I Once Was Lost, But Now Am Found

Sharpshooting

"So this is the spot huh? Pretty far out of the way..." Joe remarked as he examined the area. It was large flat area to the west of the farm, not far from the Everfree Forest.

"Yeah, I come out here because I can fire off my rifles without running the risk of hitting something I don't want to." Paul replied as he retrieved his weapons, ammunition, ear protectors, and protective glasses. "I haven't been shooting in a while so I need give all my guns their exercise." He remarked as he set the weapons and gear down on a large pad placed in the middle of the area.

"So whatta yah got? I've got my M1911A1 but I'm interested to what you have." Joe remarked as Paul began unpacking the weapons.

"Well let’s see..." Paul smiled as he picked up a pistol case. "Here's a Ruger Mark III...Good for plinking and pest control." He said as laid the pistol on the mat. "Heckler & Koch VP70 9mm......good for volume of fire...." He continued, showing the gun to Joe before lying down. "This one is has a good amount of sentimental value to me....the Smith & Wesson Model 15. .38 Special." Paul said as he showed the gun. "This was my uncle's service weapon back when he was in the LAPD."

"I didn't know your uncle was a cop." Joe said as with hint of surprise.

"Yeah....was there from 1982 to 2012, stationed at the North Highland Police Station as a Sergeant. Kept it even when the department switched over to automatics in the 90's. When he retired he gave it to me since he didn't have any kids of his own."

"That's really cool man...What else do you got in that bag?" Joe asked as Paul set down the Model 15

"I got something that you might like Cowboy...." he said as he pulled out a large revolver. “The Smith & Wesson Model 29 with a 6 and 1/2 inch barrel." He suddenly started squinting and using a Clint Eastwood voice, ".44 Magnum.....The most powerful handgun in the world....It just might blow your head clean off...."

"Thanks Callahan...." Joe said with a smirk. "What else?"

"This....ahhhhhhh....this is my personal favorite." Paul said as pulled a Colt Automatic from the bag. "Colt Delta Elite....10mm Auto. With the rounds I use, it’s more powerful than a .357 Magnum. This was a personal gift from my dad. We both loved the 10mm Auto round, especially when it’s loaded hot." He said, looking at the gun for a minute, as if recalling times gone by...

"Hey Paul...You okay?" Joe asked.

"Yeah....anyway....Got a few shotguns...." He said as he pulled one of them out. "My Uncle's police issue Ithaca 37 Deerslayer, Police Special with rifle sights and extended tube." he said before setting down. "Got my own Ithaca 37 here...The Stakeout version...I uhh... personalized it..." He smirked as he revealed that he had carved the words, "No Fate" into the top of the shotgun.

"Nice..." Joe said with a smirk.

"And a Winchester 1897 Trench Gun..." He showed off the intimidating looking shotgun before setting it down.

"Now for rifles.....Got a few bolt actions: a Kar98K 7.92mm Mauser, a Mosin-Nagant 7.62x54R, a Lee-Enfield No.4 .303 British, a Carcano M91/38 6.5×52mm Carcano… and a Type 99 Arisaka 7.7×58mm Arisaka" He said setting the rifles down on the mat.

"Got a few Semi-Autos..... an SKS 7.62x39mm....a Springfield M1A 7.62x51mm NATO......the big daddy....the M1 Garand .30-06 Springfield." He said as held the mighty rifle aloft. "Firing this thing'll put hair on your chest." He said placing it down on the mat.

"Now a few I've altered a little....” He said as he pulled out another weapon. "This is an AR-15 Sporter Carbine and this is a Saiga-12 Semi-Auto Shotgun. I removed that stupid bullet button they had back home." He muttered, placing them down along with the rest of the arsenal. "You know it's weird....back home what I've done with these two is so illegal it's almost unbelievable."

"You're nuts man..." Joe said with a chuckle. "So what'd you want to start with first?"

"I'll start with the Ruger, you can start with your Colt. This baby hasn't seen action since I had to deal with those racoons getting into my trash. You should have seen 'em dude, one second they're messing with my can. Next minute, a flashlights shining on them, they look up like they've been caught with they're hand in the cookie jar. Next they're falling off my can with a .22 shaped hole right between the eyes."

"Holy shit dude...." Joe said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yep.....well get's to it." he said as they took aim at a few paper targets that were already set up. Paul licked his lips before taking a short breath then quickly tapping the trigger. The pistol chattered like an automatic weapon yet, due to the small cartridge, Paul was able to keep a small grouping pattern on the paper target.

5 minutes later…

Paul put down the smoking .22 before picking up his uncle's S&W Model 15 and placing it in his pocket. "Hey Joe, Watch this...." Paul said as he stood before two silhouette targets and started counting down. "3.... 2.....1......" and quickly pulled out the .38 then put two shots in each of the targets’ chest areas, left to right before putting one in each of the targets’ heads right to left. He brought the smoking revolver to his mouth before blowing the smoke away and then twirling it on his finger. "Guess you're not the only cowboy here....Want to try?"

Joe looked at his pistol for a moment then to the revolver. He shrugged. "Sure..." Joe replied as he took the pistol and picked up a speedloader then reloaded the gun. Joe had never fired a revolver before, only his automatic pistol.

He looked at the double action revolver then without warning, quickly snapped it up and fired off every round in quick succession. Each bullet landed within a four inch grouping. Paul raised an eyebrow. “So you really are a cowboy…”

5 minutes later
"Hey! how 'bout a Colt contest?" Paul asked. "My Delta Elite 10mm versus your M1911A1 .45. First to 5 targets wins"

"You’re on pal." Joe replied with a smirk.

Paul picked up the Delta Elite and popped in a fresh magazine as Joe did the same with his M1911.

"On your mark....get set.....GO!" Paul said as the two raised their pistols. Joe zipped his out in a flash of motion, like he had been training with the pistol and it was some sort of second nature talent.

In a flash of motion Joe fired off five rounds, missing all but one target. His pistol bucked in his hands. Paul began to acquire targets and fire off rounds, though slower only by fractions of a second.

Joe fired a final shot and his last target had a hole placed right through the forehead.

"Ohh...Son of a bitch! Best two out of three?" Paul said as he ejected his magazine and replaced it with a full one. Joe had managed to be a bit quicker on the draw than him.

"Ready for more huh?" Joe asked with snide look on his face. They both reloaded then holstered their pistols. John took an old western stance that looked more like he was about to draw a single action revolver rather than a semi-automatic pistol.

"On your mark....get set.....GO!" Paul said again. Paul was faster on the draw this time but instead of bringing his pistol up to his eye level, Joe simply brought it to chest level and fired off five quick rounds just as Paul was firing his fourth round. All five of Joe’s bullets had smoked their target.

“What the fuck!?” Paul yelled in frustration, not sure how the cowboy was beating him each time.

“Paul… the rounds you’re using are producing too much recoil to be effective against a pistol with less recoil. Do you have something less ‘Hot’?” Joe asked and Paul raised an eyebrow.

“But…” Paul began but Joe just raised a hand. Paul scoffed. “Fine… I don’t know what kind of difference it’ll make.” Paul muttered. Paul pulled out a box labeled "10mm Auto FBI Load" and loaded rounds into the magazine then slapped the magazine into the pistol.

The two men stood in draw stances then quickly snapped up their pistols, Paul drawing just a fraction of a second earlier. They both fired off their pistols and Paul got his shots off just a moment sooner then Joe.

"OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Paul said as he raised his hands in the air. "The king has been dethroned!"

"Alright...I'm man enough to know when I've been beat… see what I tell yah?" Joe chuckled as he moved to shake Paul's hand.

“How’d you know that would help. It wasn’t that much more recoil.” Paul asked and Joe shrugged.

“Even though the miniscule amount of recoil doesn’t seem like much in regular shooting, in a competition, even the slightest fraction of a second makes all the difference.” Joe replied.

“So… you’ve been to competitions?” Paul asked. “You’d have to have been. The way you didn’t even aim your pistol…” Paul stated and Joe smiled.

“Nah, my dad and uncle used to go gunslinging on their spare time. Dad taught me how you just point your gun like pointing a finger, almost as if it’s part of your body… anyway…” Joe informed Paul who raised an eyebrow from the comment.

"Well shit… thanks for the tips… I’ll have to practice." Paul said shaking Joe's hand.

"Well… let’s get on with rest of them..." Paul said.

*4 hours later: 4:00 P.M.*

Paul and Joe had gone through the rest of the pistols as well as the shotguns and the bolt action rifles. At the moment they were lying on the grass taking potshots at long range targets, Paul using the M1 Garand and Joe the M1A Springfield.

"So..... had kind nightmare last night..." Paul said as he squeezed off 3 rounds in a row. The gunshots echoed off into the distance.

"Really? What about?" Joe said as he ejected the magazine from the rifle and inserted a full one.

"Well... It was about what happened last night at the bar…" Paul said squeezing off 3 more rounds. "I dreamt I was walking along the streets of the town when I heard a scuffle near the bar. I ran up to see what was going on and I saw that it was me beating the shit out of Snowflake after he tackled us out the window." He said firing off the last 2 rounds before the Garand made its distinctive ping noise as it ejected the clip.

"Yeah...Then what?" Joe said as he fired off some more rounds.

"Well things happened a bit differently in my dream that time. You pulled me off of him, but then I threw you against the truck and I grabbed a piece of glass then stabbed Snowflake in heart with it." Paul said uneasily as recalled the nightmare.

"Wait...what? Whoa, that’s cold." Joe said as put down the rifle before sitting up to look at his friend.

"Yeah.... thing is... I'm just standing there watching this happen, it was some sort doppelganger me who stabbed Snowflake." Paul said as Joe looked at him with seriousness in his eyes.

"Then....... you started yelling at him that he killed Snowflake. But then before you could do anything he pulled the blade out of Snowflake and stabbed you in the chest with it.... Oh god." Paul said as he held his head in his hands. "I could see the look in your eyes as you died. You asked him why and he said what I I said the day I helped you with your locker, 'What can I say? I'm a scary guy.'"

Joe listened silently with a worried look on his face.

"Then you fell to the ground....Oh Jesus Christ, the look in your eyes when you fell....You weren't looking at him...You were looking at me as you lay dead. Silently accusing me with your cold eyes...." He said as he stood up and started pacing.

"He looked right at me with this evil smile on his face. God, I'll never forget it. I asked him who he was and he said his name was....'Mr. Scratch'." Paul said as he tried to make Joe comprehend.

"Mr. Scratch?" Joe asked confusedly as he listened to Paul's recounting of his nightmare.

"Yeah, he said he was me...except that he was better because he wasn't afraid of anything, he didn't have any inhibitions. That he took whatever he wanted and didn't have any hesitation about killing anyone who got in his way."

"Holy shit..." Joe said as he listened in horror.

"That's not all..." Paul said as he shuddered before continuing. "Then he said that there was still one thing left that I cared about and that he was going to have some fun with it before I was suddenly teleported to Sweet Apple Acres. There I heard Apple Bloom calling for me. I started looking for her before I heard her start begging me for mercy...."

"What?" Joe asked incredulously

"Yeah.... she was begging me for mercy.... I heard it coming from the barn. I looked through the window and I saw Mr. Scratch get up from over her.... her clothes were torn man....." Paul said as his voice cracked.

"No....." Joe said as his jaw dropped.

"Yeah...then he pulled a pistol on her as she screamed my name, begging me not to do it, just before he killed her.... He shot her down man.... I burst into the barn to attack him but he just knocked me to the ground and said 'Together forever....in oblivion.' before shooting me in the head. That's when I woke up." Paul said as he finished recounting the horrible tale.

"Jesus..... man I..... I don't what to say..." Joe said as he stood up.

"Does it make any sense!? I mean what the fuck does it mean!?" Paul said as he grabbed Joe.

"Calm down man!" Joe said as he brushed him off. "You’re..... You’re probably reacting to the fact that you beat shit out of Snowflake and it scared you....You're afraid that you're gonna hurt others....like me or Apple Bloom." Joe said with an understanding look on his face.

"I don't want to do that man..... I mean... Jesus, the look on Snowflake’s face after I beat the shit out of him....... I've never seen anybody that scared before. I still can't come to terms with fact that I probably would have beaten him to death if you hadn't intervened.....My God, what the fuck is wrong with me?" Paul asked as he sat down and covered his face with his hands.

"You need to learn to control your anger man...." Joe said as he put a comforting hand on Paul's shoulder. "You still miss home.... you miss your family. I understand man...God knows I miss mine." Joe said as he sat next to him.

"God I miss them so much." Paul said as he looked to sky, a single tear shedding from his eye. "They're still there man. Wondering where the hell I've gone with no way of ever finding me." He said, now trying difficulty to hold back the wave of tears.

"Hey... Hey… Hey... It's okay." Joe said as he hugged him. "You've still got me pal. You've also got Apple Bloom and she loves you to death....That's something isn't it?" Joe said comfortingly.

"Yeah...I guess it is." Paul said, taking a deep breath.

"There yah go.... focus on the positives and you'll be fine." Joe said, patting Paul on the back.

"Thanks man...really." Paul replied thankfully. "Now...what do you say we finish shooting?" He said in a more upbeat tone.

"Sure thing..." Joe replied.

*1 Hour later* 5:00 P.M.

Paul and Joe had just finished packing up the weapons and ammunition when all of a sudden Paul spotted a rabbit out of the corner of his eye to the left. He picked up his Uncle's Police Issue Ithaca 37. Joe looked up at him, "Paul what are you doing?" He asked as he tried to follow his gaze.

"Sssh...." Paul replied as he moved slowly towards the forest before he spotted the rabbit. He slowly took aim at the rabbit. As he did he slowly inhaled and exhaled half way before slowly beginning to squeeze the trigger. Joe realized what he was doing and quickly moved to intervene. Joe grabbed the shotgun barrel just as it went off. The shotgun let off a mighty roar as the buckshot whizzed wildly towards its target and met its mark. The 12 gauge shot tore through the rabbit like it was tissue paper.

Paul looked up at him. “Hey man, you might have went vegetarian since you've come here... but I still eat meat."

Joe just shook his hand and motioned for Paul to watch the rabbit. As they did, three baby rabbits came out from the brush and began to nuzzle their dead mother.

Paul just stood silently before saying, "I... I couldn’t have… how'd you know?" He gasped.

"I didn't..." Joe sighed. "Sometimes it's better to just watch nature's beauties... rather than always destroy it." He commented as he walked back to shooting range.

Paul just stood dumbfounded as he watched the babies attempt to get their mother to move. "Shhhhhhhhhhhit..." he exhaled.

After a minute he slowly gathered up the babies and placed them in a small container he had. He then put the mother in a plastic bag and placed that in an ice chest he had in the back of the truck. He cradled the container of saddened bunnies.

"We need to make quick stop by Fluttershy's on the way back..... I need to do right by these babies." He said to Joe as they got into the truck and drove off in the direction of Fluttershy's treehouse.

* * *

"I'll be just a minute..." Paul said to Joe as he got out of the truck and picked up the container with babies, before walking up to the door. Steeling his resolve, he gave his usual "shave and haircut, two bits" knock.

"Just a minute..." a soft voice said from inside the structure. The door opened and Fluttershy stood in the doorway. "Oh...Hello... um Paul..." she whispered softly before noticing the container with the baby rabbits in them. "Oh my...what's wrong with them?" She asked, somehow noticing their sadness without actually examining them.

"I found 'em by the Everfree forest. They were alone, the mother was dead." he said succinctly, leaving out the part about blasting the mother apart with his shotgun for obvious reasons.

"Oh dear... the poor things..." She whispered as she took the container in her hooves and set it inside. "What happened to her?" She asked.

Paul looked into her sad eyes but he knew he could not tell her the truth. "Timber Wolf got her." He lied convincingly. "It was a real mess, they were lucky it didn't notice them otherwise they'd have ended up just like her. I figured that if anyone could take care of them… it would be you."

"Oh... um... well thank you for thinking of me.... I'll make sure they get taken care of...." She replied.

"Alright, I got to get going, I have dinner with Apple Bloom and her family. I'll make sure to tell Mac you said hi." He said with a soft smile before starting to walk back to his truck.

"Oh...Okay...." She said, before walking back inside.

Paul promptly got inside the truck and started the engine before driving off towards Joe's house.

"So....what did you tell her?" Joe asked. Paul simply sighed in regret.

"....I told her that their mother was killed by a timber wolf..." He replied guiltily.

"Okay...." Joe replied. "That's plausible......"

They drove along for about 10 minutes before they arrived at Joe's house.

Before Joe got out, Paul asked "Are you still mad?"

“I'm not mad at you Paul. You just need to think before you act." Joe replied as he smiled then stepped out. "Actions have consequences...."

"Yeah....I know that too well...." Paul replied as Joe got out of the truck.

"I'll see you later man. Good luck with the dinner." Joe said before he walked away towards his house.

Paul sighed and drove off towards Carousel Boutique.........