//------------------------------// // Old Enemy, New Friend // Story: Displacement // by hornethead //------------------------------// Chapter 14: Old Enemy, New Friend 'Why the hay did I agree to this?' The youthful Lieutenant was busy doing push-ups next to his only teammate. The now clearly cruel human had been drilling them both all morning. "C'mon, you can give me more than that! What, they don't do any heavy lifting in the Engineers' Corps?" It was starting to get on the unicorn's nerves. James had been running Sparks through the same routine as Flash's since the wee hours of the morning. It was now almost noon and the two legged creature didn't look like he was letting up. "Alright, do two laps around the course and report back to me." The two ponies followed through and returned to their positions before their master. "Outstanding. Flash, you're getting much faster. Sparks, it's a good thing you're already in good shape. This next part is a bit unorthodox, but I think I need to get you both on the same page as soon as possible. Now follow me." James spent the next hour showing Sparks the basic forms he had taught Flash a few days ago. When he finished he broke them for lunch. "Good. Now you both go ahead and get something to eat. I have just a couple of things left before I let you both go for the day. Be back in here in forty-five minutes." "Yes sir!" They both exclaimed in unison. After they had returned, James had Sparks demonstrate the basic blocking and striking forms and stances he had taught him. "Good, now that you've gotten that down, you will both spar each other. You are not allowed to use wings or magic. Understood?" "Yeah, but why am I learning to fight? I'm just an engineer." "Because on this team everyone needs to learn how to handle any situation. If something were to happen where you needed to defend yourself, you won't be a liability to the team. You understand now?" "Affirmative." "Outstanding, now back to work." James entered the barn and left the two to their devices. He went up to his loft and pulled out two rounds, one .45 caliber and a 5.56 mm. He then swung back down and went over to the shelves of tools, took a few that he needed and shifted over to a nearby worktable. Living in a barn had it's perks. Using the tools, he deconstructed both rounds of ammunition; removing the bullets, the powder and the percussion cap at the base of the shell. He organized all the components neatly together, being careful not to mix them up. James took a quick break after this and sat down with an apple. After he finished, he went back out side to check on his two students. They were performing their blocks, attacks and counters almost flawlessly. They were only basic forms, but that was impressive after only a day and a half with it. "Alright, break it up. You're both good for today. You guys go get some water, then I want Flash to wait out here and Sparks to come meet me inside." Both followed the instructions. After getting his drink, Sparks entered the barn and found the human. "James, what's this for?" "I need to show you something, but before I do, you need to promise to me that you will never divulge any of this information to living being with out my permission." The engineer pony was a little confused by the need for such secrecy, but he was intrigued. "Ok, I promise." "Outstanding, now follow me." James lead Sparks to the worktable and showed him the components of the ammunition. "Are you able to replicate any of this? This is the finished product all put together, except instead of a metal slug, I want to cap it with a wax covering." The curious pony studied all the object and chemicals set before him, sometimes using magic to do so. "I think I can, but not with a spell, it's too complex. I'll need to order raw materials from Canterlot." "Do whatever you need to do." James had a mischievous smile on his face. With any luck, he might actually be able to give his recruits a proper Hell Week. ================================================= "C'mon, it's just a little further down the road!" James and Sparks were following Flash to his home. James had packed up all his gear quickly, eagerly anticipating living in a building with indoor plumbing. The trio rounded a bend to see.... an old two story house that looked like it was on the verge of collapse. It sat on a small hill and even featured a front porch. "Holy shit, you live here?" "You are correct." "And it hasn't fallen on you yet?" "Hey! It may look bad, but it's actually pretty sturdy and everything inside works." "How'd you get this?" "It was cheap on the market, I sunk almost all my savings into it." "We definitely need to fix this up if we're gonna live here, Sparks you down?" *sigh* "You know it." They followed the pegasus into his home, expecting the worst. What awaited them inside shocked them. "How does that even make sense?" "Definitely not what I expected." They looked around at the well maintained living room. There was a couch in front a coffee table and larger table that sat four on the far end of the room next to some windows. A small archway led to the kitchen and a short distance away were two other doors. One was closed, but the other was open and had a small bathroom complete with toilet, sink and shower. James walked into the kitchen and found it stocked with an icebox, stove/oven, a sink and a small table. "Flash, how the hell did you afford this?" "I told you, I used most of my savings." "How long had you been saving up?" "Since I was little." "Wow." Sparks called from back in the living room, "Hey, what's the sleeping arrangement here?" "Well, I got my room down here. There's two empty rooms upstairs, take your pick." "Your cousin doesn't live with you?" "Ditzy? Nah, she's got her own place in town." James went to the upstairs and encountered two closed doors right next to each other. He opened both of them and looked inside. They were both identical in structure, both had a closet adjacent to the door and windows in the two outside walls allowing the resident to enjoy a fantastic view of the forest. The one on the right had a better view of town while the one on the left had a better view of the forest. Being more of an outdoorsy guy, naturally James took the left room. He tossed his pack in and stashed his rifle in a corner of the closet and closed the closet door. He then returned downstairs. "I picked the one on the left." "I guess I get the other one then." "By the way Sparks, where's your stuff at?" "It's getting shipped here, should only be a few days." "Cool, then I just need to worry about me. Flash, you know any good places in town to get stuff for my room?" "Sure, I'll take you there tomorrow." ================================================= After their daily routine, James went to town with Flash and got himself a twin sized mattress, a small desk and a beanbag chair. Because c'mon, BEANBAG CHAIR. He and Flash borrowed a small wagon from Applejack to get it all back. It was a bit of a walk to the house from town, probably one of the reasons why it was cheap. James didn't have a bed frame and just tossed the mattress in the corner of the room directly opposite the door. He set the desk in the corner where the two windows met and the beanbag chair in front of it. He also bought some hangers for his clothes. Everything now nice and organized, he descended to the first floor. Sparks and Flash were sitting in the living room with a few beers. For his room, Sparks was just using a sleeping bag Flash loaned him until his stuff arrived. Flash tossed James one of the beers. "You all set up there?" "Yep, all good. So what are we doing for dinner?" "We decided to go out for dinner tonight, sound good to you?" "Sure, sounds good." They finished their beers and went into town, stopping at one of the more inexpensive eateries that operated there. His two pony friends had their pick of the menu, but James had to settle for rice and steamed vegetables again. The fact that where ever he went he only had a choice of two or three items was getting annoying, but there wasn't much he could do about it, so James just dealt with it. Fortunately, the place also served beer. James and his two friends chatted over a couple of rounds of drinks. When the sun started to set, they decided to pay the check and leave. On the way out, they bumped into Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. They exchanged some small talk with the three mares and had to calm Pinkie down when she heard about the new living arrangements. She wanted to throw a house party, but what with all the training and tomorrow being a work day, they talked her down to a smaller get together at a later date. Both ponies and the human returned to their abode within due time and retired to their respective rooms. James grabbed the pillow and extra bed sheets Flash gave him earlier and made his bed. It felt good to finally be able to sleep in an actual bed now. In his own room in a house with friends no less. The fact that he could possibly no longer return to his old life didn't bother him as much as had anymore. He still hadn't had much interaction with the inhabitants of this world outside of the six kind mares that had first taken him in, their military and leadership and of course the two friends he was now living with, and as such was still largely ignorant of their culture, but it was something he could work on. James sat down at his new desk and pulled out his iPod and a quill and parchment. As the effervescent moon rose slowly outside his window he began to draw out the training schedule for the six guards ponies that were set to arrive in just a few days. He needed to train them fast while bringing them up to an acceptable level of readiness. SEAL training usually took almost four years to fully complete, James had to condense that in to months and weeks. It wasn't going to be easy. ================================================= James was walking back from town with Flash. James went to pick up his uniform from Rarity while the black pegasus accompanying him just popped into town for some groceries. They were about half way back to the house on a stretch of road the ran along the edge of part of the forest. James got a strange feeling, as if they were being watched. He thought that maybe he was being paranoid when something hard and jagged struck the back of his skull. It didn't knock him out, but it did send him to the ground on his hands and knees. James heard struggling beside him as he tried to shake the pain away and get his vision back to normal. He began to sit up when he was struck from behind again, this time with a hoof. "Not so tough now are you?" Shit, he recognized that voice. James finally got his vision to focus and looked around. He could feel a warm liquid streaking down his back. He and Flash were surrounded by five stallions. Lightning stood before him while two other ponies held knives to both James and Flash's necks. Another two stood nearby, one of them James recognized as the earth pony he had spared during their first encounter. The navy blue pony with a dark brown mane looked nervous, like he didn't want to be a part of this. "Look at you both, so helpless. Helpless at MY hoof. I run this town and no two legged freak from nowhere and his weak ass friend aren't going to stop ME." "Helpless at your hoof, huh? Then who're all these guys? Looks like you didn't do shit." "SHUT UP!" Lighting punched James in the face. Hard. He tasted blood in his mouth. Some splattered into the dirt from the back of his head. "Thanks, I did have a little itch on my nose." The smart assed comment earned him another punch to the gut. "James! Cut it out, he's just gonna hurt you more!" Flash yelled at him, concerned for his friend's health. "But I haven't had such a gentle massage like this in years! And those are expensive!" He started to chuckle. Lightning spun around and bucked James in his side, sending him sprawling in the dirt near the two other gang ponies. The pony with the knife rushed over and retook his position before James could get up. Lighting pointed at the two other ponies James landed near. "You! Make sure he doesn't move while I teach a lesson to his friend." He ordered. He then turned his attention to the silver maned pegasus. James had to think fast. He tried talking to one of his captors, the blue pony that appeared to be having some serious second thoughts about his situation. "Hey buddy, you don't look like you're enjoying this, why do you follow this creep?" One of his guard gave him a smack in the back of his head. "Quiet!" The blue pony responded, "Because I don't have anywhere else to go! Don't talk, or they'll hurt you!" "C'mon man, you're better than this, aren't ya?" He got another smack. "I said quiet!" "I don't have any choice!" The navy blue pony replied. "What if I gave you one?" "How could you possibly do that?" "I told you to stop talking!" Another smack in the head. "That's getting really annoying you know. How about you add a little variety to your technique?" "How about this!?" The gang pony wound up to deliver a mighty blow, but was stopped when James twisted and punched him right in the jewels. The warrior twisted back around and used the momentum to send a punch to his other guard's neck. Both went to the ground. James picked up the knife. "HEY DICKHEAD! You might want to leave now!" Lightning turned from a battered Flash. "What! Really!? You, what are you doing standing there!? Stop him!" "I think he can think for himself, what do you say dude?" The navy blue pony shook his head no, looking absolutely terrified. "Fine then! We'll just do it this way!" Lightning grabbed the knife from the pony next to him and held it to Flash. "Stay where you are or your friend gets some extra holes!" James suddenly got very serious. A beating was one thing, but now the life of his friend and teammate was being threatened. He didn't take those kinds of things too well. His hands started to shake slightly, thoughts going back to his time spent in the desert. His vision started blur, focusing only one the one individual responsible for this. "Don't do anything you might instantly regret." James warned in a low and menacing tone. His left eye began to twitch slightly. "Oh, and you're so big, bad and tough way over there. What the hay are you gonna do about it?" "I'm warning you," he couldn't stop thinking about seeing teammates, brothers in arms getting shot, injured, stabbed, often right in front of him. Rage began to build. He shifted the position of the blade in his hand, preparing to strike. "You really don't want to do this." "What, this?" He gave Flash a stab to the shoulder, eliciting a cry of pain from the pegasus. James snapped, pent up rage releasing all at once. He bent his arm back flicked it forward, launching the knife at the remaining stooge. It buried itself almost to the hilt in his right breast, puncturing the lung. Immediately James powered forward at Lightning and rugby tackled him to the ground. He ripped the knife from the stunned pony, tossing it away and then began a savage attack on stallion that had so foolishly hurt his friend. He delivered punch after punch to the fiend's face and head. "YOU. WILL. NOT. EVER. HURT. MY. FRIENDS." He punctuated each word with a punch. His knuckles started to bleed. Suddenly two pairs of hooves wrapped around the crazed human, pulling him back. It was Flash and the earth pony. "James! Stop! You'll kill him!" "THAT'S THE FUCKING IDEA!" James broke free of his restraints and renewed his assault. Anger and pain rushed out of him in a torrent of violence. "I'm sorry James, but I have to do this!" Flash gave his frenzied friend a swift blow to the back of the head, ending the attack and this current period of consciousness for James. ================================================= *beep* *beep* *beep* *Beep* *Beep* *BEEP* 'Wha-, where am I? Is that my alarm? Is this the ship?' These were his first thoughts as James slowly regained consciousness. His face hurt and a slight headache pestered his cranium. James opened his eyes. He was in a hospital bed. The needle of an IV drip was inserted into his arm and an EKG was identified as the source of the beeping. His room was empty save for the equipment, a potted plant in the corner and a chair that had his clothing folded neatly in the seat. He got up out of bed and removed the IV. He was about to rip off the sensors for the EKG, but he realized that would make a noise so he unplugged it before doing so. The spot where the IV had been started to bleed so he found some gauze and wrapped it around the site a few times, securing it with a knot. Next, he picked up his clothes and started to change out of his hospital gown. The clothes were dirty, had small tears in a few places and were stained with his blood, but nothing that couldn't be easily fixed. James cracked the door open and peered out. There was almost nobody around so he just walked out of there. He made it about half way down the hall when Flash rounded the corner at the intersection with the navy blue pony. He had bandages wrapped around one shoulder, but otherwise looked unhurt. They were talking, but Flash stopped mid sentence when he spotted his friend. Quickly, the two galloped up to him. "James! What are you doing up! Are you all right?" "I'm fine, I'm fine. How long was I out?" "Just through the night, it's almost noon now. James... you almost killed those two...." "Shit, what happened?" He could only remember up to where he had disabled the first two gangsters. Everything after that was obscured in a red haze. Flash described the last evening's events for his friend. "..... so now both are in the hospital's jail ward, Lightning is still unconscious with a breathing tube down his throat and the other guy is waiting for surgery on his lung. The doctors said they should recover. As soon as they do, the guard detachment stationed here will take them into custody." "Do the guard need anything from me?" "No, myself and this guy took care of it." The blue pony introduced himself, "Hi, I'm Feather Touch. Thanks for taking them out, I never really liked runnin' with them, but I have no idea what I'm going to do now." James looked at Flash, "Can he stay on the couch for now?" "Sure, but why?" "Feather Touch, I'm James Kaughn and I have a proposition for you...."