//------------------------------// // Learning and Memories // Story: For My Son // by Cobra 1 //------------------------------// A/N: I have decided that Live Life by Crush 40 will be the "theme" for this fic. After a minute or two of shock and horror, I remembered I was wearing a hat. Between landing in a new place and the shock of transformation I had forgotten about it. Next problem that arose was walking. I tried to stand up but immediately fell back on my rump. After ten to twenty minutes of attempting to get up I finally did it, now to walk forward. I took a step and then fell right on my face. It took a few times but I finally learned how to walk with four legs. "Now to find my hat." I found it right were I landed in the field. I went to pick it up and, forgetting I had hooves now, reached for it only to fail. I tried again and again, but damn hooves wouldn't hold objects. "How the hell do they do that?" I asked myself in frustration. They made picking things up look so easy in their show. Giving up I just decided to pick it up with my mouth. Now it was off to that town. I arrived in the town about a half-hour later, hat still in mouth. There were ponies, many different colors, everywhere. As I continued through the town I bumped into a pink pony. 'Wait,' I thought. 'pink pony. Oh god NO! Not her.' She turned and looked at me for a second before she spouted off into a long speech. "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie and you must be a new pony, because I know every pony in Ponyville..." As she continued on with her speech, her excited, youthful attitude reminded me of one of the pilots I flew with. "Hello, sir are you Captain James?" Asked the new recruit. "Yes and who are you?" I asked, as I turned to face him. "Sir, I am Eddie Bong, I am a new pilot and I have heard a lot about this squadron. I also-" "Alright, that is all good Eddie." I interrupted, this guy was going to get himself killed if he talked so much. Either by the enemy or someone in the squadron. "Sir, I am ready for any action the enemy can throw at us." He was very confident. I liked this kid and his willingness. "And the party will have streamers and-" "Yes, that is quite nice of you but um..." I couldn't think of how to say anything else. Also when I looked up she was gone. I hoped I wouldn't run into her for a while she talks way too much. As I continued to walk, I saw many young colts and their parents. It was a strong reminder of my family. Before I could begin to think I started to make out a round building, carousel in shape. 'Oh no, stay away from that place.' I thought. I figured I would have to meet her sooner or later, but then was not the time. Next was a market area, and an apple stand, the one I knew belonged to another of the six ponies. Sure enough standing behind the stall was an orange coated, blonde maned pony with a stetson. My stomach growled and her apples sure did look good. "Would ya like t' buy some apples?" She asked as I made it to the stands' counter. "Yeah, um... oh." I remembered, no money. "Ah'll tell ya what. Ah'll give you two now and you pay me back." As she said this I perked up. "Why, thank you miss. I will be sure to pay you back." With apples in hat, I continued on. 'So nice of her. She reminds me of Robert "Tex" Jabara with that southern drawl and nice disposition.' "Alright boys, let's go." I said. We had just gotten a message that enemy cargo ships had been spotted near the base. "Yes sir." They responded in unison. "'Tex', you ready man." "Tex" was always a good friend of mine and a loyal wingman. Although we always called him by the nickname "Tex" he wasn't born in Texas, he was born in southern Oklahoma. "Ya know that Ah'm always ready for a fight." "Then, let's go." We rushed off to our jets. After a few moments the battle was on. "Tex" was everywhere, helping out our squadmates mostly. In the air he was a terror to enemies, on the ground he was the nicest person I have ever known. But no matter what, he helped me enforce the fact that we would respect the enemy and follow rules set by some of the best aces to come before us. That got me thinking of the time "Tex" came to see my son. We had a great time. Speaking of my son, these ponies and their kids had strong bonds like me and my son. "Daddy your home!" Yelled Jacob coming down the stairs. It had been about three months since the end of the skirmishes "Hey there, how is my boy?" I asked. As I walked through the door with "Tex" right behind. "I'm fine. I missed you." He noticed Rob behind me. "Hey Tex." "Howdy bud." About two hours later we were ready for dinner. It consisted of ham, cornbread, and Root Beer. Jessica sat to the right of me, my boy to my left, and "Tex" beside him. "So dad, what happened?" My son was always a curious one. "Well, there we were. Twenty against me and Tex. And-" I began in exagerration, but was cut off by "Tex." "That aint what happened. Are ya crazy, trying to convince your son that you're cool like that?" He said jokingly. "You know that I'm crazy. I spend time around you." I teased. I was grateful for the fact that my son was inbetween us or Rob would have punched me. He had a hard punch, even if he was just playfully doing so. "Dad, when I grow up, I wanna be like you two." That statement filled me with both fear and pride in my son. The fear came from the fact that I didn't tell him about the deaths of some of my pilots and I didn't want him to end up like them. But that day showed just how much we shared. I had finally figured out how to use these damn hooves for holding objects. Okay, I held my hat between two hooves and stuck it back on my head, which felt kind of weird. It had been a few hours since I had arrived here, or was it a full day. God, being here was really screwing me up. I knew I couldn't hold off on meeting the other four ponies forever. And that is just what happened. I was walking when out of nowhere a multicolored blur crashed into my side. "Oof. Ow son of a-" I looked up to see a mare with a rainbow mane and was cyan, I could tell it was Rainbow Dash, my son's favorite pony. "Heh heh, sorry about that." She said apologetically. I was hurt but nothing I hadn't been through before. "Don't worry about it." I responded. "What were you doing anyway?" "I was practicing my tricks for the Wonderbolts." "Excuse me?" I was sure I had heard of them before. "You don't know who the Wonderbolts are?!" She asked shocked. "Only the coolest group in Equestria, only to get cooler when I join." I was thoroughly unimpressed by this ponies narcisistic attitude. Someone needed to show her that, she was not as amazing as she thinks. "And you think that your the best around. Your a nugget compared to some of those I've seen." I pulled out something I hadn't used in a long time, the voice I only used to command and restore order. And that is when she got in my face. "You are talking to the best flyer in Equestria here." "I highly doubt your the best." I responded. "If you were the best wouldn't you be in the Wonderbolts. And if you don't get out of my face there will be trouble." I had been in a few fights in my time and that pony was nothing compared to some of the men I had fought. But I usually started because of them insulting me. One thing about me, I am pretty easy to piss off. "Pft, I could take you." I decided to ignore that comment. 'Wait a second. Don't I have... oh yes I do, wings.' I thought. But how did they fly. "Your Rainbow Dash, are you not?" "Yes. Yes I am. Though, I don't recognize you. Have we met before?" "No we haven't. I just um, heard about you from a friend." That was partially true, I did hear it from my son. "Shouldn't you get back to your practicing?" I wanted to do anything to end this conversation. "Huh, oh right. Gotta bolt." And with that she sped off with a streak of rainbow trailing behind. "And that is why I was the only one to fly a Russian jet." Finished Leonardo Lombardi. He was usually spouting off bullshit. "Cut the crap Leo. You also almost crashed it." I said walking up to the crowd around Lombardi. We knew each other from training. We were two of the best and were big rivals, both because of our attitudes toward how an ace should act and our abilities. Everybody often called him 'Falco' because, although he was a great pilot he was often a douschebag. "It couldn't handle my amazing flying skills." I rolled my eyes at that comment, sure he was a great pilot but not as good as he thought. And to think there was a time I thought he was the better pilot. "Oh I forgot, the enemy is so scared of you." I responded sarcastically. "I know that I could take a whole squadron of theirs out by myself." "Bullshi-" I was interrupted by a pair of PAK FA's dropping their bombs on one of the radar dishes. Also there were about fifteen MiG-29's providing escort. "Looks like you can prove it right here. Let's go, MOVE NOW!" I yelled as everybody rushed to their aircraft. 'I still need to find a job to get money, so I can pay Applejack back." I thought to myself, as I was trotting down the dirt "road", I don't think you could call it a road. What else is there to call it, a path? Anyway as soon as I thought about that I got an idea. You see when I was human, after I came back from the war, I worked at a library. And so why not go to the library where Tara- I mean Twilight lives. I was sure she could use some extra help. I mean I was going to run into her sooner or later, so why not on my own terms. So with a new plan, I rushed off to the tree/library to see if I could help out there for some money. Final Note: Also sorry this doesn't have many flashback moments between James and his son, I just wanted to flush out some back-story. There will be more memories of him and his family, most importantly his son. Also if you want him to tell of his expiriences just tell me how you want me to do that.