//------------------------------// // For My Namesake: Part 2 // Story: The Quiet Kid: Day by Day // by aegishailstorm //------------------------------// "You defeated Chrysalis?, I don't believe it." Smolder countered as the group sat at the bank of a small lake. "Oh, really? you don't believe me? Cover your ears." "Why?" The group asked. An M82 Barrett appeared in Williams hands, he raised it to his shoulder, and took aim at a small oak tree on the far side of the lake. "Do it." He said flatly, he depressed the trigger, and as soon as he had, the oak tree's trunk exploded in a shower of splinters. "That's how." He waved they're gapping looks of surprise aside. "What is that?" Sandbar asked. "Classified." "Wait, I still don't get it, are you like... The school's security guard or something?" Gallus questioned. "No, as I said on the way over here, I'm a friend of Twilight, and, when you've got an alicorn as a friend, you don't exactly have much choice, trust me, I'd much rather be out in the Everfree forest." "Why? I-It's sar-" "Can it Ocellus, I've dealt with my fair share of cowards over the years, and let me tell you, I hated every moment of it, the only joy I felt was when I proved them wrong. remember, friendship may make you look good in the public eye, but when you're out... there," He pointed south, towards Ponyville " It's a whole 'nother ball game." "Heh, this one gets me!" Gallus called out. "Well, gryphon's where traditionally very warlike creatures." "Nice meeting you all, now, if you could go and leave me alone, I would be grateful, I like my privacy." "Why? Silverstream asked. William fired several more rounds into the lake. "I talk to myself." "You serious?" They collectively asked him. "Yes, I am, now, off you go-" "Isn't this beach public access?" Sandbar asked. "Well... yes, you know what? Fine. You can stay, I'll be over there if you need me." He strolled up the hill, and began pacing back and forth beneath the largest tree he could find. "He may be weird, but I do prefer him to our teachers." Gallus remarked, the group nodded in agreement. "Do you really, I mean, he walks around in that armor, and the way he acts, I'd wager he could go up against the entire royal guard... and win" "He actually did, last week anyway." A white alicorn with a deep blue mane appeared above the beach, and slowly descended, landing just ahead of them. "Although, it's not like he won... I mean, don't get me wrong, he did give them quite a scare, but I doubt he would actually do anything to hurt any of them." "Hey it's you! The alicorn William mentioned, Joey, right? Weird name for a pony." "Yep, that's me, I've been thinking of changing it, but I decided to stay with it for the time being. What are you five up to?" "Well, we where... On our way to the lake, and we met him on the way." Silverstream pointed a claw up at the top of the hill, where William was relentlessly pacing back and forth. "Yep, that's William for you, don't worry, he may seem tough, but he's just a big softie." His expression of sarcasm faded when William turned away, and began his way back down towards the group. M4 in hand. "Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention, mood swings. Just don't insult him, or annoy him. Or.. pester him." "Hey, Joey! What was that about me being soft?" He walked up to him, and gave him a tug on his mane, causing him to jump back in pain. "Ow! Comon, it's not like it was that bad, didn't you tell me-" William pinched his ear. "Please, not a word about the pony thing." "What 'pony' thing?" Smolder asked skeptically. "We do not speak about that. Ever. "... Ok." "Hey, how about a race?" Joey Silverstream blurted out. "Go on ahead, no giggling!" With a nod, Joey, and the 5, headed off. William watched, tapping the muzzle of his Barrett. "I just remembered how much I hate the sand." He let out of a low growl of anger as he watched them from afar, watching as Silverstream, Gallus and Ember grabbed Sandbar and Yona, lifting them up into the air. "Why do I have to suffer thought this?" "Hey, William!" He heard Joey call out from behind him. "Gah! How did you get back here so fast!?" William crawled back away. "Little trick I learned from Rainbow, hey, you don't have any wings either, wanna give it a try? "William scoffed. "What do you think? No-" Joey grabbed him by the arms, and lifted up into the air, hovering about 15 feet off the ground. "AHHH! What are you doing!?" "Calm down, I'm not quite as unsteady as I was 2 weeks ago. Trust me." William blinked, and nodded. "Alright!" Joey took off towards the other 5. After a while, Williams mood began to change. "Heh, this isn't actually that bad, you aren't going to drop me, are you? I've had enough of that wingsuit to last me a lifetime, besides, we're so low to the ground, it wouldn't matter anyway." "Don't worry, I ain't dropping you. You know, if you like flying that much, you could go talk to Twilight about-" "No." "Why not? I'd enjoy another pegasus to fly with!" William rolled his eyes. "Yeah, no, I'll 'convert' when I please." "I don't understand why you make such a big deal out of it. It's not permanant-" "Yeah I know, it's just that, OH ####!!!" William tugged his friends foreleg away. "Hey, stop it, do you want to fall?" "Over there!" Joey's head swiveled over, to see an enormous... Well, it was disturbing. "What the hell is that!?" Joey yelped. "Swing me around, brace for recoil." "Wait, what? Oh no... you're not going to try..." Yes, now, do it!" "-But the schools down there!" "Hurry, it's getting closer!" Joey obliged, and a stinger guided missile appeared in Williams hands. "Oh no!" "Clear!" "No William, not clear!" Joey screamed, being that the area which William had just proclaimed as 'clear!' in fact housed his wings. he could hear the quickening beeps from the launcher as it locked onto the monster in front of them. He peered down to see ponies running away in fright. "I haven't killed anything all day!" William exclaimed. Joey yanked his wing away at the last second, just as the guided missile left the tube, much to Williams disappointment, it just barely missed the abomination in front of them, impacting the mountain behind the school. His sudden wing flap backwards had destabilized the both of them, sending them plummeting to the ground below. Instinctively, Joey pushed off William, gliding to the ground, leaving William to fall the remaining 18 feet, alone. He landed with the loudest shriek of pain that Joey had, and would, ever hear. He galloped over to him as fast as he could. "William? William? Are you ok? I'm sorry!, It was an accident!" Joey began whimpering. "Owww! Yes I'm ok, nothing feels broken, you can thank my armor for that, what's wrong with you?" He noticed that his friend had begun crying. "Seriously!? You're crying? I'm the one who fell 2 stories! Don't let those pony genes get the better of you!" He snapped his fingers and gestured at the cloud of dust on the far side of the field. As it faded, it revealed those same creatures he had met earlier. Albeit, a bit shaken up, as soon as he spotted Ocellus, it all made sense. "Oh ####, Joey, that wasn't a monster, it was that changeling over there." Joey wiped his tears away. "Don't be too hard on them." Without another word, William pushed himself to his feet, wincing and grunting in pain, an M4 appeared back in his hands. He started off towards the 5. Silverstream was the first to catch eye of William. "Uh, maybe skipping class wasn't the best idea-" "How dare you?" He gazed past the rows of disoriented ponies, at a white unicorn he remembered from 3 days prior. At this point, he didn't care who was who, he was still writhing in pain, and somepon-no, someone was going to pay for this, and it sure as #### wasn't the mental train wreck still whimpering behind him. The chancellor continued. "This act of aggression against ponies-" "Oh, you want to see aggression you piece of ####!? I'll ####in show you aggression!" He roared from across the field. "Oh...I-It's you again..." The Chancellor looked around him, as if for a way out of this situation. "The magic of friendship can't save you now little pony!" William cackled.