The Things We Do

by Frostbytten

Because We're Told

I looked up at the pony in front of me. Grey mane, and a old-fashioned adventurers hat. I..........noticed................her....................... I flinched back from the ponies face suddenly in front of mine. I'd blacked out. This was bad. This was very, very bad. I'd lost way too much blood, and the infection was doing nobody any good at all. I felt myself slowly drifting away, my mind wandering back to how I'd gotten into this whole mess in the first place.

A low rumble could be heard in the distance, slowly growing louder and deeper as whatever was emitting it drew closer. The apartment began to shake. Dishes began rattling loudly and violently in their cabinets. The rumble became a loud, blaring roar. A loud authorative voice could be heard clearly over the engine noise. A blinding light streamed through the window, right onto the occupants face.
"Remain in your homes. Anyone caught breaking curfew will be subject to immediate detaination. Stay in your..."
In the bedroom, a shape rose from the bed and began to stumble through the clutter and mess towards the nearests bathroom. As he stepped closer to the window, more of his features could be distinguished through the gloom. The first thing visible was his frosty blue hair stuck in perpetual bedhead. Next came the electric green eyes that almost seemed to dance with barely contained mirth, and, conversely, boredom. Soon, his whole body was revealed, and 19 year old James King scowled in annoyance. You could never get any sleep in this city, it seemed. Muttering in annoyance, he turned and stalked into the bathroom. Then flipped the lights on.
*click*
Nothing. He scowled in annoyance and flipped the switch again.
*click*
*click click*
*clickclickclickclickclick*
"Come on!" James growled in exasperation. "I paid my bills, but do they give me electricity? No, the richer guy gets it, and they just take my money and laugh." In the distance the incessant woop of sirens could be heard, along with angry shouts and the occasional gunshot. The sound of running water could be heard from the shower.

James stepped out of the bathroom, letting whisps of steam escape with him. He wasn't much to look at. He was fairly skinny, and what muscle that migh have been obvious was shrouded by a black zip up hoodie with the Monstercat logo on it. A headset hung from around his neck, and his jeans had seen better days. He strectched and yawned, then moved towards his small "kitchen". Really, it was just a sink, refridgerator, microwave, and a small dinky little stove. He opened the fridge. Nothing.
"How surprising." He deadpanned to no-one in particular. "Let's see if I still have any ramen at all." Opening the cabinets revealed a single packet of the stuff. "Well, shit. I hope that Earth-Gov gives me a job soon. One that I get paid for would be nice, too." He shrugged, reaching into the cabinet and pulling out a bowl, a fork, and the lone pack of instant noodles. After they were ready, he took the bowl of steaming noodle over to the only table and chair in the small apartment that he'd been "given". As such, it contained the young hackers computer. The only way he'd been able to sustain himself at all was the fact that he was so good at hacking into the accounts of rich pricks and taking an insignificant amount of money from their accounts. It was barely enough to pay the rent and be able to buy something cheap from the street vendors. He gently paced the bowl on the table next to the state-of-the-art machine that claimed the table. He'd gotten it for free, as thanks for one of his missions. It had since been upgraded in innumerable ways, most of which even he didn't know were there. He stretched again, cracking his neck and his knuckles. He leaned forward over his precious computer and logged on.
~%*You have one(1) new message*%~
"Huh. Wonder who that is. Scyrus? No, wait...He'd want to meet face-to-face." Opening the message revealed that it was from Earth-Gov. It was short and blunt. It was also utterly vauge. It simply read:
James,
We've got a mission for you. Report at once.
He stared at it blankly for a few minutes, then sighed.
"Well, I did say I wanted something to do."

James let out a "Whoo!" of pure joy as he knifed through the air, goggles covering his eyes. He made a sharp turn...to have something hit him in the face.
"Wake up! You need to wake up!"
Who?
"Come on!" Another blow to the face. It wakes me up.

I looked up at the tan pony, who continued to rain blows across my face, unaware that I was awake. I feebly lifted the arm not tied to anything and attempted to ward off the blows. The pony stepped back when it saw me attempt to wave it away.
"Gaah! I'm....awake, I'm awake!" This time I got a back...hoof? I don't know. But that mother HURT! "OW!" I gave the pony my best death glare. "What the hell?!?"
Immediately the rose-colored eyes grew wide, and the pony began to apologize. "OH! I'm so, so, very sorry!" She, I could tell by her voice, lifted one of her front hoofs to her head and began to grin sheepishly at me. "Instinct, I guess?" Her form began to waver, and my thoughts began to mimic her.
"'S Ok. Don't you two worry about it." Things started going black, and then a field of stars appeared. "Ooooh, look at the pretty stars........" I went out like a light. I barely heard the pony's voice. It sounded so far away. I began to slowly drift through fields of stars and planets. So this was death. How.... peaceful. Soon, something began to pull me back. I quickly came out of my reverie. The stars began to fade, replaced by an infinite black. However, I didn't feel threatened by the void, but rather.....calmed. Slowly, everything began to cease to exist. My last thought before being claimed by the black was, "I'm not dead yet."