//------------------------------// // A (Somewhat) Unpleasnt Nightime Skirmish // Story: The Quiet Kid: Day by Day // by aegishailstorm //------------------------------// It was a clear skied starry night In Ponyville. the townsfolk were asleep, and the streets lay dark and empty, illuminated by only the moonlight, and the occasional streetlamp. Everything was quiet, however, in the nearby Everfree forest, this was not the case... "Hey, ####heads, come at me!" A lone bipedal figure waved a shotgun into the darkness, clad in black armor, and sporting a pair of night vision goggles. Of course, this wasn't just any bipedal creature, this was a human, more specifically, William, who prided himself on his less than kind demeanor towards Equestria. But that wasn't what made him special, you you see, several years ago, he had been brought to Equestria by a group of rather infuriating Griffons, Changelings, and Dragons, which he had promptly err...put out of their misery, you see, before he had disposed of them, they had hoped, key word there being 'hoped' that he would support them in their war against Equestria. They had given him the ability to magically summon any piece of human military hardware he so desired in the blink of an eye, they were so caught up with what he may have been able to do for them, that they didn't even stop to think that he may turn against them. And, after meeting the main six, and saving Ponyville from the combined forces of 3 hostile nations. He was sent back home, only to be brought back 4 years later at the age of 20. However, as a result of fate, dumb luck, or a combination of the 2, his friend, Joey, had also been brought to Equestria, both unwillingly and unknowingly, he was transformed into an alicorn. And, after a longer than necessary 'quest' to stop the Storm King, the 2 settled in Ponyville, adopting very, very different lifestyles. In the day's after the Storm Kings defeat, William had begun to grow restless, often disappearing from town during the night. "Come at me abominations!" William prowled along the treeline, watching as the darkened figures as they stared back at him with glowing eyes. Most beings wouldn't dream of doing what he was doing, not even under threat of death, yet for some odd reason, he was doing it for pure entertainment. "Hmm, I can see you in there, this is your last warning buddy, come out and let me finish you off, or I'm going in after you!" He raised his goggles, and swapped them out for a set of thermal's. He watched as the treeline lit up with dozens of towering figures, all watching him, sizing him up. "Damn you all." He raised his shotgun, and began wildly firing into the bushes. He watched in satisfaction as the being's heat signatures slowly faded off his HUD as their vitals were snuffed out by round after round of buckshot, the shotgun clicked on empty, and as soon as it had, William had already began slamming more shells into it. Calmly, and firmly. He let out a grunt of a satisfaction as the muzzle flash's illuminated the treeline. Tossing in a few fragmentation grenades for good measure. He listened as the creatures growls of intimidation turned to ones of terror and pain, the last few figures turned tail and ran off into the forest. William wanted to pursue, but decided against it, he had been caught off guard and ambushed to many times in this world to fall for it once more, taking one more glance at the forest. It was fun sure, but that didn't make it any less dangerous. He turned his back too the woods, and headed off back towards Ponyville. "As hippie-like as this world may be, damn is it ever wonderful. At the very least, when noponies yelling in my ear." William thought to himself as he he strolled along the dirt road, looking up at the sky, then at his surroundings, he could hear crickets screeching in the distant. He was never much one for daytime, but at night time, when he was the only one awake, it was as though he had the entire world to himself. Plus, he never once had to squint. He stood at the edge of town, gaze shifting from side to side as he examined the dark road's and alleyway's. He walked into town. With his nightly dose of "Fun" more or less out of the way, he had decided to spend his time strolling though the streets of Ponyville. It wasn't long before a pony came in sight, an earth pony stallion in particular, with a brown mane and green fur, who, judging from his appearance, was out for a nighttime stroll just as William was. "Perfect, just the thing to make my night." William said to himself. Whenever he came across lone ponies at night, he liked to play "Game's" With them so to speak, usually consisting of trying to sneak around them without alerting them, or, on occasion, speaking with them from the shadows. It varied, sometimes he would just try striking up a friendly conversation with them, acting as though he was just another pony, other times it would be a comedy skit, he would even, on occasion, tell them about earth. Ponies, once you get them to warm up to you, were surprisingly good listener's, or just watching them go about their evening routine's. Completely oblivious to the fact that he was watching their every step under the cover of darkness. He slowly crept though an alley parallel to the road the earth pony was walking along, slipping behind a flower cart, with a ghillie suit to match his surroundings. "Heh, I own the night." He said to himself, there was more truth to the fact then most in this world would like to admit, since he had arrived back in Ponyville with his friend, these excursions had become an almost nightly occurrence, he had learned the general layout of every backroad and alleyway in Ponyville. "Hey, you." He called out in a whisper. He watched as the stallion's ears perked up. "H-Hello, who's there?" He asked nervously. "Why, just your local, friendly poltergeist, how's your evening been?" "Well, it's been alright I suppose, bit lonely, but other than that, nothing's gone wrong." The tone in William's voice changed to a low, deep, growling. "You know, there are those in this world who dispose the company of others, who wish only to be left alone in solitude and silence." "You know, I really should be going..." The stallion turned to run. "Eh, go, stay, I don't care, nice to have met you little one. " The stallion could hear the rustling as a dark figure rushed out from behind a nearby flower cart and ran into the alley. The pony shrugged, and trotted in the opposite direction. He knew better than to go investigating strange noises in a town like this. William meanwhile, just walked back down the alleyway, rifle slung over his back. He casually walked back down the road to his house, one which, following his brutal disposing of the Storm King, the princesses had given to him as a gift. They had originally offered him an apartment in Canterlot, an idea which he had quickly shot down. Opting instead for a nice, 1,900 square foot, 2 story house on the edge of town, the only catch, was his neighbor, Joey. of all people, or rather, ponies, just like him, Joey had turned down the option of living in Canterlot, and settled into Ponyville, his house a good 300 feet down from where William resided. In attempt to blend in with the others, unlike William, Joey had taken much more to Equestrian indoctrination, Ponies viewed and treated him as one of their own, he had even been offered a job at the local bakery, but had turned it down on account of him being horrible at cooking, last William had heard, he was even thinking of changing his name to something more befitting of a pony, the only thing that wasn't quiet complete was that fact that he didn't have a cutie mark, weather or not that would come in time remains to be seen. The thought of it made William sick, but than again, nearly everything foreign Equestria unnerved him in one way of another. He made it to the front door, but instead of using the handle, he pulled off a section of the door frame, revealing a keyboard, specially designed to not react the biology of any known Equestrian creature. Which, upon the entering of a 7 digit code, unlocked the door. He stepped inside, feeling once more a sense of ease and calm washed over him. You see, this wasn't just any middle class Equestrian home, as soon as it had fallen under his ownership, he had begun making "Modifications" to it, so to speak. Not much, just reinforced, bullet and magic proof wall reinforcement, gun racks, and a few other things that only a person like him would actively find comforting, tired, and with droopy eyes, after looking through door once more, and setting the perimeter alarms. He changed out of his armor into his pajamas, which, to say, wasn't much of a change at all, but regardless, he found the brown drab BDU fatigues comfortable. Walking upstairs to his bedroom, adorned with trophies of his victories. He collapsed on the bed, and drifted off to sleep.