//------------------------------// // Secrets. // Story: A Para-military Paranoid in Equestria 2 // by The Last Renegade //------------------------------// Happy New Year people! Back to the real story! ------------------------------------- * 1 Week later * " Hey. A message came for you." I looked up from my book as Rainbow handed me a letter from Celestia. It read, " To Jack. You are needed as soon as possible at the royal castle. Come alone. This is very important. Princess Celestia." I jumped up from my chair. " I have to go. Celestia needs me for something." I said as I ran out the door. I ran as fast as I could and jumped off of the slope, spreading my wings and flying away. ' What could she need me for on such short notice? ' I scratched my forehead. I arrived in minutes, landing at the gates. I walked inside. " Follow me. " One of guards commanded me. He escorted me to a room that had at least six ponies wearing white lab coats, and Celestia. " What is it? " I exhaled. " Good. You're here." One of the lab coats said. I looked around. " We need you to take these researchers to cave in a nearby mountain. We stopped getting updates letters from the outpost. We need for you and them to check it out." She added. She didn't even take a breath during that. " Where at? " I raised an eyebrow. She pulled down a map from... Fuck knows where, pointing to a spot to the east. " Right here. Get going." She told me. I signaled for the coats to follow. We walked towards the mountain, which seemed like hours. After a while, we finally arrived. " See anything? " One coat asked, nervously looking around. " No. Let's move into the cave. They might've hidden in there. " I looked around. " This place could crumble at any time. Careful. " I added. We headed inside the cave. " This place smells..." One said. " Focus. " I Whispered. We headed a bit deeper into it. "Shh... Run!" They all started running as the cave began crumbling. " Oh shit!" I fell to the ground, flat on my face. I stumbled to feet, I think the researchers were already out of the cave. 'Fuck! No!' I yelled in my head. The entrance caved in. "Dammit. Anypony hear me!?" No reply. I sat down on the ground, staring. Waiting to be rescued. I must have sat there for four hours. As luck would have it, I had food and water. The biggest problem, was air. Just as I began eating, I heard something hitting the rocks. I hopped up. " Hello?! " I heard a voice call out. It was Rainbow. " Rainbow? That you?" I called out, seeing a small hole in between the rocks. I started kicking out the rocks. A long process, but I had to do it. " Stand back! " I yelled out, raising my leg for a final strike. "RAHH!" I kicked the rocks, crumbling them. I sprinted out of the cave and Rainbow knocked me back, hugging me. " Why would you do that? " I Laughed. " Celestia commanded me. I serve my higher ups." I smiled. " Come on, I need a shower." So, we headed back home, Celestia and Luna were there. " We heard about the collapse. Are you alright?" I sighed. " I... Yeah. I'm good." " You scare me." I raised my eyebrow, and looked at Dash. " Why's that?" I chuckled out. " I'm always afraid you'll never come back. I worry about you." " I'll always be here. Trust me. I lived fourteen years in war-zones. It's a lot easier here. I like easy. It's like I used to say, The hard we do immediately. The impossible takes slightly longer." I lied. " Alright, the impossible I also do instantly. I... have something to tell you. I've never told a soul this before." She cocked her head. " I... I'm a terrible man. I was wanted in more than a hundred countries. A lot of people wanted me dead. I killed many men for no reason. I used to chop up their bodies and hide them. I once stole more than a million dollars from a bank. Killed more than a thousand people in my life. Innocent people. And for what?" I asked. " For nothing. I was depressed. I have nightmares every single fucking night. I drank vodka all night, to escape the horrors. I've seen things you couldn't dream up in your worst nightmares. No matter what I do, I can't escape it. I need more vodka." I walked over to my stash of alcohol and grabbed some. " This sums up my life right here. Pain, sorrow, everything bad." I raised up the bottle. " Some of that is gone now." I threw the glass bottle at the wall. " I'm in constant pain. Some people back on Earth would take drugs and get addicted. I say it's better to stay in pain." I sat down in a chair. " Than to get addicted. I'm a strong man, but even the strongest people, or ponies, need support. I was... I was wrecked. I had nothing to live for. Then this man, Viktor Moskvina. He took me in, brought me into his family. He was a good friend. Then," I started. " He betrayed me. I shot him in the chest. Non-fatal wound. Kept him away. I fled to Afganistan. I had a contact there, who really took me in. Didn't betray me." I took out my side arm." Didn't hurt me, didn't report me to the militia." I took out the clip, and threw the pistol and clip on the ground. " Every inch of my body." I stood back up. " I didn't care about who I was killing. As long as they weren't close to me." I looked at my boots and smiled. " My clothing, my world was changed one day." I looked back at Rainbow, who was standing there. " That day, was the day I came here." I began walking downstairs to Kyle's cell. " Wake up." I told him. " What?" He asked me tiredly. I opened his cell door. " Get the fuck out of that cell, and go. Go out on the town, take Fluttershy out on a date, something. I'll pay all of it." He looked at me in confusion. "W-" I cut him off. " Go. Out. On. The. Town. Meet some new ponies. Something. I will pay it all." He slowly walked out, seeing I did not have a weapon on me, he relaxed. I walked back upstairs. "So. What do you what to do today? I'll pay. We can go out on the town, or just do nothing." I smiled. " You... never told anypony on your planet that?" She questioned. " No human, no pony." We hit the town. Went shopping all that stuff. Did whatever she wanted. " That'll be two hundred bits." The cashier told us, I payed him and we headed home. We also stopped by Fluttershy's cottage. " Oh, Hey Jack. Hey Rainbow." Fluttershy greeted us, and invited us in. " Haven't been here in a while. Hmm. New bedroom?" I looked around. " Didn't Kyle tell you? He's moving in." I cocked my head. " No. He didn't." I broke out in laughter. " What is it?" Rainbow asked me. " N...nothing. Just..." I frowned. " Something I shouldn't be laughing at. I need mental help. It's something you'd think I'm insane for." They just looked at me. " Terrible things. Almost makes me puke." I ran off back home, leaving them in question. I'd much rather have it that way. I don't want them to know. It was the worst thing I had ever done. Rainbow found me sitting on my chair, with a bottle of vodka. " Why did you run off?" She asked me. I couldn't tell if she was angry, or worried. " It's the worst thing I ever did. It's come back to haunt me." I feared. " You can tell me. You can tell me anything." I broke down crying, something I'd almost never done. " We were in a desperate situation... A Sniper shot my teammate. I was trapped there for days with no food... After four days... I... I ate his body..." I fell to the floor, crying like a drunken baby. I was somewhat tipsy. " I never forgave myself for that... It haunts me now... I can hear his voice sometimes." I wailed. I got up and walked to bed. " Don't worry about me... I'll be just... fuckin'... fine." I slipped into bed. ' I Ate a man's corpse... I can never forgive that. He was a good friend too. ' * Morning * " Unghhh" I groaned. " Get up." Rainbow commanded me. I got up and down to the kitchen and looked around. I saw a bunch of ponies. There was Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie, AJ, and Rarity. " Oh boy... What now?" I asked. Damn I was tired. " We heard about what happened. What you did." Twilight spoke up. " I know... I'm a terrible man." I ran my hand through my hair. I like my Black hair. It matches my personality. I guess it is like a pony's mane. " No. You were doing what was needed to survive." She reassured me. "He was dead anyway. " Rarity added. I jumped the damn railing. " You do NOT Insult that man! He was my friend! I pretty much ate myself!" I snapped. " This is why I have so many secrets. Things I don't want others knowing about!" If Rarity was able to, she would have shit herself. " I'm sorry... I just... He was a great man." I reached into my pocket and grabbed his dogtags. " These are his tags. They're used to identify dead and wounded soldiers." " Humans eat anything that has meat. Except other humans. It was a crime against nature. I never forgave myself. Not even now." "You said " So many other secrets." Care to share some?" Pinkie asked me. " No." I flatly said. " Aww! Come on! PLEEEEEEASE?" She nagged " Fine." I took a breath " I attempted to kill myself multiple times, I've killed over a thousand innocent people, I was wanted in over half the world, I shot a man in the foot and set him on fire, I killed the crew of a Russian submarine and launched four missiles at them, I killed an American General and over a hundred others, and stole a tank and blew up half the base. Just to name less than five percent of them. Happy now? Goodbye." All in one breath. I stormed out the door and flew to the top of a mountain. 'Peace and quiet.' I thought. This was the only place I could really be alone. I sat on the edge of the summit, legs dangling off. Images of me and my buddies flashed in my head. One stood out. It was a picture of me and my best squad. I can still name them all. Left is Axel " Chewy " West, second to left is me, Jack " Psycho ", second to the right is Ryder " Cliff " Marshall, And last is Kyle " Stinky " Johnson A.K.A. The only other human here. When I picked up Kyle from Earth I also got together with Cliff and Chewy for lunch. I sat there for a while on that ledge.