Chapter 5
The soldiers placed a drill site next to Canterlot Mountain. The coordinates were arranged. Several drill vehicles plunged deep down into the mountain. Rocks and other minerals were ported away to be recycled. The robed man observed the excavation that was transpiring. Next to him was one of his soldiers, clad in yellow armor to signify her rank. The robed man turned his head to the soldier.
"How much longer until we reach it, Sergeant Wayne?" The robed man asked.
"We're picking up strong readings, my lord." She replied, "The gem should be buried within the depths of the upper crust. According to our calculations, its location should be precisely nine hundred and twenty kilometers below this mountain. But it will take some time to burst through the rough surface of the crust. And-"
"Sergeant… I asked you how long, not to explain to me the geography." The robed man spoke in an irritated tone. Wayne gulped, knowing she had invoked his impatience.
"U-Uhm… right. We should be there in approximately three hours and twenty-seven minutes. But-"
"That is all…" The robed man spoke curtly. He turned away and started walking towards his warship with both hands behind his back, leaving Wayne frozen. The way he struck fear into her was chipping away at her sanity. Once the robed man was off the work site, Wayne sighed in relief, releasing the tension in her muscles.
"I gotta stop being an Einstein in front of him. Otherwise, I'll be done for…"
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Behind the retirement home, Jack, Twilight, and Spike hid themselves next to the dumpsters. Ignoring the smell, Jack carefully peeked around the corner of the building. There were a few soldiers patrolling up and down the streets, guns at hand. He quickly ducked back and faced Twilight and Spike.
"Okay… let's review something real quick." Jack whispered. "We need to figure out which building they're keeping our friends in. Any ideas on where to start?" Spike looked up and pondered for a moment, then shrugged.
"I don't know… we just found Twilight by luck. It'll take ages to find the others." Spike said. Suddenly, Twilight beamed as she thought up an idea.
"I just thought of something, I could use the tracking spell I learned two weeks ago." Jack turned around, looking a bit surprised.
"Really? Well, try it out then."
"Alright, just give me a second…" Twilight replied. She closed her eyes, and the tip of her horn was illuminated. Both Spike and Jack watched, as her mysterious antics began to unfold. A few seconds later, the horn stopped glowing, and Twilight exhaled softly. Spike tilted his head.
"So? How'd it go?" He asked. Twilight opened her eyes and smiled.
"Got 'em! I've pinpointed their locations within my consciousness. They're all inside of Ponyville, but they're scattered. I can't tell who they are, since I'm new to this spell, but I know that one is close by." Twilight looked over across the street, and pointed her foreleg at a certain house.
"One of them should be across this street, next to Sugarcube Corner," she said, sounding confident. Jack stood up, and walked towards the edge of the house.
"Alright, you lead the way, and keep low." Jack whispered. Twilight nodded, and went up front. She peered from the corner of the house, and looked both ways. There were no soldiers in sight. Taking this opportunity to make a dash for it, Twilight ran towards the Sugarcube Corner building. Jack and Spike hurried across the street with Twilight. As they rushed behind the building, they laid low within the shadows. Jack snuck towards the edge of the building, and peered both ways. On his left, he spotted two soldiers leaning their backs against the house, eating delicious treats they looted from the building.
"Man, I have to give it to them," one soldier said, mouth filled with cake. "These ponies sure know how to bake awesome treats. Can you imagine if this is all they ever ate?" The soldier next to him laughed.
"Yeah, I'd be embarrassed to see fat ponies walking around. You know, we should force them to eat meat someday. Hehe… that would be priceless." Suddenly, Jack heard Twilight gasp quietly. He turned around to see her disapproval.
"What is it?" Jack whispered.
"Those humans are stealing our baked goods, that's what." Twilight whispered back. "Pinkie Pie won't be too happy to see that her treats were stolen and-"
"Twilight… we got more important things on our hands… hooves." Jack replied. Twilight paused, glancing away.
"Yeah, but…"
"Let's just keep going. We're wasting our time here." Jack whispered back. Twilight nodded, clearing her conscious of the unimportant matters. She went up to Jack, and pointed her hoof at a house across the street.
"One of them should be in that house. But… how are we gonna get past the soldiers?" Twilight asked. Jack looked at the ground for a moment, pondering the question. Then he peered around the corner again, staring at the two guards. He noticed that both of their helmets were off. Jack grinned slightly.
"Wait here…" Jack whispered to both of them. He looked up towards the roof of the building, and noticed several wooden ledges leading upwards. Just like before, he positioned himself under the ledges, and leaped skywards. Twilight and Spike watched as Jack hoisted himself up each ledge. Once he made it on top of the roof, Jack slowly walked to the edge, positioning himself above the two unsuspecting soldiers. Then, with one deep exhale, Jack leaped off the building. During his fall, Jack folded both of his legs in and waited the right opportunity moment to launch them. Just as he met with both soldiers' neck height, Jack launched a split kick into their necks, causing their carotid arteries to stop functioning.
In one silent move, both soldiers were knocked out unconscious, without the slightest grunt. Jack stood up from the fall, and looked at the edge of the building.
"Pst… Twilight… help me hide these bodies." Jack whispered loudly. Twilight and Spike heard Jack, and peered out of the corner. They saw the two soldiers lying on the ground unconscious. Spike rushed up to Jack, and helped him drag the soldier to the back of the building. Twilight helped out too by levitating the other soldier using her magic. They brought the two soldiers into the shade, using trash bins and other accessories to hide the evidence. With the two soldiers out of their way, the trio pressed onwards.
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"Waaaah! What do you think you're doing you brute?!" Rarity cried as she scooted backwards in the cage to try and get out of reach of the intoxicated and insane soldier. "G-Get away from me this instant!" The soldier grabbed Rarity's mane, and started pulling her out of the cage.
"G-Get… over here… m-missy…" He spoke, holding back his puke. Rarity let out a shrill, frightened scream as the pain from having her mane yanked coursed through her body. Cheerilee, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon watched the events unfold while locked inside their separate cages. Both of the fillies turned their heads away, not wanting to know the outcome of it. However, Cheerilee had enough courage to muster a few words.
"Y-You leave her alone!" She yelled. But the drunken soldier ignored her command and kept pulling Rarity out of the cage. Once she was out of the cage, the soldier let go of Rarity and took his helmet off, displaying his distorted facial expression. He then picked up an opened bottle of apple cider and chucked it all down in one sitting. When he was finished, he threw the empty bottle to the side, which shattered on impact.
"N-Now listen here… y-you… I… urm… I never… have met… s-someone as… beautiful as you…" Rarity was disgusted by the soldier's backwash breath, as she turned her head away. On the other side of the room, another soldier sighed at the drunken soldier's behavior.
"Dude… I think you had enough of whatever you drank. Just put her back inside and-" Suddenly, the drunken soldier swerved his head around in anger.
"D-Don't you… interrupt me… you… or… *Hic*… I'll summon… th-the whazzaboo… on you." He spoke slowly. The other soldier voiced his disgust at his pathetic attitude while looking the other way.
"Whatever man, just don't bring me into this if you're caught." He said nonchalantly. The drunken soldier looked back at the scared unicorn.
"N-Now… where was I? Umm… h-hey… where did… I left off?" He asked. Rarity was too disgusted and frightened to respond back. However, she knew that if she didn't respond, then things would go badly for her. She gulped down and displayed her frightened smile.
"U-Umm… s-set me free?" The drunken soldier looked up and pondered for a moment. Rarity thought that with him intoxicated, she could make her way around this guy. A few seconds later of pondering, the soldier eyed back into Rarity.
"Urm… d-did I say that?"
"Y-Yes darling!" Rarity responded hastily. "N-Now if you would be so kind to just let go of me, so-"
"H-Hold it…" The intoxicated soldier interrupted. "I… I never had the chance… t-to… *Hic*… to express my feelings." Suddenly, tears came pouring out of his eyes. "I-I feel… so alone! I never… k-kissed a gurl… in my life. Will you… kiss me?" Taken aback, Rarity's pupils shrunk to the size of peas.
"W-What?!" She staggered. The other soldier shook his head and grunted in disgust.
"Oh for god's sake. You really are pitiful when you're like this." He muttered to himself. The soldier leaned back, slouched against the wall, and watched the pitiful scene unfold. Rarity darted her eyes from left to right, before looking back into the intoxicated soldier's eyes.
"D-D-Darling… I-I don't think-"
"P-Please… *Hic*… j-just this once. I-I'm desperate…" The drunken soldier replied. "I-If you y-you do so… t-then I'll… let you go." Rarity let out a small gasp, knowing this could be her only way out. Though, she wasn't prepared to kiss anyone, especially doing it with an intoxicated human. The thought about the kiss made Rarity want to barf, but she knew that she had to escape. With no other option, Rarity prepared herself for one disturbing kiss. She nodded her head slowly at the drunken soldier.
"A-Alright dear… if you promise that is." The soldier slowly nodded his head. Rarity gulped down, as she began to summon her strength.
"W-Well… here goes nothing." At that moment, both the drunken soldier and Rarity puckered their lips and slowly moved towards each other. Rarity had her eyes squinted shut, knowing she will regret this moment. Both Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon knew what was about to transpire, and looked away from the scene.
"Eww… they're gonna kiss!" Exaggerated Silver Spoon, as she stuck her tongue out in disgust. Diamond Tiara had the same reaction, but was more disturbed.
"I can't believe this is happening, what's wrong with these humans?!" Diamond Tiara said to herself. With the room quiet, and everyone's attention drawn towards the scene at hand, the soldier and Rarity worked their way slowly towards each other. Pearls of sweat rolled down from the sides of Rarity's head, feeling overwhelmingly disgusted. About half a centimeters away from meeting each other, the soldier closed his eyes and waited for their lips to make contact. Just as they were about to make contact, everyone in the room suddenly began to hear tiny running footsteps.
"HEY! YOU! GET AWAY FROM HER YOU FREAK!!" At that moment, the kiss was interrupted by Spike bursting into the room. Rarity spotted Spike, and was surprised to see him there.
"Spike!" She said. Just as the drunken soldier turned around, he was met with Spike's fist in his back. Though with Spike's strength, the drunken soldier didn't feel any pain. The soldier looked at the purple dragon in confusion, wondering how'd he gotten there.
"W-What's… this…?" The soldier pondered. Spike kept relentlessly hitting the soldier as hard as he could.
"You leave her alone you sick human!" Yelled Spike. Starting to get annoyed by the dragon's petty attempts to do harm, the drunken soldier grabbed Spike's arm, and lifted him up to his face. Feeling interested despite his nausea, the soldier glared at Spike with glee.
"Hey hey hey hey… looks… looks like w-we gots… ourselves a runner here." Spike was assaulted by the noxious breath wafting out of the soldier's mouth. He used his free claw to hold his nostrils shut.
"Uuuhg… sick man." Spike mumbled to himself. The drunken soldier turned towards his companion and belched loudly.
"H-Hey… y-you… h-help me out 'ere… will ya?" The intoxicated soldier spoke wearily. To his surprise, the other soldier didn't respond, he only stood there like a statue. He didn't flinch; he didn't move a single muscle. The intoxicated soldier became suspicious of his companion's act. He tilted his head to the side, raising an eyebrow.
"D-Dude… y-you listening?" He asked. The other soldier fell to his knees, and sprawled onto the floor with a faint moan. Standing behind the fallen soldier was Jack, his hoof extended forward. The intoxicated soldier blinked, utterly confused. He couldn't see Jack through his alcohol-ravaged eyes. However, Rarity and Cheerilee caught a glimpse of the mysterious hooded figure.
"Wh-What…?" Rarity sputtered quietly. The drunken soldier stood up and pulled out his rifle. However, he was holding the rifle backwards, due to being extremely intoxicated.
"Y-You there… *hic*… s-stop right… there." He ordered, attempting to frighten the hooded figure. But Jack just stood there, forearms folded across his chest. The drunken soldier heard the hum of a magic spell charging behind him. He turned around and was immediately blasted, crashing onto Cheerilee's cage with a painful grunt. He fell to the floor, and his consciousness left him. She was surprised by the sudden attack and turned around to see the assailant.
"Oh Twilight!" Rarity exclaimed happily. Twilight smiled gleefully, nodding to Rarity.
"It's okay, we're here to rescue you." Twilight informed her. Rarity sighed with relief, just before Spike latched onto her, giving her the biggest hug he could with his small body.
"Rarity!" Spike exclaimed. Rarity returned the hug, smothering Spike's noggin.
"Oh my little Spikey Wikey! Thank goodness you aren't hurt!" Rarity said, as she rubbed her face on Spike's head. After they broke their hug, Rarity's eyes darted to the edge of the room. She glanced at Jack pilfering the key from the unconscious soldier.
"Who is that over there?" Rarity asked quizzically. As Jack unlocked Cheerilee's cage, Twilight placed her hoof on Rarity's shoulder. Rarity spun around, and noticed a big smile on her face. She had no idea why Twilight looked so excited.
"Twilight? Who is that?"
"It's him." Twilight explained simply. Rarity's eyes widened as she remembered their mutual friend.
"I-It can't be… is it?" Rarity asked. Twilight simply nodded. At that moment, Jack unlocked the cage containing the two fillies. Rarity spun around and took another glance at the mysterious hooded hero. She noticed a familiar gray muzzle under the obscured hood. Instantly, she recognized who that it belonged to, while beaming for joy.
"Jack…?" She guessed, struggling to contain her elation. Jack looked at Rarity and smiled. He grabbed his hood, and flipped it off of his head.
"Hey Rarity." Jack said. At that moment, Rarity gasped in ecstasy.
"Oh darling! It really is you! How are you doing?! H-How did you get in here?"
"The back door was unlocked. It's a good thing we found you." Jack replied. "But enough about that, we need to get out of here and help our other friends." Suddenly, a deafening sound made everypony jump in shock. Jack spun around; his cloak was being consumed by flames, and he hastily tore it off. In just a few seconds, Jack's whole cloak had turned to ashes. He checked himself for burns, feeling naked despite his fur.
"Guh! My cloak!" Jack grunted. Looking to the source of the noise, he saw the drunken soldier pointing a laser pistol. His arm wobbled and he had only one eye open. With a crazed chuckle, the drunken soldier fell unconscious once again. Cheerilee, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon gasped in unison. Jack looked over his shoulder to see the surprised ponies covering their mouths with their hooves.
"W-What… what are you?" Cheerilee sputtered in shock. "H-How are you able to stand on two hooves?" Jack looked at the ground, feeling suddenly embarrassed.
"I… I'm actually… a human." He looked back at Cheerilee, trying his hardest to give her a friendly grin. "I'm not a bad pers-"
"A human?!" Diamond Tiara interrupted. Jack's attention was drawn to the fillies. Diamond Tiara stuck out her tongue in disgust, while Silver Spoon snickered at Jack.
"Wow… I can't believe how lame these humans are, especially pretending to be one of us." Silver Spoon said, giving a friendly nudge at her friend. "I mean, can you believe this, Tiara?"
"Yeah, you look like a freak, standing up on two hooves." Diamond Tiara added. "And your cutie mark… that's got to be the most stupidest thing I've ever seen. Just what kind of costume are you wearing, loser?!" Both fillies laughed derisively at Jack. Jack stepped back; he had no words to argue with. The way both fillies mocked him made him feel like an outcast. He bumped his back against the wall, the laughter worming into his mind, tormenting him. Jack placed his hoof on his head, feeling a burning sensation within his brain.
Jack's vision was dissolving. The background transformed into an image of the city he grew up in, Graniteville. He saw both Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon in a crowd of bully kids, laughing and mocking him. He noticed that his body was now his younger, human self. There were bruises and cuts all over his body, and holes torn in his clothes. The bullies chanted the words, "Freak, freak, you're a freak!" while they threw harmful objects at Jack. Jack was curled up in a corner sobbing immensely, as the crowd surrounded him, throwing huge rocks, sharp nails, and even rotten food from nearby trash cans at him.
While Jack was lost in this nightmare, he fell to his knees and placed both hooves on his head. He grunted painfully, as he struggled to remove the memories of his past from his head.
"N-No… n-not… not this again…!" Jack sputtered in pain. He squinted his eyes, and shook his head from side to side. Twilight, Spike, and Rarity called out his name, and rushed over to his aid. The derisive laughter grew louder, as both fillies watched him in agony. And the louder the laughter grew, the harder the bullies threw their missiles at Jack. He could feel each object striking and cutting his body.
"I… I…" Jack tried to produce words, but found that his torment rendered him speechless. He was being consumed by all of his anger and despair. But just as he was about to lose it, Jack felt two warm bodies wrapping around him. Jack's nightmare seemed to float away, and he found himself back in reality. He looked left and right, and noticed Rarity and Twilight hugging him. Then he looked in front of him to see Spike placing a comforting claw on Jack's knee, a concerned look on his face.
"Hey, you okay there?" Spike asked gently. Jack looked at Twilight and Rarity's worried faces. With one heavy sigh, Jack turned back to Spike and slowly nodded.
"Yeah… t-thanks…" Spike and the other ponies were relieved to hear he was all right. Then, they turned their attention towards the spoiled fillies, giving them a scornful look. The fillies stopped their laughter and stared at the ground petulantly.
"Wow… you guys are really terrible. You should leave him alone." Spike scolded them. After a few more seconds of scornful glaring, Twilight looked to Cheerilee who was still looked confused by the situation.
"Ms. Cheerilee, you and the fillies need to hide yourselves somewhere safe. We'll take care of things here." Immediately, Cheerilee snapped back into reality, and simply nodded.
"Y-Yes… of course." She paused to dart her eyes between the fillies and Jack repeatedly. "C-Come on girls… follow me…" Cheerilee led them towards the dark room. When Cheerilee passed the two fillies, she took one last bewildered look at Jack before continuing on. After that, both Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon took one last glance at Jack. They both made disdainful snorts and tossed their heads, as they trot haughtily with Cheerilee towards the other room. Once they were out of sight, the gang looked back at Jack.
"Darling," Rarity said. "Don't believe what those two ruffians say about you. Sure you're different from them… but-" Suddenly, Jack stood back up, looking down to the floor dolefully.
"I know… I know…" He spoke hollowly. "I'm… just getting used to this new body. That's all…"
"Oh… I see…" Rarity replied. After a brief moment passed, Rarity thought up a question.
"Umm… can I ask you something, Jack?" Jack trailed his gloomy eyes over to Rarity. With his attention to her, Rarity continued.
"When we brought you into Ponyville… and when Celestia gave you your new body… why didn't you stay with us? Where have you been all this time?" Jack remembered himself saying to his friends that he had to leave somewhere to attend to an important matter, and that he would come back afterwards. He knew that the day was coming, and that they wouldn't like the truth. Yet, he didn't feel quite ready to tell them just yet.
"Well…" Jack replied, "I can't tell you guys… just yet. After we get our friends back, then I will explain. Right now is not the best time." Jack slowly trailed his eyes over to Twilight. "Where do we go next, Twilight…?" Twilight looked at the ground, and sighed.
"Well… I can sense two of them together at the far east side of Ponyville. Though, we got to be more careful this time."
"Alright, let's save the rest of our friends!" Spike said enthusiastically. Twilight looked at Rarity with determination.
"Are you with us, Rarity?" She asked. Rarity nodded her head with no hesitation.
"I sure am, darling! Let's do this!" And so, the gang walked out the way they came in. As they walked towards their next destination, Jack had his head in the clouds. He remembered the promise he made to his friends that after he returned, he would live with his friends in Ponyville for the rest of his life. Yet, based on the ponies he had met so far, he began to doubt whether he would be accepted here… and whether he could keep the promise he made.