//------------------------------// // Meeting The Populace. // Story: A Marine and His Ponies // by USMC517 //------------------------------// Warning to all readers: there will be some very strong language used at the near end of this chapter, if you don't like it, well too fucking bad sweetheart. Also the blue words are links to music in case you didn't know. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The sun of a new day arose, fog had slowly crept in and the sun made it glow a soft orange. James had recovered from his nightmare and was laying on the couch, watching the sun rays peek through windows. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were still asleep; or at least it was obvious Rainbow was, as her snoring was heard upstairs, James laughed whenever she slightly woke herself up from it. He looked at his watch, it read 0630; he didn't get up from his position even though he was awake already. He just wanted to wait for them wake up, then he would mosey about. He looked over at his arm, it was starting to heal nicely, no visible scarring had occurred yet, so it would go smoothly he thought. He was still a little mad that his jacket had been ripped, but he forgave Rainbow because it was an accident, plus Rarity could probably fix it up. He lied on the couch for quite some time until one of his friends woke up, he could easily guess who it was, as a loud whinnying like sound was still heard upstairs. "Good morning miss Fluttershy, how did you sleep?" James asked finally getting up and stretching out. "Oh good morning James, I slept well thank you. I assume Rainbow Dash stayed last night?"She asked with a warm, friendly smile on her face. "Indeed she did." He returned the smile. Both could hear her snoring upstairs. "Did you sleep well last night?" She asked even though she knew the answer to it. "Not the greatest, but I still feel rather rested, thank you." James truthfully answered her, thinking back just hours before. "James, do you have those nightmares often?" She asked after a few minutes of silence. "Not all the time, but it does happen; and I'm sure that you heard me last night too." "I did, but it didn't bother me. Though it seems like it bothers you quite a bit. You know if you ever want to talk about it, I'm always here for you James." She comforted him, letting him know that she would always be there to help. James just gave a friendly smile back, letting her know that he understood. "Anyway, what are you serving up this morning?" He asked changing the subject. "Actually, I don't really have anything this morning, unless you don't mind eating hay and daffodils." She said back with a disappointed look. "No eggs this morning?" He asked looking out the window to the chicken coops. "Sorry James, they didn't want to give me any this morning." She said with an even more disappointed look. "Oh... well that's okay, I have my MRE, I'll be just fine." He said shrugging it off. Well, I could go to town and get some for you, i- if you would like that." Fluttershy said feeling bad that she didn't have anything for him to eat. "Well actually miss Fluttershy, I wouldn't mind going to town, but later today. Right now I'm perfectly content with what I have." "You want to go into town, but what will everypony think when they see you?" She asked shocked. "Well... we'll just have to see what happens then." He said with little concern. "But Jame-" "Fluttershy, it's alright. If anyone asks, we'll just tell them what I've told all of you." He said with another shrug. "What do you want to go into town for anyway?" "Well, the other day when miss Dash had dropped by for a visit, we had a race back here, then we went flying off of that hill over yonder. I fell down it and ended up with a gash and a rip in my sleeve; so I wanted to see if mis Rarity could fix it up for me." He explained to her, showing the cut and unrolling his sleeve. "Oh my, are you two alright?" She asked worried. "My arm didn't fall off yet, so I think it's alright. Miss Dash though, I'm not very sure; if I had to guess, I'd say she's fine. Speaking of her, good morning Rainbow." He said without turning around; the cyan pony standing at the bottom of the stairs. Neither had heard her come down. "How did you hear me? Even I could barely hear me!" She said wonder. "I didn't hear you come down; but I heard you stop snoring, quite literally like a horse, a few minutes ago. So I just yelled out to you, and you happened to be right here." He explained showing that it was no special talent he possessed. "Was I really that loud?" She said rubbing the back of her head while a blush came on. "Loud? You make more noise than an Abrams tank!" James busted out laughing as Rainbow blushed harder. "I'm kidding! You really weren't that loud. Now someone who is bad is my father; if you are near him when he's sleeping, you better have ear plugs!" He laughed harder. "Oh my, that sounds serious." Fluttershy quietly said. "You don't even know." James replied back to her with another chuckle. "Well... I think I'm gonna get going you guys, I'll see ya later." Rainbow said starting for the door. "Really? We were gonna' head into town here in a little while, if you want to join us?" James proposed the idea to her. "I thought you said that was a bad idea?" Rainbow recalled his words. "It was then, but now that I have a few locals to walk around with it wont be as weird." "Well... I guess I could stick around until then." She played it off, not trying to make it seem like she really wanted to go with him. "Cool." "I know I am." She boasted to the them; "It's cool if I come along with you, right Shy?" She asked almost forgetting her manners. "It's fine with me, it might even be better if we had somepony else to join us too." Fluttershy said, adding to the idea. "The more the better. When do you guys want to go because I'm ready whenever you are." "Whenever you want to." Fluttershy said also not caring. "Well how about twenty minutes so we can get our stuff together." James set the time. "Okay." The two pegasi said together. They went about their business in preparing for the trip. James went upstairs followed by none other than Rainbow Dash. "Are you really sure you want to go into Ponyville? I mean this might not work how you want it to." Dash asked James, concerned that the ponies wouldn't take warmly to him. "Affirmative, and there is only one way to find out if they will like me or not. And if they don't... well I guess I'll double time it to the Everfree forest and figure something else out." He said with a shrug as if there was no other way of going about it. "You don't really care, do you James?" She deadpanned. "Not at all, like I said before I'm not going to get shot at so it doesn't bother me at all." James shrugged as he got his rucksack. He dumped out the old contents and put in what he thought he might need. He put into it a small medical kit he always brought along during an operation, the only MRE he had, and some ammunition. He secured his pistol to the webbing on the outside so it was accessible, and didn't have to wear his leg holster; plus nobody knew what it was, so it didn't matter even if he flashed it around in plain sight. He turned around and saw Rainbow with his hat on again, she was looking out the window. James let out a barely audible chuckle. "You really like that, don't you?" James asked with a smile. "What? Oh hehe, I didn't even realize I had this on." She giggled because she really didn't. She proceeded to take it off but was interrupted by James. "I don't mind that you have it on, it looks good on you. Actually, you know what... I want you to have it." James said to her with a smile. Her face lit up with joy and excitement; she jumped on him and gave him a hug. "Thank you!" She said with a large grin. She stepped back a little bit and into the shimmering sun, it glanced off of her mane and made it shine bright and vibrant. She looked gorgeous in the light and the hat just made the moment even more special for James. She noticed that he was staring this time, and decided it was time to get him back. "You alright there big guy?" She asked with a small giggle, thinking that her revenge for the way he got her was achieved. "Oh I'm fine, just admiring how you look in the sun is all." He said truthfully. "Dang it! I didn't get him!" She shouted in her mind, but let it come out as a smile; "How do I look?" Was what she said in place of her mental language. "Beautiful." Was all that he said while moving closer to her. She didn't know what to do, so she just let whatever might happen, happen. He walked up to her, gave her a smile, then went to the window. He looked out of it for a few seconds then Rainbow joined him, putting her hooves up on the window sill. They both looked through it and didn't say anything until Fluttershy came up the stairs. "James, I'm ready when you are." She said coming into the room. They both turned and looked at her and replied, "Okay" in unison. They snapped out of their trance and moved to the stair well. James picked his rucksack up as he passed the bed he left it on. They went down the stairs and out the front door. When he heard the door close James got the feeling of excitement and dread as he was about to meet the populace of Ponyville. "Feel like I'm about to do my first HALO jump again!" James exclaimed with a forced nervous chuckle. Both Pegasi looked at him with confused expressions. "What's halo?" They both asked. "It's an acronym for High Altitude Low Opening; basically we go high up in the sky with the help of a plane, usually a C-130 Hercules, and jump out of it." "You can fly!?" Dash shouted with excitement. "Me personally, no. However the machines we have can, and they can go up very high sometimes. So we decided to jump out of them, not being able as humans to fly." He said like it was nothing out of the ordinary. "Why would you do that if you can't fly?" She asked dumbfounded. "We do it because it's quick and quiet. We use it a lot on our night time operations to get in to position, undetected." "I still don't get why you jump out of the thing that would save your life?" She asked again, still confused by the madness of humans. "Well we can live through it by using a parachute, a good description of it would be a big bed sheet and some strings attached to a backpack, kind of like this. Then at the right altitude we pull on another string to activate it; we then slow down to a speed that wont kill us, and float down to earth after falling almost thirty thousand feet." He explained the basic idea behind it. Rainbow's mouth dropped at hearing the elevation, not believing such a crazy act took place at. "So you go waayyy up there, then jump out and fall down for thirty thousand feet? What kind of crazy are you, you can't even fly!" She exclaimed trying to figure out why someone would do such a stunt. "In a nutshell, yes." "And it doesn't bother you at all?" "Not really, I've done it enough to where it's just another part of my day." He said like nothing was the matter. "Well, I bet you couldn't go as fast as me!" She stated. "I have fallen at about 530 miles per hour, close to the speed of sound, but still a ways off." "I've broken the sound barrier." She stated plainly. "Oh that's right, you scared me half to death with that sonic boom that somehow made a rainbow. I thought that it was an F-18 at first." He said almost forgetting the spectacular show that was put on, but only got to see the last bit of. "Hehe, sorry about that." She giggled. "For you to do that though, you have to be going pretty fast, so that's something to be proud of." He complimented her on the extraordinary achievement. "Well that is how I got my cutie mark!" She said looking at her flank. "Oh yeah, you have that thing that appears on you when you find out your special talent or whatever, right?" James said also looking at her mark. "Hey, eyes up here." Dash joked as he looked at her rear. "Ha-ha, you're funny." James said with a smart ass tone. All three of them laughed. They walked for a while longer, slowly approaching the town; Dash hadn't taken the hat off and didn't show that she ever wanted to. They then turned and took a path that ran parallel to Ponyville. "We gonna' pick someone up I assume?" James asked wondering why they were heading this way. "Yes, Applejack." Fluttershy answered him. "Alright, think she's home?" "I'm not sure, she might be in town selling apples at the market." "Well if she's not, let's just head to town." James said coming up with a plan. They all nodded in agreement, and continued walking to Applejack's apple orchard. As they approached James looked around at the vast area of apple trees, acres and acres lie before them with large red, green, and yellow apples. They went further in, looking around to see if they could find her bucking apples somewhere around the massive orchard. Their search came up empty, so they went to see if she was in the house. "Wow, that looks similar to my parents' house... weird." James said to himself, thinking back to the wonderful days on his family's farm. They approached the house and walked up onto the deck, then Rainbow knocked on the door. No one had come; but a few seconds later hoofsteps were heard coming to the door, they sounded big and heavy. The door opened and a large red pony stepped out. "Howdy miss Dash, miss Fluttershy, and... James ain't it?" Big Macintosh asked the stranger, but with no change in his emotion or posture, almost like James wasn't anything of interest. "Correct, my name is James, I suppose miss Applejack told of me; you must be Mr. Macintosh then. Miss Applejack told me about you, and she certainly wasn't lying when she said you were a rather large fellow. It's nice to meet your acquaintance." James said introducing himself. "Eeyup, ah assume ya'll are lookin' for AJ?" "Indeed, does she happen to be around?" He asked, still surprised that he hadn't run away in fear of James. "She's in town, selling apples at her stand in the market." "Thank you, we'll be on our way then." James thanked big Mac and turned around, but was stopped mid-stride by the large stallion. "Hold on just a second there mister, ah don't know who you are so ah don't trust you just yet. If ah see you acting funny around mah sister and her friends, ah wont hesitate to protect them." Big Mac warned him. "Understood sir." James told him, then stepped off of the porch with the two mares. Big Mac closed the door and watched them from the window for a moment to see if James pulled any funny business. He concluded that nothing would happen, but was still skeptical of the stranger. He also could not figure out what the silly looking hat was on Rainbow Dash's head. "Well I guess we'll just meet her there then." James said, unsure of what else to do. They walked on for a while longer and eventually approached the town. The day was perfect for being out, it was about seventy degrees and the sun was shining bright with no clouds to block it out, the whole mood just felt good. As they got closer ponies were seen scrambling about and doing their usual business. "Are you sure you still want to do this James?" Fluttershy asked nervously. "Positive." "Alright then, how do you want to do it?" "Well what we used to do was find the group elder and get on his good side, as everyone looked up to him above all. So let's meet the head official and do just that." He stated simply. "The mayor? Do you think that's a good idea?" She asked still nervous about it. "With all due respect, do you have any other ideas miss Fluttershy? If so I would like to hear them." "W-well not really." "Alright then, let's do this, but first we should see miss Applejack, I still haven't eaten and apparently she sells food." James said as he began walking into town. They entered Ponyville and walked down the main street, no one had seen them yet. Then all of the sounds had stopped suddenly. Every pony looked at James with wide eyes and awe stricken faces, unsure of what to make of the new comer. The three kept walking as if nothing had happened until they found Applejack's stand. They walked up to it and greeted her. "Howdy ya'll, you do realize everypony is staring at us right?" Applejack asked as if they couldn't see the situation before them. "I think we're aware of this. We figured it would be a good idea to have a fourth member of our little posse to show that I was friendly. Also, how much for one of those apples? I haven't eaten yet today." James answered her. "I s'pose ya'll can have one for free this time." She said giving him a big red apple. All of the ponies just kept staring at him, then flinched from the sound James made when he took a bite of the apple. Some had gone inside their houses and shops to hide from the newcomer. "Wow, this is delicious!" James said as he took another large bite. Silence still loomed over the town as nopony dared move. "I reckon ya'll are trying to introduce yourself to everypony?" Applejack asked. "Yes, we were going to head over to talk with the mayor in just a moment. You're welcome to join us if you want." James offered. "Thank ya kindly, but I have to stay and watch the cart, don't want anypony stealing from me." "Alrighty then. I suppose we'll get going and get it over with." James said as they walked away, everypony was still staring at James. Then he finally said something to them. "Hello everyone! My name is James Crossland and I am from America. Carry on with your daily events." He announced to all of them. None knew what to do, so they took his advice and went about their business. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash both looked at him with their mouths wide open. "How did you do that?" Dash asked. "What? That. Easy." James said with a shrug. "Yeah okay, the whole town has never seen anything like you; they all stopped what they were doing and stared at you, then just went back to what they were doing like they have seen you before." She said, still dumbfounded by all of it. "When one is scared and unsure of a situation, it takes one being to step up and make a call with confidence; and all that are overcome with such emotions will follow that leader to the ends of the earth." "Wow, you've done this before haven't you?" "In combat, fear and uncertainty is a common thing. So yes I have once or twice." James stated as they walked to the mayor's building. Some of the ponies were still giving him looks of wonder, and they whispered somethings to each other. They walked up to the front door and went in, but James stayed behind on the outside. "I'll wait here for a moment and you two go and get the mayor to set up a meeting. When she is ready come and get me." James told them the plan. "What if she doesn't want to see you though? What if she just thinks your another pony and not worth her time?" Fluttershy asked. "Well don't let her think that. State your business and make it clear and simple why you need to meet with her. I guarantee it will work, trust me." James reassured her with a serious look. The two mares went inside and found the receptionist at the front desk. "Welcome to city hall, how may I help you?" The stallion receptionist asked. "We were wondering if we could meet to the mayor about somepony new to the area. He's not from here, or even Equestria for that matter." Fluttershy stated her case. "You're joking right? Somepony not from Equestria? Here? Please... the both of you leave, the mayor does not have time for silly games like this." He shunned them away. Unsure of how more precise and clear they could be they left; but not before the new man to the land came walking right up to the receptionist who had not seen him enter, as he went back to doing paper work. James walked up to him with purposeful stride and slammed his hand down on the hard desk, making the stallion jump. "Just like your mayor I don't play games, so let's cut the bullshit. You can see that I am not from Equestria. I am a human, and I would like to meet with the head government of your town. Understand?" James said as he starred into the stallion's eyes. "U- um... u- uh... uhhh right away!" The receptionist agreed as he ran away quickly to get the mayor. "Some people, I tell ya!" James exclaimed to his friends as he turned to them. A few moments later the mayor and the receptionist came around the corner, then the mayor stopped in her tracks and stared with wide eyes at him. James ignored her expression as he was getting tired of the shocked look from everyone, and just walked up to her. "Hello, I assume you are the mayor of Ponyville. My name is James Crossland, I am a human from the United States of America, and a member of the United States Marine Corps. Is there somewhere we could talk more privately?" James asked, cutting to the chase because he was tired of explaining himself to everyone. "I- I... um, y- yes follow me." The mayor stuttered. James looked at his two companions and told them to not wait for him while he and the mayor conversed, as it would be a while before they were done. They arrived in a small conference room and sat at the table; James slung off his ruck sack and set it next to the table with his weapon facing him, just in case he might need it. A slight awkward silence had fallen over the room, but James washed it away. "I know you have a lot of questions so let's here them, I wont leave until I have answered them all." James stated knowing that he would be there for a while, though he was used to it from the many times he had to do the same procedure in Afghanistan. He looked at is watch and noted it was 1300. "What are you, mister... James it was?" She asked getting the most obvious question out of the way. "That's right, and I am a human. I am not from your world and I have yet to figure out how I got here." "When did you arrive here?" "About a week or so ago." James replied. The two of them talked for quite some time, but eventually they emerged from the conference room, both with smiles on their faces. Everypony that was in the building had been waiting in the main reception area, hoping to get a glimpse of the newcomer. "Everypony, this is James Crossland. He is new here, so do be kind and help him out if he needs it." The mayor told all of them. She walked with him to the front door and showed him out; once outside they shook hand and hoof and bid each other goodbyes. Everypony who was around had noticed this and thought that if the mayor and he were shaking hooves, then he must be good, and therefor a friend to them as well. James walked down the front steps and onto the streets of Ponyville. It had gotten much later, he looked at his watch again and it read 1700. "That took a lot longer than I was hoping, my guess is that Fluttershy and Rainbow went back home. Oh well, I'll catch up with them later, I have some errands to run first." He said to himself as he walked the streets. The looks he had gotten before had disappeared from the wandering ponies; "It works every time." He continued talking to himself. He walked more around town, some ponies had even talked to him. One unicorn in particular named Lyra, was exceptionally interested in him. They talked for a few minutes, then he asked where he could find Rarity's boutique because he had a question for her. She guided him in the general direction, then went on her way to meet her friend Bon Bon. He found the way and walked in the front door. "Hello? Miss rarity are you here?" James asked in a loud voice, in case she might be elsewhere in the building. "Just a moment please!" She shouted down to him from upstairs. She came down a few moments later with her hair in a fringed mess, rather than the toiled, curly way it had been the day before. "Hello miss Rarity, I hope I'm not bothering you." James apologized for his actions if he was. "Oh not really darling! I'm just making an order for a client named Fancy Pants is all, and he wants it done by tomorrow morning." "Interesting name, but listen could you do me a huge favor if you're not super busy?" He asked her while unrolling his sleeve to show the damage done to it. "I suppose I could, what assistance do you need of me?" She said taking on whatever challenge she may have to face. "Well the other day when miss Dash and I had first met, we had a race and eventually it ended up with me having a gash down my arm, and a rip in my sleeve." He said showing her the long rip. "You know sweetie, that thing you're wearing is absolutely hideous right?" She said with a disgusted look. "Well it's not meant to be pretty, it's supposed to be used, and meant for concealment." James defended the honor of his camouflage. "Darling really, you should let me make you something new to wear other than that." She practically spat at it. "That wont be necessary, I just need a quick patch and I'm fine; but... if you want to make another pair of these in a drab green and black with some spots of brown in it, in this same square looking pattern, you would make my day." He said to her. She almost fainted at hearing him say the words drab and green, not even hearing the rest of it. "Oh no no no darling, you can't be serious? I simply will not do it! It is a crime to fashion and I will not stand for it!" She protested slamming her hoof on the ground. "Alright, sorry, but can you just sew this up please; I'm tired of having to keep my sleeves rolled all the time." He quickly apologized. "Well I suppose I could, but I really don't think you should be wearing something like this." She agreed to it even though she didn't want to, her generous nature didn't let her say no. "Excellent, but first how much will this cost me?" He asked while digging through his pockets to find some type of currency. "For you darling, not a thing." "Really? Thank you miss Rarity, you're very generous." "You're welcome deary, just give me a moment to patch this up and it will be all yours, just wait down here a moment." She said rushing up the stairs. She came back down a few minutes later with the jacket hovering in front of her and displaying the now fixed sleeve. "Wow, that looks amazing! The thread color even matches, thank you very much miss Rarity." He thanked her while looking over it closer to see if anything was out of place. It was impeccable. "You are very welcome darling, now don't go and rip it again. It's one thing if it looks drab and distasteful, but if it is ripped... well I can tell you that I will not let it go unfixed!" She exclaimed while striking a pose that showed she would never let such an atrocity happen. "Well thank you again miss Rarity, I'll be on my way as I must be getting back to miss Fluttershy's cottage. I believe her and Rainbow Dash went back to their homes." James said as he made for the door. "You're welcome darling." She said with a final wave goodbye. James stepped back into the streets and noticed that the sun had started its decent behind the trees of the Everfree forest. He looked at his watch again and it read 1800. "Well I suppose it's dinner time, luckily I have my MRE on me." James said as he looked through his pack to make sure he did have it. He found it and zipped his pack up, then found an empty table by one of the various shops. He sat down and looked around, admiring the town and its scenery. The houses were not big but they were decent sized, and most were painted a creamy white or pinkish color. The shingles looked like cedar or some other type of wood slats, and were a dark brown. The moment was amplified even more as the sun turned the sky a beautiful red, orange, and purple. He kept looking around for several minutes longer before taking out his brown, plastic bagged meal. Before he tore off the top of it, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. It was pink and was bouncing up and down, he turned to look and saw it was the bubbly, hyper pony named Pinkie Pie. She kept bouncing along the street, until she saw him. "Oh boy, here we go." He though to himself. "Hi James! What are you doing here!?" She said still jumping up and down. "Hello miss Pinkie, I'm just sitting down to a nice meal and enjoying the town. I came here earlier in the day to get acquainted with everyone." "Hehehe, it sounds funny when you say miss Pinkie! Like I'm an old mare or something!" She continued laughing for a while longer. "Just trying to be formal ma'am." He said back. Pinkie just laughed harder at this because she had never been called anything like it before. "I- hehehe, I'm sorry, i- it's just sooo funny to hear you say that it is all!" She said through bursts of laughter. After a few moments passed, her laughter died off, and she continued the conversation. "Well like I was saying, I was just sitting down to a meal." "A meal, that doesn't look like a meal, that looks like... well... not even food!" She said wondering how he ate such a strange looking thing. "Well it's inside of here, now if you'll excuse me I am starving." He said, getting irritated by the hyperactive pony and her bouncing. He couldn't figure out how she did it without getting tired at all. "Oh silly filly, you can't eat that. Come with me to Sugar Cube Corner, I've got something that will fill you up! Plus Dashie is there right now!" She said as she bounced down the street again. "Well at least I don't have to eat my emergency rations, and one of my friends is there." He said to himself as he threw the kit into his bag, then ran off to catch up with her. A few minutes later they arrived at their destination, it looked almost like a giant gingerbread house. The two walked through the front door, some of the ponies at first jumped up at the sight of James, but quickly sat back down as they remembered who he was. Pinkie bounced into the back room, then returned shortly afterward with a cupcake. "Just a cupcake? Honey it takes a lot of fuel to power a big rig, and this wont cut it." He joked with her, but Pinkie knew that it wouldn't be enough already, so she brought out a full cake for him. Dash saw James and Pinkie enter but didn't get up because she wanted to see what they were doing. "That was just the appetizer silly!" "Dear lord that is a lot of sugar. Pinkie, I might get diabetes from that much sugar. Also, how much will this cost me because I have no money." He stated to her. "It's on the house!" She gleefully replied. "Thank you Pinkie, you are very kind." He said as he had the cupcake stuffed into his mouth. He was startled by it at first because it was unexpected, but chewed it after realizing what had happened. "Wow... that was amazing." James complimented her. She just gave him a large tooth grin and slid him a plate of half the cake she had brought out. He thanked her again, then went to sit down with Dash. He turned around to find her and noticed she was already looking at him. She quickly turned away and blushed for the hundredth time that week. "This seat taken stranger?" James flirted with her. "Yeah by this one guy that I know, he's pretty cool." She tried flirting back. "Do you think he'll mind if I sit for a moment?" He continued. "I don't think so." She played with him. "I've got a lot of cake and two forks, wanna' help me finish this thing?" He said while offering up the other fork. "I can't really use a fork you know right?" She asked as if he didn't know. He face palmed. "Give me a second." He said as he went back to the counter and asked Pinkie for a knife. He returned and cut the cake into two parts. Giving one piece to Dash, and one to himself. They conversed as they ate and when they were done, James brought the plates back to Pinkie and thanked her once more. "We should totally do something tonight!" Rainbow blurted to him as soon as he sat back down. "What like a date or something?" "W- well, not like a date... j- just hanging out is what I meant." She stuttered not trying to make it seem that way, even if she wanted it to be. "Well either way, sure. Did you have anything in mind?" He asked interested that she wanted him to hangout with her. "Well we could just walk around or whatever, but I heard Vinyl Scratch is having a concert at the park and it's free tonight. We should totally go! If you want to that is." She said coming up with something. "Okay, tell me about this Vinyl Scratch as we walk there, when does it start by the way?" "I think it started like twenty minutes ago." She said as they got up and headed for the door. On the way out they both thanked Pinkie for the cake again, then walked to the concert. "So how did it go with the mayor?" She asked, almost forgetting why he had come to town. "Excellent, she trusts me, I trust her, and it all worked out how I had hoped." "Cool. So no having to worry about everypony staring at you again?" "Well I can't guarantee that, but not as much anymore." He assured her. The two walked for a while longer, the night had fully set in, and in the not too far off park, lights could be seen flashing and some noise could also be heard. "There it is!" Rainbow said as she flew slightly into the air. They kept moving towards it and the sound became clearer. They could also hear a voice saying something over the microphone but was not understandable. As they got closer they could see that a large amount of ponies had gathered. The DJ was gone, but a reoccurring beat was playing so they didn't lose the attention of the audience. Some ponies were dancing, others were at the bar getting drinks, and everyone was having a good time. There were two male pegasi that were harassing a female unicorn, some took notice to it but didn't do anything, and others just ignored it so they didn't get involved. "Who are those two assholes over there?" James said as he stared coldly at the two trouble makers. "Hoops and Dumbbell, I went to flight school with them." She said as the memories of her bullies came back. "You alright Dash?" He asked concerned. "T- they used to bully me back then and whenever they see me they call me Rainbow Crash." She confessed to him. "Well if they even try messing with you, come find me and will put my size twelve boots up their narrow asses." He tried to comfort her. "Thanks, I'll just try and avoid them." "Alright but if they do, I'll teach them to quit messing with you and everyone else they are picking on." He said with a serious tone. She nodded, and they walked into the crowd of ponies. James stuck out like a sore thumb because of his height, but no one seemed to care, or really notice. They all just kept dancing to the beat. The DJ finally came back and began to set up for new songs. When she did, she got back on the microphone and told everypony that they were going to kick it off in just a second. Then she saw James and called out to him, everypony looked at who she was talking to. "Well, looks like we got somepony new here, what's your name stranger?" She asked, putting him on the spot. "James Crossland, I'm a US Marine." He halfway shouted because of the distance to the pony he was speaking to. "Well mister James, I'm Vinyl and I want to welcome you to Ponyville my friend!" She shouted as she started the music back up. Everypony cheered as it began, then even louder when the bass dropped. They all went back to dancing, even James did. He was never a dancing person, but at that moment he didn't care, he just shook and moved his arms and legs in an attempt to dance. The song went on and the bass dropped again, and everypony cheered again. Dash was dancing with James, but couldn't restrain from laughing at his attempt. "I'm gonna' get a drink, do you want one!?" She shouted over the loud music. "Nah' I'm good!" He shouted back. She escaped the almost mosh pit like crowd and made her way to the bar. Once she got there she looked to see if her past tormentors were around, she didn't see them so she ordered herself a drink of hard cider. She drank some and looked back over James who was dancing with somepony. He was moving his legs and feet backwards in an attempt to do the moon walk, but came out unsuccessful. He caught her looking at him so he waved, and Dash raised her mug to him. "Hey Rainbow Crash!" Somepony shouted at Rainbow. "Oh no." She said as she turned in the direction of where it came from. Just a few feet away were the same two ponies that bullied her so many times. She didn't know what to do so she stood where she was and let whatever mean things they wanted to say, be said. "How did you get here? Let me guess, you crash landed!" The one with three basketballs on his flank teased. "N- no I walked here." She said looking at the ground. James looked back to her and saw she was looking at the ground, and wondered why she was doing that. He moved around a little and saw the same ponies who were harassing the unicorn earlier. When James saw them he went into drill instructor mode, and marched over to their position. It was obvious to everypony else that something was bothering him, and they looked at what he was going to do. He had anger building inside of him, waiting to let it go and unleash it upon the two pegasi. He got within ten feet of them and ripped into them with a very loud voice that made everypony stop what they were doing. "What the fuck is going on here!?" He shouted with absolute rage at the two. They were caught off guard by him and weren't sure how to react, exactly how James planned it. "U- umm... I u-" "Did I say you could talk you scroungy little fuck!?" "Uh- uh-" "No I didn't! Get on your stomach! Now!" James yelled even louder. He immediately dropped down. "I'm sorry for what I said" He barely said out loud as he trembled. "You're not getting off that easy! Now get off your ass and on your feet! Now get back down! Get up! Get down! "Shut up, you're not even a pony!" The one with a dumbbell said to him. The music had stopped and everypony was looking at the scene in front of them. "Well, what do we have here? A fucking comedian!?" "Some ponies call me that." He shot back at James. "Do they now? Fucking humor me then!" "What's tan and red all over?" "I don't play games asshole!" James shouted not amused by his joke. "Well it's you when I'm done bucking your flank!" "So you're a fighter!? I like fighters, you think you can take me down!?" "I'll buck your flank back to where ever you're from!" Dumbbell shouted at him ready for a fight. "You've got a lot of ambition, hell I like you, you can over to my house and fuck my sister!" He shouted right back. Dumbbell then spun around and kicked his hind legs at James. He saw it coming and stepped to the side, letting his legs fly past him. James wasted no time in letting the hostile get ready for another kick. He dived at Dumbbell and crashed into his side, which sent both of them tumbling. The crowd gasped at what was happening before them, and started cheering for James because they had all been bullied by the pair, and were tired of them. James got back up and punched the pegasus in the side three times, then got off of him. "You little scumbag! I've got your name, I've got your ass! You will not laugh, you will not cry, you will not breathe unless I fucking say so! Now get up! Get on your feet!" James yelled as loud as he could and pointed at him to get up. Dumbbell did as he was told. "Oohhhh that hurt, please no more." He pleaded to James through clenched teeth of pain. "You had best unfuck yourself, or I will unscrew your head and shit down your neck!" "Okay, I'm sorry." "You will address me as sir! Do you understand!?" "Yes sir." He said through jolts of pain in his side. "Now tell me, what's your name queer bait?" "Dumbbell sir." "Dumbbell!? Are you sure your mommy didn't name you dumbass!" James insulted him. "Why are you doing this?" "Why are you picking on these ponies!?" James threw his question right back at him. "I don't know, it's fun to me." Dumbbell said quietly. Everypony was still starring, their mouths were dropped almost to the ground as everything unfolded before their eyes. The two had picked on them all before but no one ever had the courage to stand up to them. "Because it's fun. Well let me tell you something, no one here likes you, especially me!" "Look we're sorry we wont do it again, can we just go please?" Hoops asked him. "Well what's your excuse for leaving the party!?" James turned to the one still laying on the ground. "Excuse sir?" He asked confused by everything that was happening. "I'm asking the fucking questions here sweetheart, now answer me!" "I- I don't know sir." "Are you shook up!? Are you scarred!? James shouted just inches from his face, Hoops could feel James' hot breath whip across his face. "Yes sir." He said as he was on the verge of crying due to so much stress. "Are you gonna' cry!? I've seen fucking children get yelled at worse than this and they didn't even change the expressions on their faces!" James intimidated him even more. Hoops then began to cry. "You can pick on adults but you act like a child!? How fucking pathetic!" He continued. "Look sir we're sorry, can we please go?" Dumbbell pleaded again. "I don't know, let's see what everyone else has to say." James told them both as he turned to the crowd; "Do you all feel they learned their lesson!?" He shouted to everypony there. YES They all shouted in response. "Well, it looks like the jury has reached a verdict; and if I ever see you pull this shit again, I will gouge out your eyeballs and skull fuck you! I'll be watching you! Now get the fuck out of here!" James yelled one last time as he chased them off. Behind them the thunderous crowd boomed with cheers as they watched their tormentors run away. James turned to Dash who was staring at him with her mouth wide open. "Sorry about the language miss Dash, that was rather unprofessional of me." James apologized. She didn't say anything and leaped at him, embracing him tightly. "That was the coolest thing ever!" She said doing a back flip; "Let's hear it for James the human!" She shouted to everypony. "No cheering folks, please. I just wanted to teach them a lesson of empathy and respect." He stated to them all. Vinyl would not let it go without some sort of recognition though. She had been bullied many times by them, as they called her work horrid and trashy even though many ponies attended her performances. "Well James, you seem like a pretty cool cat. Especially for you to just stand up for anypony you don't know like that. So this next song goes to you!" She said as she started hitting buttons on the console in front of her. As the music started everypony began to dance again, but at a slower pace than before. James looked at Dash and offered out a hand. "Join me for a dance?" He asked as he lead them both to the dance area. James got a few random cheers but swatted them away with a 'not necessary' wave of his hand. They arrived at the floor and began a slight slow dance; though it was kind of awkward with Rainbow standing on her back legs, but she managed to do it. They danced and laughed with each other long into the night. Early the next morning, they awoke in Fluttershy's cottage.