Breathtaking

A ball. A party. Dancing and socialites. A formal function. The only human in Equestria was an esteemed guest of the royal family at a popular function for the rich and fabulous. The gravity of the situation didn't hit until I made it back to Ponyville. Rarity was out for a walk when she saw us come in on the chariot. I thanked the fliers for the smooth ride. After my opening comment before the flight, they seemed a little more personable than before and we spent the entire time bullshitting back and forth.

"Y'all ever get some time off duty, you come on over this way... We'll drink a few beers and share some war stories!" The pegasus on the right, Broken Arrow laughed.

"You got it, sarge! From the sounds of it, that'll be a night to remember!" I laughed and punched him on the shoulder lightly.

"Yeah yeah... Hell, this whole town could tell ya that much!" The fliers laughed again. This time Red Cross spoke up.

"Arrow, we've got to get back soon. Captain was gathering the guard for something."

"Well, y'all have a good one and fly safe!" I told them before they left.

"Keep your feathers clean, Sarge! We'll see ya one of these days!" I laughed again and shook my head as they took off. I sure hope they get the chance to come on out. It would be good to have a guy's night out for once. The only guy I knew at the moment was a minor. As the chariot took off, Rarity came trotting up behind us.

"Well, it would seem you make friends easier than we thought you could." I turned around at the sound of her voice.

"Well, I had six pretty fast after I got here, didn't I? Oh, hey darlin'! Check it out! Met the princesses and I'm still in one piece!" She gave a small smile.

"Well, what did you expect? They aren't the type to bite off heads." Hah, not after you get to know em, but Luna had me worried there for a moment. I just shrugged and stepped towards the white mare.

"Never can be too careful." She rolled her eyes.

"Well, I just thought I would come by and see how everything went." Twilight smiled.

"Oh, the princesses took an immediate liking to him. They even invited hi-" I interrupted Twilight in mid-sentence.

"They... invited me to stay in the castle longer than just the day, but I uhh... politely refused." Rarity looked suspicious for a few seconds, but let it go.

"Well, that does sound like you gave an excellent impression! Twilight, did you get a chance to see your brother?" Twilight looked back at Rarity after she got done burning me a look.

"Yes, I did! He's doing great, but Cadence was too busy to visit. John actually spent more time with Shining than I did." Rarity gasped.

"John! You monopolized all of his free time!? How could you?!" I shook my head.

"It was more business than ya think." Rarity shrugged the comment off and started off at a trot towards her home.

"Well, I must be off. Lots of work to do, yet. Ta ta!" Once she was out of earshot, Twilight glared at me.

"Why did you cut me off like that!? Rarity would have wanted to know about the ball more than anything!" I held up my hands to calm her down.

"Easy now, hun... There's a method to my madness here, ok?" She frowned and crossed her arms... Hooves. whatever. She looked like she was waiting for an explanation.

"Look, let's go somewhere else and talk about this, ok?" Twilight rolled her eyes and started to walk towards the library. We got in the front door and in a flash, she had me back against a wall with a frown. I sighed.

"Ok, look. She's been so intent on making that suit; if she finds out I've got this ball coming up, she'll go crazy and try to do everything over again. All of her hard work will all of the sudden be inferior and she'll do it over again. Am I right?" Twilight's expression softened slightly.

"Yes, I suppose you're right, but when are you going to tell her? You ARE taking her, aren't you?"

"What? Why would you say something like that?" Twilight rolled her eyes again. The girls seemed to have to do this a lot with me.

"John, look at all of this work she's going through. Look at all of these plans she's made and sacrifices she's done for you."

"Well yeah, when you put it like that, she does deserve to go. Her or Fluttershy."

"That's not what I'm getting at, John!" I shook my head. All of everything that has happened today, I can hardly think straight anymore.

"Rarity has done nothing but talk about you since the rest of us found out about you. All of the good things, all of the bad things. Complaints. Praises. Everything. She already told me-"

Fuck... here it comes.

"-that she likes you."

What in the world was I gonna do? After a few moments of silence, I finally started to leave.

"Where are you going, John?"

"Back to Fluttershy's. Its been a long day and I can't even begin to process this right now." Twilight looked worried.

"Are you ok? Its not still your head is it?"

"No... I mean yes... I mean... I'll be ok. Its like I said. Its been a long day. I need to get some sleep. All of this excitement really took it outta me." Twilight sighed.

"I suppose its not often you save a filly's life, meet the royal family, and find out about an admirer all in the same day." Yeah... No shit.

"Thanks, Twi. I really appreciate it." Suddenly remembering what I was getting paid to do, I decided to use my local library.

"Oh, hey Twilight?"

"Yes?"

"Do you have any books on changelings?"

She smiled and nodded. Good. Loading me up with six or seven large texts ranging from studies to storybooks, Twilight sent me on my way.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Rainbow Dash was pounding on the door.

"John! JOHN! COME OUT!"

It had been three days since Scootaloo was saved and I met the princesses. I hadn't left Fluttershy's home for anything. The first day went by uneventfully. No one came over. No one really seemed to care that I wasn't showing up. Not even Applejack. She wanted me to start work out there at Sweet Apple acres a few days before and I never went in. I hoped I still had a job.

The second day, Twilight came by and wanted me to come into town for a bit. I turned her away pretty quickly. 'Oh I think I'm just gonna stay around the house for a bit.' is what I said. She didn't seem to like it, but she accepted it anyways. I took this time alone to learn everything I could about changelings. A few of the books Twilight gave me looked to be theoretical or just plain works of fiction, but the more recent ones had some good stuff in them. Details on behavior, anatomy and physiology, prey, habitat, disposition...

From what Shining Armor was saying, I almost expected something that was more like a bug. Apart from the shell and strange wings, there wasn't really much difference. Anatomically speaking, of course. They still communicated through pheromones and some kind of 'hive-mind' connection with each other. At any rate, the lungs were in the same place. The heart was in the same place. I could figure out the rest.

Now, Rainbow was hollering at me to go outside and talk. I take it folks around here were actually worried. After another five minutes of Rainbow shouting 'OPEN UP!' she finally left.

Fluttershy came back from the woods a short while later. Tired, she found a place in the living room to sit.

"Was something wrong, John? I heard shouting earlier."

"Just Dash wanting me to come out."

"You can't avoid everything forever."

"I know. I just need a little alone time every once in a while. Helps me straighten out my thoughts." Fluttershy smiled knowingly and leaned forward.

"Oh. Well, then you must have found out..."

"About what?" I said quickly. She looked embarrassed.

"Uh... No, you must not have. I've said too much. Its not my-"

"Do you mean about Rarity?" Her face froze.

"Oh... So you do know." I threw my arms up in frustration.

"What am I gonna do?! She's a pony! I'm a man! It doesn't work like that!" Fluttershy blushed and smiled.

"You didn't seem to mind so much last week, did you?"

"I WAS DRUNK!" She giggled.

"I've already told you, John. Here, it doesn't matter as much. I'm sure the princesses would have told you if it did... Right?" I pondered this for a few moments and shook my head again.

"No. No, it doesn't matter. She's a great girl and everything, but no." Fluttershy looked sad for a moment.

"As her friend then, I'm going to ask you to please not lead her on... She doesn't need another broken heart, ok?" I nodded, but quickly remembered.

"Oh, Fluttershy! What am I gonna do about the ball?!" It took me a few seconds to realize I hadn't told her about it yet. Digging into my pockets, I produced the two tickets and held them out for her to see. She gasped.

"She would die if you didn't take her to that!" I hung my head.

"I know."

"Well, then see how it goes. You never know, John. It might be just what you need to get past this thing you have against dating."

"I don't have a thing against datin', Fluttershy... I have a thing against- You know what? Ok. I'll do it. Just to see. How 'bout that? I'm gonna jump in, head first."

Lord knows what would happen. I mean, I already started noticing certain things about ponies here. The sway of their tails. The shape of their... Flanks... The way Rarity's hips shift back and forth when- DAMMIT! Reality would always come back to slap me upside the head, though. But Fluttershy was right. I needed to go. I needed to enjoy myself and cut loose with a mare that likes me. I grumbled a little as I walked to the bedroom. I called back to Fluttershy.

"How serious is she about me?" She sighed and smiled.

"She really thinks you're the only stallion for her. You've got to understand, Rarity has had a few coltfriends before. They all disappointed her in the end. To her, you're the rugged, mysterious stranger. Well-mannered, but wild. Cultured, but not stuffy.

"You're easy John, but you've never treated her as anything less than a lady. She really likes you because of that. Not to mention, you... well, you flirt so much that she thinks you're interested as well." I grabbed my smokes and headed for the door.

"I'm going outside. I need air." Fluttershy curled up for a nap.

"Could you wake me up when you come in... Please?"

"Sure."

I closed the door behind me and stepped outside. Fluttershy was so good to me. The other day, she brought a box of matches back from town with her. Who'dve thunk it? Matches in Ponyville. One of these days, I was gonna fix her up with something good. I started to light my cigarette and look arou- was that a raindrop?

Looking around at the sunny, blue sky and the fluffy, white clouds, I found it hard to believe it was raining. CCR was playing in my head as I looked up and saw Rainbow Dash standing on a black cloud directly above me. Jumping up and down on the little dark puff, she shook out a torrential downpour and a few lightning bolts. With literally buckets of water falling on my head and thunder still ringing in my ears, I cupped my hand over the smoke and tried to keep the flame going.

After a few more bounces, the cloud apparently dried up and Rainbow lighted on the ground in front of me.

"Well, Dash... I wanna know... have you ever seen the rain coming down on a sunny day?" She chuckled.

"Well, duh... Just look at yourself!" Not getting the joke, she continued. "Its about time you came out of the house anyways. What, you couldn't hear me yellin' at you in there? I've been wanting to get you in the sunshine for days!" I looked her in the eye with a blank expression. Then, I made a big show out of looking down at my soaked clothes.

"Really?" She laughed.

"What? You looked like you needed a shower!"

"Funny." She pushed my shoulder playfully and sat down next to me.

"What's eatin' you? I know, jeez, you haven't seen the coolest pony ever in a few days. Honestly, I was expecting streamers and balloons!"

"You're kiddin' right?" She frowned.

"Seriously, John. What's up?"

Fuck. What's with these ponies? Always wanting to help. Always trying to figure out my problems. Can't a guy just grumble and brood in peace? I groaned and put my head in my hands.

"Girl issues. Just figuring out how to take care of business."

"Oh." She said looking lost. "Well, I'm not big into the mushy stuff and I have... Like... No game, so I'm no help." I laughed.

"Did the all-cool and almighty Rainbow Dash just admit at being bad at something? This must be a first!" She laughed mockingly and rolled her eyes.

"At least I'm honest about it." Quickly changing the subject, she excitedly jumped to her hooves. "So you wanna check out something cool?" I shrugged and nodded, welcoming the switch in conversation from girls.

"Whatcha got?" In answer, she took off into the air and shot straight up into the sky, leaving a rainbow colored trail in her wake. Kicking a few clouds apart so that her audience (myself) could see everything, she stopped about 300 yards up and called down to me. I could barely hear what she said.

"I'LL BET THEY DON'T DO THIS WHERE YOU'RE FROM!"

She took off like a shot, leaving a lengthy trail behind her. Suddenly changing direction, she came back, arching wide and completing a lot of complica- Oh, I saw what she was doing. In the sky, a rainbow began to trace JOHN MARSHALL in big cursive letters. It was an amazing sight to see, that lone mare just dodging and zooming and rolling. It looked complicated as hell, but beautiful all the same. Finishing as quickly as she started, she came in for a rapid dive right at me. I almost flinched. Almost. At the last second, she flared out her wings and landed lightly in front of me.

"Well?! Did you see?!" I clapped slowly.

"Oh yeah... I saw what you did there. Very cool!" She beamed at the praise.

"Bet you haven't seen anything like THAT before, have you?!" I laughed and nodded.

"Actually, I hate to break it to ya chica, but yeah, I have." She looked crestfallen.

"What?!" I put my hands up to calmly reassure her of her awesomeness.

"Now, hold on there. We can't fly. That was some impressive flyin'! Skywriters don't do it nearly as quickly or all in one pass... Bravo!" That seemed to make her happy, but she wanted to know more.

"So how DO you fly?"

"Airplanes, Dash... Airplanes. Jets and propellers and big metal wings. They're all bigger than Fluttershy's cottage and some of them are amazingly fast."

"How fast?"

"You know the sound barrier? Not a problem." Dash crossed her hooves.

"I can break the sound barrier. No sweat." I laughed in her face.

"Yeah right. You go on an' keep tellin' yourself that." She looked mad.

"SERIOUSLY! I CAN! The first time, I wasn't even out of flight camp yet!" I looked at her like she was crazy.

"You kiddin' me?"

"NO! Second time was a few years ago." Wha... really?

"And since then?"

"I did it for the Royal Wedding a few years back too! Cadence and Shining Armor loved it!" Okay, this was just insane.

"Pics or it didn't happen!" Dash scowled and took off into the air.

"Just ask your MAREFRIEND! She wouldn't have gotten those diamonds on her flank if I didn't!" What... the... fuck. As if just remembering another important detail, she added more. "I saved her life with the second one I did! YOU'RE WELCOME!"

"IS THERE ANYONE ALIVE THAT DOESN'T KNOW ABOUT THIS?!" RD laughed uncontrollably as she flew away, leaving me in my extreme frustration.

Everyone. Everyone knew about it. Oh, that's right. They ARE best friends, after all. I quietly asked myself the million dollar question.

The hell you gonna do, John?

Easy.

Nothin' you CAN do.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

The rest of the day came and went uneventfully. Fluttershy was humming sweetly to herself in the kitchen while she made a salad for supper and I went to the bathroom. I washed my hands absentmindedly, thinking of everything. When I grabbed a towel, I chanced a look in the mirror.

Good. God.

The face that started back at me was hairy and haggard looking. In the couple months I had been here, my hair had grown past my ears and my face sported a rough beard that Jeremiah Johnson himself would be proud of.

I damn sure can't go to the ball like this. I came out into the kitchen just as Fluttershy was putting everything on the table. Angel even got a plate, but as usual, he turned his nose up at it. I shot him a look and cut my eyes to his plate. He must have understood, because he sighed and complied.

Fluttershy munched away happily on her food while I picked through mine.

"Fluttershy?"

"Yes, John?"

"Where do y'all go to... Get your manes taken care of?" She looked confused.

"Do you mean like a salon? There's one in the spa, or you can go to Ly..." She stopped suddenly and blushed. "ra..."

Shit. So basically, I get a pedicure and a hair style or I go to the first mare to proposition me and get an awkward haircut. Great.

"Is there anything else?" Fluttershy swallowed and paused for a second.

"Well, um... No." I sat for a few moments, thinking.

"Its just as well. I've been meanin' to go see her anyways. Still have to apologize for the other night, right?" Fluttershy smiled and nodded. We ate the rest of the meal in quiet, giving me some time to think over what I needed to do in the coming days.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Hey y'all, we've got a visitor." After calling that out, I set the remains of my MRE on one of the Humvees we had lined up across the road.

There were about twenty of us, give or take. Those that weren't already situated, climbed up into their designated spots. Philips walked out to the side of the road block and began to swing his chemlight. At my signal, Watkins flipped on our spotlight and pointed it at our flag.

Hey, Americans here. Stop the fucking vehicle, please?

We could hear the car's engine pick up and increase in pitch. Shit, he was gonna run it. I grabbed our megaphone and shouted at the driver in what I hoped was his language.

"WARADEGA YAA DEE WULIM! WARADEGA YAA DEE WULIM! STOP YOU SILLY SUMBITCH!!!"

The car sped up further. I heard gears shift. I looked up at Jacobs.

"Warning shots." He sent a burst of fire over the roof of the car with his M2, but the driver didn't waver.

"MOTHERFUCKER! STOP IT! TAKE IT OUT!"

The little car met a wall of lead, given freely by myself and the nineteen other guys at the checkpoint. It began to swerve out of control, falling to pieces as bullets continued to impact the metal and glass. Finally, it careened off the road, hit a small hill and rolled a few times before coming to a stop close by.

Grabbing four guys, I started toward the car, rifle at the ready. As we came closer, I heard a cough. Not an expected cough, a juvenile cough. I turned to look at Applejack long enough for her to return my quizzical expression before I ran up to the car. Rainbow flew up next to me.

"John, Its done. You want me to go ahead and call it in?" She said.

"WAIT!"

A look inside told me everything I needed to know. It was a family of five, not car bombers and they were all dead. All of them except a little orange filly in the back seat. She was still barely breathing when I pulled her out of the car and cradled her broken form in my arms. Coughing blood onto her chin, She opened her eyes and looked into mine.

"But... But you saved me. That was... awesome."

____________________________________________________________________________________________

I jolted awake. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. Swiftly brushing them aside, I stood up and walked out of the bedroom. Fluttershy was coming down the stairs.

"Is everything ok? I heard shouting!"

"Its fine, Fluttershy. Just a bad dream." She yawned and turned to go back to bed.

"Its still very early, John. Maybe you should try and get some more sleep?"

"No... I'll be fine." I said, noticing my hands were shaking badly. "I'm gonna just get ready for the day."

The sun came up over the hill just as I finished speaking, creating soft bands of yellow light on the walls. I heard Fluttershy's soft hoofsteps go back upstairs as I reached into the fridge for some milk.

One thing that was nice about Equestria: The milk was always fresh and always whole. Either they hadn't thought to skim milk, or they just didn't care enough. Whichever it was, a big glass of milk filled you up and kept you going. I sat down at the kitchen table and put my head in my hands.

I hated that dream, but there was nothing I could do about it. Just one more thing to remind me of the past. I absentmindedly reached up to my neck where my most recent scar was. What would happen if someone here knew about my dreams? I knew that I shouted. It always scared away anyone that happened to be in bed with me. Either that or they would ask me about it and I would politely ask them to leave. This time was just... weird.

Did I see Rainbow Dash? And Scootaloo... What the fuck was up with that? I shivered. The princess said she saw my dreams. Did she see this one?

I got up and stepped outside for my first cigarette of the day. I exhaled the smoke slowly, relaxing. The shaking in my hands was leaving slowly. 'Put it from your mind, John. You have to push it out and keep going.' I closed my eyes in a silent prayer for strength before jumping up and heading back inside. I needed to get dressed and get moving. Applejack was probably already working on the farm.