//------------------------------// // Best (And Worse) Night Ever // Story: Displacement // by hornethead //------------------------------// Chapter 47: Best (And Worst) Night Ever Tempered blades whipped through the air at lethal velocities, clashing against each other in a loud reverberating clang and a flurry of sparks. Feather disengaged and jumped back, sweat pouring down his face and muzzle, as Garth swung at the stallion's chest with a hand-and-a-half sword. Feather once again launched himself at his opponent who made for another slash at his chest, but at the last moment, feinted into a quick stab. Feather quickly parried and delivered a kick to Garth's hands, knocking the blade from the tall warrior's grip and following through with a stab of his own. Garth side stepped the thrust and launched a debilitating cross to Feather's jaw, knocking the poor stallion on his side. "Alright, that's enough!" James exclaimed while stepping into the ring and stopping the fight, "That was a good back and forth there. Feather, you should work more on dodging slipping past his guard rather than charging head on, you're not too good at that. Garth, that was good, changing your attack mid swing, but remember it leaves you off balance and vulnerable. Other than that, damn Garth, I should call you Conan after a punch like that!" "I do not understand, who is this Conan?" The mottled skinned warrior replied. "It was this whole movie, the guy punched a horse in the face, but that's not important. Right now, why don't you guys go take a rest and get some water, you've earned it." Together the two tired fighters removed themselves from the ring and went to get some hydration. For the past few weeks, they had all been meeting just after sunset to speak and spar with Garth, who had been more than willing to apply his skills in combat and tell them of his people. James was fascinated as the broad shouldered fighter had regaled them with myths and legends about his people's past. From what James could understand, the Lotkin were not unlike some of the ancient cultures back on earth. They reminded him most of Vikings, small tribes of warriors traveling the land and pillaging the villages of their kin to win glory in death. In fact, rarely did the ever organize and fight en masse as they have now, this was only because of a single person, Kraster. The rest of the team was even starting to warm up to Garth, having seen that his kind was not inherently evil, just led by an evil man. James even thought he saw Sparks drawing up some new armor in his workshop. He had already made Garth a new sword. James was glad. It meant they were gelling and becoming a cohesive unit. If this kept up, he might be able to go on a little expedition to the north. Maybe track down the location of the evasive invasion force. "Hey James, it's almost twenty-two now, call it a night?" Flash asked him. "Yeah, go ahead. We got a big night coming up, Celestia wants us to represent the Task Group at the Gala. Be ready for a ton of questions you're not allowed to answer from people who won't understand a thing." "Sounds like you've done this before." "Oh yeah. It's no fun. Very awkward." "Ugh..." "Yup." James had them all stow their gear and clean up before heading back to their homes. Garth retreated back to his humble hut in the woods not far from the training ground. James himself began walking in the direction of his house, but veered off to to the hill he had once spent a night with a certain pegasus, gazing at the stars. The night was warm and the skies clear, a crescent moon was gradually rising in the east. With a huff, he plopped down into the soft grass and lay his head back, staring up and processing the last week's events while contemplating what the future might hold. Then his thoughts fell to his past. Ugly thoughts. Thoughts of the things he had witnessed. Thoughts of the things he had done. Thoughts of the things he could have prevented, but didn't. Every time these thoughts came up, he began to fill with a dark and twisted hatred, like he needed to utterly destroy something. He tried to think about all the good things he had been doing here in his new home since he'd arrived, but the more he tried, the more his mind wrenched itself back to the darkness of his past. In an effort to stem the flood of unhappy images and feelings, James popped in his headphones and began to play some music, which usually helped. He lay there for a while, trying to relax, when out of the corner of his eye, he detected movement. Shifting his vision from the twinkling night sky to his side, James looked to see what it was. It was Dash. She was laying on her back, her head next to James', her body splayed out above his head towards the other side of the hill. Her mouth was moving, but James couldn't hear so he removed one of his earphones, "Hmmm?" "I said; what'cha thinkin' about?" "Oh. Nothing really." "Doesn't look like 'nothing really'." James returned his gaze to the stars, "Yeah, you got me. It's just some unpleasant thoughts." "You wanna talk about it?" "Not really...." "Is it about the stuff you did?" "Good guess." "Not really a guess. You always have that face when you're thinking about that stuff." Dash said knowingly. "That obvious, huh?" "Yeah. So why don't you tell me? Talking about it might actually help." "You really want to know?" James asked skeptically. "Of course!" James sighed heavily, "Fine. You asked for it." RD cuddled up closer to him in anticipation for him opening up. "Well, where to start? For some reason, I just can't stop thinking about all the messed up shit I did. It's not like I get to choose when I think about it, it just sort of pops in there. Wether I'm sitting by myself or in a room full of friends, it doesn't matter. Most of the time, I just throw on a fake smile, a mask, to cover it up, but I cant stop the feelings inside. Every time they come up, my chest just feels empty, like I don't really exist. At least, for no good reason. Hell, if I'm eating, my mouth feels like it's full of ash." James felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned his head to see what Dash wanted and received a kiss full on the mouth. He tensed for a second, but soon felt all the stress of the past few weeks begin to drain from his body. Dash pulled a way, "That taste like ash?" James smiled, "Actually, it tastes like you've been eating that hot sauce." "Hm hm, yup." She chuckled. "Think I can stay at your place tonight? It's closer." "Sure thing." ===================================================================== "Ribbons?" "Check." "Boot Polish?" "Check." "Under Arms?" "Make that a triple check." "Triple check?" Sparks asked confusedly. "Well yeah, you didn't think I'd go under prepared, did you?" "Ok. Besides your sword, what else are you bringing?" "I thought I'd take my old Lieutenant's pistol," James said, pulling the large revolver out of his desk drawer and shoving it into a holster belted around his waist, "he always wore it to formal functions, I thought I'd at least carry on his legacy here." "You said triple, where's the third?" Sparks asked sharply, narrowing his eyes. James pulled up his right leg and patted his calf, "Right here, got my knife." "C'mon. This is just a formal Gala we're talking about here! The pretty looking pistol I can understand, but do you really need to go armed to the teeth?" The rusty red unicorn complained. "You're right, it is a formal Gala, one that all the royalty and social elites will be attending en masse. Perfect target if you ask me." "You gotta get your mind off the job." Said Sparks, shaking his head. "That's when it'll happen. Besides, it's not like the pistol will be loaded." James countered. "Now c'mon, how do I look?" "Top looks good, so do the pants. I think you're set. Wait, what's that bulge in your blouse's pocket?" Sparks asked, pointing with a hoof to James' breast pocket. With a grin, the human pulled out round for the large caliber revolver, "Insurance." "Ugh, I give up!" "Alright, let's go." Both clothed in their dashing dress uniforms, Sparks and James descended the stairs to living room where their other two teammates were waiting, similarly dressed. Giving each other curt nods, they all set out as a group for the town of Ponyville where their dates and transportation for the evening were waiting. As they came to the long road that connected the town with the nation's capitol, a large purple carriage pulled up to them and stopped a sort distance away. James noted that it was drawn by four large, yet unusual looking, white horses, in the driver's seat was a familiar purple and green dragon. At one point, he almost thought he heard one of them squeak. James' thoughts were interrupted when the carriage door swung open and seven mares stepped out, each dressed to the nines. Each one wore a dress that seemed to suit their own personalities. There was Twilight, who wore a shimmering lavender gown adorned with several clusters of swirling stars. Pinkie, whose dress seemed to made of pastries and sweets spun into textile form. Fluttershy, who was garbed in the natural beauty of of the forest and mother nature herself. Applejack, wearing a practical, yet stylish dress that mimicked her working duds with elegance. Rarity, cloaked in a complicated and flashy evening gown that radiated a certain grandeur. Myst was with them, clothed in a simple silvery dress with blue highlights that matched her eyes and coat well. And of course, Rainbow dash, who was sporting a tight fitting, yet formal dress that flowed with her uncharacteristically styled mane, which was done up in a simple, yet tasteful, pony tail. So to speak. "My my, just look at these dashing young stallions in uniform, here to escort us to the Gala!" Rarity said in a mock fluster, "Which one of you would like to accompany one of these beautiful mares to the grand ball?" "Sorry, this one's mine!" Dash asserted, trotting over behind James and pushing him to the carriage door with her head. "I'm going with Pinkie." Flash stated, taking his place by her side and trotting with her to the door. Myst walked over to Sparks and gave him a slap in the rump, "let's go lover boy, you're comin' with me." Rarity looked at the two remaining mares and then back to the last stallion standing, "Well, I have Spike, and Twilight will be spending most of her time with the princesses. Feather, why don't you go with Fluttershy?" "Oh, no. Please Rarity you don't have to--" The alabaster mare cut off her timid friend, "Nonsense, I insist! None of us should be without company tonight, now go on you two!" She stated, pushing the two ponies together. "Uh.... hi." Feather said shyly. "Hi..." Fluttershy responded in a barely audible tone from behind her mane. With a shove, Rarity forced them into a seat next to each other within the carriage. "Ok Spike, that's everypony," Twilight said with a smile, "let's go!" "Sure thing boss!" He replied cheerfully. With a quick whip of the reigns, the small dragon spurred their steeds onward to Canterlot and the Grand Galloping Gala. ===================================================================== James entered the Grand Ballroom, amazed at it's sight. He had seen it a few times before, but never with all the decorations and ornaments that now adorned the large chamber. Abruptly, he was brought out of his daze by a nudge to his side from Dash. "I said, it's nice to see you've arrived Commander." Princess Celestia said to him. "Oh, yes." James started, swiftly recovering, "Sorry about that ma'am, I just kind of got distracted by the scenery." "That's all right Commander. It's quite a sight, isn't it?" "That it is ma'am, that it is." "I'm glad you enjoy it. Now if you'll please excuse me, I have other guests I must greet." "Of course ma'am, have a good evening." "Likewise." Celestia relied as the human dismissed himself. With Dash at his side, James descended a large staircase to the floor of the ballroom and the hundreds of well dressed ponies below. Above the humming chatter of all the guests, James could hear a somewhat classical style of music playing in the background. He looked around for his friends, but they had all entered before him and split up since then. "Alright Dash, what do you want to do now?" The smartly dressed soldier asked his date. "First, I want to fix something I should have a long time ago." "What's that?" "I'm gonna introduce you to the Wonderbolts!" "Alright, lead the way." Dash guided him through the crowd of party goers to a secluded section of the ballroom that was separated by a red velvet rope. As they approached the entrance to the exclusive area, they were stopped by a bouncer. "Names?" "I'm Rainbow Dash and this is my date, Commander Kaughn." "Ok, you're good to go." He said, stepping aside. James looked at Dash with a smirk, "Damn Dash, I didn't figure you for a high status elite." "Well, being an Element of Harmony has it's perks..." "I guess it does. So where are these Wonderbolts at? From everything I've heard you say about them, they must be something special." "As Equestria's premier flying team, they sure are!" "Premier? What, you mean like better than you?" James teased. "Hey, watch it buddy, or I'll put you on the couch tonight!" Dash threatened in playful mock anger. "Whoa, alright you win," James threw his hands up, palms out, "you're the best flyer in Equestria!" "Don't you forget it." Dash said with a smirk. They both threaded their way through the VIP crowd in search of their targets, RD in the lead with James following close behind. After some jostling around in the thick crowd, the duo found themselves at a waist high table loaded with assorted drinks and snacks. James grabbed a couple of waters, offering one to Dash. "Want one?" "Nah, I'm good. Why don't you wait here while I try to go find them, it'll be easier if it's just one of us." She suggested. "Alright. I'll be right here waiting." James agreed. With a nod, the rainbow maned mare disappeared into the mass of ponies, leaving James alone with his drink and his thoughts. While he waited, he picked up a few of the hors'derves and popped them in his mouth, washing them down with a cool swig of water. Side stepping to his left without looking, James accidentally bumped into one of the other guests. "Oh, please excuse me." James apologized to a blonde maned unicorn in a red blazer. "Ah, they do seem to be letting just any brute into the Guard these days. Why, last month I thought I saw one of those repugnant Diamond Dogs applying for a position. Next time, why don't you be a decent guard and pay attention to your surroundings." The stallion replied in a snobbish tone. James shrugged off the rude tone of the unicorn, "I'll keep that in mind, sir." Then he returned his attention to the snack bar and rolled his eyes. This wasn't the first time he'd run into this situation. He found it best to just ignore it and resume whatever he was doing, the offender would usually do the same and part ways. However, this time would be different. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to the same stallion. "I say, that pin on your uniform is unfamiliar to me, what unit are you with?" The unicorn asked, pointing to the small gold emblem of the RSTG prominently displayed on James' left breast, just above the row of ribbons. James was still annoyed by this pony, but he was here as a representative of his unit and went along with the stallion's demands. "I'm with the Royal Special Tasks Group, Commander Kaughn at your service." James stated, politely extending a hand in greeting. When the unicorn did not do the same with a hoof, James returned his hand to his side. "Please forgive me, but I do not shake hooves with plebeians, especially one as.... exotic as yourself." "Very well. I'm sorry to hear that. Now if you'll please excuse me, I'm waiting for my date." As if the mere off hand mention of her was enough to summon her forth, Dash suddenly appeared at James' side, two pegasi in form fitting blue uniforms in tow. "Ugh... James, what are you doing talking to this creep?" She asked in disgust, giving the unicorn a menacing glare. "You know him?" "Yeah, this is Prince Blueblood. The first time we came to the Gala with Twilight, this guy was a real jerk to Rarity." An amused expression jumped to the prince's face, "Oh, ho ho! You're cavorting yourself with one of the Ponyville bumpkins I see, and a friend of that disgraceful little mare I might add! I had no idea that a guard would associate himself with such uncouth ponies. Well, I guess their standards really must be slipping these days...." James was normally slow to anger, but this comment struck a nerve in the human's mind. With a slightly angry tone, James replied, "Hey, say what you want about me, maybe even my unit, but I think you should really apologize to the lady here. You might want to go apologize to Rarity too, 'cause if anything, she's a class act." " Rarity, a class act? Please, her and her backwater friends have no place here. By the way, you might want to watch your tone, I am royalty after all." James briefly lost a hold of his temper, "Yeah, a royal pain in the ass." James was suddenly aware that all conversation around him had abruptly come to a halt, all the surrounding guests wore mortified looks upon their faces. Prince Blueblood stood stoutly, anger at James' statement covered his visage, "You sir, go too far! Perhaps you need to be taught a lesson in manners!" "I really don't think I'm the one who needs to brush up on their manners, prince." "How dare you accuse me of being such and ill-raised ruffian! That's it, I challenge you to a gentlecolt's duel!" "I'm afraid I'm gonna have to refuse that generous offer." James said calmly. "What, are you some kind of coward?" "James'll beat you any day of the week!" RD spat at the unicorn. "Why, I have half a mind to--" Her human companion stopped her with a slight raise of his arm before returning his attention to the prince. "First, I'm gonna apologize for letting my temper slip. Second, I would love to slap you around for a bit for what you said to Dash here, but I'm here at Celestia's request as a representative of my unit. You want a fight, go ahead and take it up with her." "Splendid idea!" Blueblood said, turning around and trotting away. James gazed around at all the ponies still staring at him, "Ladies and gentle... colts, please excuse my rudeness." After addressing them, he strode away and out onto a secluded balcony to cool off. A short while later, Rainbow Dash joined him, followed by the two pegasi. "You feeling ok?" She inquired. "Yeah, just a bit mad at myself for losing my temper in front of everybody. That looked really bad. Might even reflect badly on my unit." "You kidding, that was awesome!" One of the pegasi exclaimed, a mare with fiery mane and tail. "Everypony friggin' hates that guy, but none of them want to say anything because of his position. Oh, I'm Spitfire by the way and this is Soarin'." "Hi, nice to meet you, I'm James," he shook both their hooves, "RD has told me a lot about you guys. She really admires you, you know." Beside him, a blushing Rainbow Dash lightly slugged him in the leg. "Sorry." He whispered sideways to her. Curiosity rising in his mind, James resumed his conversation with the two pegasi, "You said everyone was afraid of Prince Blueblood because of his position, what is he, a General or something?" The three pegasi briefly glanced at each other before Soarin' answered the human, "Dude, he's Princess Celestia and Luna's nephew." "That prick?" James said in disbelief, "Oh well. Looks like I earned myself an extra bad ass chewin'." As if on cue, both of the country's monarchs strode through the balcony's arch way, Prince Blueblood wearing a smug and haughty expression on his face. "Commander, we wish to talk with you." Celestia said sternly. "Yes ma'am?" James stood straight, bracing for the worst. "My sister and I have had quite the discussion about the little argument you've had with our nephew and we've come to a decision." "I'm ready." "We've agreed that a traditional duel between you and the prince would be an excellent way for the two of you to settle your disagreement as well as entertain the guests as long as it does not become unduly violent." "But Auntie, I wanted to see him arrested!" The prince complained. "From what I understand, you were the one that made the challenge. As long as James accepts, I believe you won't have much of a choice but to proceed." Luna pointed out. James felt all eyes shift focus onto him, all the ponies' attention directed at him as they waited for his answer. So with a sigh he said; "Alright, I'll do it..." "Wonderful, you may use a section of the palace gardens, where everypony may watch." Celestia decreed. ===================================================================== Twenty minutes later, James found himself standing in the middle of a clearing set in central location by the ballroom doors as to allow spectators to view the event from the balconies as well as nearby patio. The human removed the top of his dress uniform and hung it by the collar on a low branch of a close by tree with his belt which had his pistol and sword. From the group of bystanders a dark blue earth pony in his dress uniform detached himself and trotted to James' side. "You got this? I hearing some stuff around the crowd, like he's been trained by the Princesses' personal guards." "Don't worry Feather, check out the 'sword' he's carrying." James said, pointing to the unicorn now stretching himself several yards away across the grass. "What about it?" "It's fake, just a decoration. Any self respecting warrior would carry his actual weapon." "Like you?" Feather said with a chuckle. "Sure, like me." Celestia trotted into the clearing between the two fighters. "Crap, looks like it's starting. I'll be rooting for ya." Feather said, making his way back into the crowd. Celestia began to speak loudly, her voice unnaturally amplified, "Ladies and Gentlecolts. As somewhat of a change of pace, this evening we have two fine fighters performing for your enjoyment. On this side, the regal Prince Blueblood. His opponent, Commander Kaughn of your Royal Guard." Area was filled with the sound of hooves stomping in the ground in applause and the party goers' cheers. "As the Commander is the acceptee of the challenge, he will be privileged with picking the weapons to be used in this contest. Commander?" "He can use his sword, I got my fists!" James exclaimed. "Very well. As the Commander has the handicap of being unable to use magic, Prince Blueblood will be restricted to only using his for the purpose of wielding his weapon. Do you both find these terms agreeable?" "We do." They replied in unison. "Then let the contest begin!" With that, Celestia withdrew from the field and flew up onto a balcony to join her sister along with Rainbow Dash, her friends and James' team. James immediately dropped into a defensive stance as the prince drew his sword -- a thin, straight blade barely wider than an inch and a half -- and cautiously began to approach the human. "Very brave of you fighting me without a weapon, but also very foolish. I shall enjoy bashing you over the head with my sword." Blueblood taunted. Using his magic to propel the weapon, Blueblood began to swing wildly at the human. Years of training and experience kicked in as James anticipated and dodged each and every attack with ease. His opponent was nowhere near a seasoned warrior, thus the prince made several novice mistakes, allowing James to casually avoid each blow. After about five minutes of this, the prince abruptly stopped. "Why don't you stop running away and fight like a real stallion!" "You sure you want me to do that? You might get hurt." James warned. "Are you kidding me? Look at the way you're getting out of breath, I haven't even broken a sweat!" "Maybe that's because I don't have some namby pamby magic to swing a piece of metal around with instead of using my own strength." "You cur!" With anger, the prince used his magic to bring the thin metal sword down on the human's head. James stood his ground and simply reached up swiftly and caught the sword in his hand. It stung like hell, but as he suspected it was merely a decoration, the edge as dull as that of a thin stick. "You know why I didn't use a weapon?" James asked the surprised prince. Blueblood shook his head, eyes wide in fear and amazement. James ripped the faux sword from the unicorn's magical aura and, gripping the other end with his free hand, brought the ornament down on his knee, snapping it in half. "Because I am one, dipshit!" He shouted, tossing the two pieces of cheap metal to the ground. "You ready to apologize yet?" Prince Blueblood, having just been relieved of his weapon, looked around in a panic before ultimately making a very rash decision. His horn became aglow with magic and James suddenly found himself pulled up into the air. The human warrior's reflexes took over, his hand shooting to his calf and unsheathing his knife, preparing to launch the lethal blade at the unicorn. However, before he could, a multicolored blur came out of nowhere and smashed into the prince's side, eliciting waves of gasps from the crowd. The aura holding James dissipated, dropping him on his ass. He shook his head and returned his knife, looking in the direction the blur had taken his opponent. What he saw was Dash on top of Blueblood, absolutely decimating him with strikes of her hooves. James jumped up and rushed over to pull the furious mare off of the whimpering stallion. As he did so, Dash was shouting the whole time, "C'mon! Let me back at 'em, he cheated! I'll kick his sorry flank all around the city!" "Alright alright, calm down Dash, it's over, let it go." James said, trying to soothe her. "But he--" "RD, check it out, you destroyed him." Some distance away, the prince was laying broken and battered on the grass in the clearing, medics from the Guard quickly arriving to remove him from the scene. Celestia descended from her perch to the ground by James and Rainbow Dash. "Is everything all right here?" She asked them. James ran his eyes over the large crowd gathered around them, the multitude of Gala attendees beginning to whisper and gossip. "Yes ma'am, we're fine. Although I think we better go, that got real ugly real fast." James told her. "I'm sorry to hear that, are you sure?" The human looked with a caring gaze at the still seething pegasus sat on the ground at his feet, "Yeah, I think it's for the best." "Very well, if you insist. I'll have a carriage summoned for you." ===================================================================== All the ride back to Ponyville, the four occupants of the carriage sat in awkward silence. Feather and Fluttershy had opted to return home with James and Dash. The butter colored pegasus was nervous as it was in the large crowd of the Gala and the fight had put her over the edge. Feather, being the Gentlecolt he was, offered to return back to town with her, which she graciously accepted. She had been staring at James' hand nearly the whole time and as Ponyville started to come into view, finally spoke up. "James, does your hand hurt? I could bandage it for you. If you want me to, that is." James opened his hand and looked down at his palm, and ugly bruise in the shape of a straight line was starting to form. "No thanks. It'll hurt pretty bad for a few days, but I'll be fine." "Oh, ok..." "You should have let me pummel him..." Dash muttered in the seat beside James. James put his arm around her and rubbed her shoulder, "You did enough, and I'm very grateful for it," he said, giving her a peck on her forehead, "you're my Amazonian huntress." Dash cheered up a little, "I don't know what that means, but thanks." Abruptly, the carriage came to a stop and there was a knock on the side. James stuck his head out the window to see what was going on. One of the stallions that had been pulling the carriage was there to greet him. "Sorry to bother you sir, but the destination you gave us seems to have smoke rising from it." "What!?" James craned his neck to the horizon and indeed saw that an enormous black cloud was ascending from the area his house was at, lit from beneath by a hellish orange glow. Alarm bells rang in his head. He was confident the Ponyville Fire Department was already handling the blaze and he knew that there was nobody home, but another thought occurred to him. "Brother, I need you to take me to a new location, double time. It's far on the outskirts of town, just go past my house and continue about six miles." James ordered frantically. "Sir?" "Just do it, I'll double your money if you do!" "Yes sir!"