprung into his mind.

Applejack followed her daily routine; wake up, take a shower, eat, brush teeth, help around the farm. Currently, she was out in the orchard bucking, her strong legs impacting the wooden bark and causing apples to fall into the buckets around the tree. Usually, this sort of thing became a habit, and it was often hard to snap out of it once she had gotten a lot of the trees done in a row. She didn't mind though, for while her body did the work, she would day-dream.

'Caramel...' She thought, her mind in a completely off.

Unbeknownst to her, Sam was sneaking up with the lasso in hand, and he was determined to get his things back. He crept up, preparing the takedown, and he began to formulate plans as to how this was going to be executed. After finally choosing 'just catch the bitch' plan, he ran forward, the lasso soaring above his head toward his target. It managed to wrap around her rear legs, stopping her mind kick. He tugged hard on the rope, and she lost all balance, unsure of what was occurring in the real world. She neighed in surprise, but it was already too late. Sam removed his turtle neck, gagging her with it. He was now dressed in only torn pants and a plain white T-Shirt.

Applejack began to scream and thrash about from behind the cloth, but it only served to make the newly tied bonds around her hooves dig into her flesh. She halted her escape attempts, and laid there huffing and puffing. Sam hoisted her up on his shoulder and walked toward the barn. He kicked the doors open, and looked into the dark, musty environment with a sense of pride. And hunger.

"You know, this must be a terrible day for you so far." Sam announced as he tossed her rather roughly on the floor, earning a grunt from behind the gag.

"But you see, its even worse for me. While you may have these apples here, I don't have jack shit, so I'll tell you whats going to happen now. I am going to leave you in here for a wee bit, then I will take some of your produce. I will come back here and we will then see what I can do to get my things back. Sound fair?"

Applejack let out inaudible rambles and muffled curses from behind the gag.

"Good! I'll be right back!"

Sam turned on his heel and kicked the doors open again, leaving instead of entering. He walked into the orchard and began to take apples from the trees, but he soon realized he did not have any backpack or bag to hold them in. He removed his shirt and began piling the red fruit, his hunger slowly getting worse. He marched back to the barn and this time, he lightly prodded the doors open to get in. He walked in to see an imprint of where she had been, left in the hay. His posture straightened, and he looked straight ahead. Standing there was a large, burly red stallion, a cute little filly with a red bow tie, and Applejack all fairly pissed off looking.

He spun around and ran down the dirt road, his makeshift sack of apples slowing him down. Behind him, he could hear what sounded like artillery shells detonating into the earth, and it was getting closer. Big Mac was closing in, and Sam could see it. Thinking quickly, he did a roll to the left, leading the large earth pony into a tree.

He reached into his makeshift bag and took out an apple, biting a large chunk out of it as he ran. He began to laugh hysterically behind the apple, and the irony of the situation was becoming a little bit too much for him. He turned around and saw his pursuers had now stopped, panting and glaring at him. He smiled cheekily, and turned around. Before him, Princess Celestia and a large regiment of Pegasus Guards began to encircle him.

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"You've ought to be kidding me..." He breathed.

The smile dropped from his face, as did the bag of apples. He knew there was no way he was making it out of this, unless some deity took pity and bestowed upon him a miracle. Behind their lines were robed Unicorns, and they were all facing him.

"Guards! Capture it! I want the creature alive!" Princess Celestia commanded, and the guards slowly closed in.

"Don't I get a lawyer!?" Sam yelled at them in desperation, knowing full well he was going to be thrown away after his imprisonment.

The Guards advanced anyway, lances at the ready.

"Sam, fighting them is no use." Nocturne's voice echoed in his mind.

'I know that...' He thought, and slowly turned to regard at what points the wall of ponies had come to.

'... but at least I'll go out with a bang.'

He picked up the makeshift bag, which now served as a large flail. He charged forward with a long swing and managed to strike down a soldier, his helmet flying off into the others. Sam slid down toward the fallen opponent and grabbed the lance he had previously had mounted to his saddle/chest-plate. He saw an incoming blow and parried it, before the blade got too close. Another lance was flying toward him, but he had just managed to evade it with a light roll. He got back onto his feet and began to fight multiple enemies at once, but a sharp pain in his shoulder drew away his concentration. An arrow was embedded into the flesh of his upper left shoulder, and there was a light blue glow upon it, however it fell after a few moments. He dismissed it and tried a surprise tactic, leaping onto the tops of his enemies, them being at a short height.

Somehow, his tactic worked, and left the frontline of Guards severely disoriented. He managed to bring down another guard by swinging the lance into his face, and the rest of the soldiers regained their senses and attacked. Another sharp pain erupted in his back, and another in his thigh. A blow to his knee sent him down, and the soldiers gathered around, their weapons trained on him. His lance was cast aside, and Princess Celestia approached. The soldiers pulled back, and allowed the large alicorn into the clearing.

"Captain Shining Armor, come here." She said, a hint of malice in her voice. The Mane Six had now arrived.

Hesitantly, the Guard Captain came toward her. Now, they were the only three in the clearing. Sam knew it was over for him; rot in prison, or die. Internally, Sam had been waiting to die for a long time now. He didn't want to take his own life, he wanted to have it taken in battle, honorably. Or at least in a blaze of glory, and he now decided that now was the time for this blaze of glory. As the Captain walked by, Sam leapt up from behind and locked him in a choke-hold, also unsheathing the Captain's dagger and directing it to his throat. Sam gulped.

All was silent, and boy, did Celestia look pissed. I mean, come on, your Captain was bested TWICE. Dos! Do you know how embarrassing that would be, your most skilled warrior defeated TWICE in one week. She was going to teach both of them a lesson.

"I-I am going to w-walk away, and no one has to die. No one move!" He managed to get out, the grip on the knife tightening.

He backed up slowly, and there was some form of telepathic communication between the Guards, and Celestia as they parted to allow him and Shining Armor through. Then, an invisible purple hand pulled the knife from his palm, and the Captain from his arm. He stumbled backwards, stunned. Big mistake. He looked forward and saw Celestia, her horn glowing with a powerful orange light.

'Fuck.'

A large ray of light was cast from her horn, and the light enveloped Sam and the area around him. The pain was almost unbearable. It felt as if his skin was being burnt off, and the fiery magic licked at his flesh and at his body. He could no longer feel his own weight, and the blistering fire washed all around him. He let out a cry of agonizing pain, and it echoed throughout the entire orchard. After an eternity within the fire, it had disappeared. Celestia turned away as his cry faded, and now all that rested there was a deep crater, smoke rising from it.

Twilight Sparkle and Rarity both felt the contents of their breakfasts reaching their esophagus', and Pinkie's hair deflated, while Fluttershy stood in shock as to what had happened. Applejack, despite the dark event that just happened, wore a smug look upon her face. Rainbow Dash was adequately terrified, and hid behind Fluttershy.

Then, much to their terror, a shaky hand came out of the crater, grasping onto the scorched earth and pulling up a large, burnt man.

He was shaking slightly, and sweat was dripping from his flesh. His shoes were gone, and the only remaining clothing he had on was his now burnt and tattered pants. A knee-guard hung loosely, the metal plating melted onto the cloth. His right foot staggered forward, and his head was bowed. Water dripped from his eyes, and a pained expression was upon his face. He lifted his head and he fell to his knees, crying out.

"KILL ME! JUST KILL ME!"

He fell into the dirt, his chest heaving. Pained gasps escaped from his mouth, and he felt himself slipping into unconsciousness. Celestia was obviously stunned by the fact he had survived not only her most powerful attack, but the fact that he indeed wanted to lose his life. She gave him one final glance, before she turned around and began to trot toward her carriage. She felt pity for him.

"Guards, bring him back to the dungeon. Captain, you are to have a word with me tomorrow." She sighed as she boarded her transport, and was taken home.

Sam was once again in the black fog he had been introduced to the night prior, and he shut his eyes. The sound of... nothing replaced the windy environment he was in, and he reopened his eyes. The sky was black, and beneath him was a grey rocky surface. He looked up and saw an Earth-like planet hanging in space, a very small star orbiting around the ball of dirt and water. He turned around and saw Nocturne sitting alone, facing the world. He could see on her face she was recollecting memories of the past. He could see she was some distance away, and he turned his gaze back to the blackness of space.

"Why is it you want to die?" He heard he ask, and it was as if she was right next to him. He turned his head and saw she was now approaching him.

He once more faced the void.

"Do you know what its like... to lose everything?"

Silence.

"My friends... my family..."

He turned toward her.

"My life revolved around that. Not achieving a goal, as I had done so in the past, and I was quite satisfied with what I had earned. No, my life revolved around the lives of others. Its a bit ironic, how I have such a perspective of life when my own profession calls for the taking of lives."

He noticed her backing away slightly.

"Calm down, I am not going to hurt you. I don't think I even can, seeing as I am in your realm, or domain."

He sighed, then wondered how he was breathing on the moon, but dismissed it. He sat down on the dusty rock, and began to fumble with the tie on his suit. Somehow, he was dressed in a formal business suit and a red tie, but he tucked his suspicion away with his disagreement on the atmosphere of this moon. His tie was continuously floating upwards, and it was quite irritating.

"I do."

"Hm?" Sam hummed.

"We...I know what it feels like, to lose everything..." She said softly, her eyes watering slightly. A small bead of the salty liquid ran down her face, but it was wiped away by Sam's finger.

"I'm sorry." He said, and he was hesitant to put his arm around her, but did so anyway, doing his best to comfort her.

She burst into tears, and she tucked her face into his chest. Her sobs made his heart break, and he ran his hand through her hair.

"Its okay..."

She pulled back, anger present in her face.

"NO IT ISN'T! I DON'T EVEN KNOW YOU, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!"

He stood up, and brushed his suit off. His face of compassion was replaced by one of stern seriousness.

"Because I care about you! You are about the only friend I have! I lock myself away to prevent others from getting hurt, something I learned long ago..."

He stopped, and he looked at the floor in guilt.

'Friend.'

An embrace came around his back, and ripped him from his thoughts.

"I'm sorry."

He sat down and closed his eyes.

"Me too."