“Celestia! This is nonsense, they have our sisters held captive” Rarity argued. Celestia sighed as she tried to calm the infuriated mare. She had every reason to be mad, just not at her.
The throne room doors suddenly swung open violently and the group turned to see Luna, accompanied by Metal Jacket, walk into the room. “LUNA!” Celestia gasped and rushed over to her injured sister.
“I was foolish to send you out by yourself to the Everfree, please forgive me” Celestia begged but Luna nodded quickly.
“Dearest sister, I believe I have found some-pony who can help us” Luna said as she pointed over to Metal Jacket, who still had bandage wrap around his foreleg.
Celestia’s jaw dropped and she gasped as she realized who Luna had found. “M…Metal…Metal J…J…Jacket” she stammered in absolute shock. The element bearers stepped up beside the large princess but Metal Jacket ignored them, for obvious reasons.
“Princess! You know this… brute” Rarity said in a somewhat displeased voice. “Rarity! You shall not address Metal Jacket with such terms!” Celestia boomed in a sudden anger. Rarity stepped back and gulped.
“B…But I… he…” Rarity sputtered and Celestia shot her a cold glare, the white unicorn silenced herself. Celestia looked to the others who were also silent. “I take it you all know Sergeant Metal Jacket?” Celestia asked and Metal Jacket chuckled.
Celestia turned to him and raised an eyebrow. “Something funny?” she asked in a casual tone. “Yeah, it’s funny that you still call me Sergeant Metal Jacket. I’m not a soldier anymore ma’am, too old” he informed her.
Celestia looked back to the element of harmony bearers. “So I presume that you all have been aquatinted?” Celestia presumed and once again Metal Jacket chuckled. Celestia turned back to him as he smiled.
“Aquatinted is a very… light term to use. I would probably say… fierce enemies” he told her in a serious tone and Celestia looked back to the others then back to him. “Enemies?” she asked and he shrugged. “Enemies, opposing forces, fierce rivals… something along those lines” he told her rather casually. Celestia raised an eyebrow, “And how did this… rivalry come to be?” she asked and he let out a laugh.
“You remember my house? The one that I made where I first met my wife?” MJ asked and Celestia nodded. “Yeah well these good for nothings kicked me out and banished me to the Everfree forest. Well minus the pink one… and the purple unicorn, they had nothing to do with it so they’re not my timeless enemy” Metal Jacket informed the princess who looked back to the others with a raised eyebrow.
“Celestia, he was discharging firearms in town limits” Rarity argued then Fluttershy pitched in. “And he murdered innocent rabbits” Fluttershy informed her but Metal Jacket interrupted her. “Rabbits which I remind you were eating my garden” he told her.
Celestia raised a serious look then smirked. “Seriously? You seriously kicked out the most honourable pony ever to walk Equestria because he shot a rabbit? Now I know being a hero doesn’t give him the right to do wrong but seriously?” Celestia asked as though their argument was a joke.
“Celestia… you’re not taking his side are you?” Rarity asked and Celestia face-hoofed. The others had extreme looks of uncertainty on their faces.
Celestia looked up to them and let out a disappointed sigh. “Twilight, my faithful student. In all you readings did you ever read about a stallion named ‘Sergeant Mercy’?” Celestia asked and Twilight nodded.
“Yes. It was that saga of fiction stories about a stallion who single handily saved Equestria time and time again” Twilight replied but Celestia laughed. “My dear student… those were not fiction stories, they were true events. The true events of the stallion standing right in front of you” Celestia said and Twilight gasped as she recognized the resemblance Metal Jacket had with the stallion always on the front cover of the saga novels.
“But Celestia… they couldn’t be true… How could any stallion fend off demons from the underworld? And slay demon possessed dragons? And…and…” Twilight was at a loss of words but Celestia stopped her.
“You all don’t know because even though we offered Metal Jacket full honours he refused every single award. Said it was what every-pony should be like. Unlike most modern day heroes, Metal Jacket earned his honour and legend through blood” Celestia told them.
They were all speechless. “Well… Celestia it was nice seeing you again. Luna’s fine, her wing might take a day or two to heal up but she’ll be fine” Metal Jacket told the white alicorn who turned to speak with him.
“I suppose that you saved her didn’t you?” she asked and MJ nodded. “Yeah, The Bloody Hooves swarmed her but nothing a little bullet to the head couldn’t fix” he chuckled.
Metal Jacket turned to leave but Celestia rested a hoof on his shoulder. “Wait… listen I know that you’ve put in more blood and life than any-pony should but I need to ask if you will help us with one last task. It is a rescue mission” Celestia told him.
“I’m sorry princess. Flim and Flam’s factory is just too heavily guarded and I’m too old for that kind of thing” Metal Jacket told her, already knowing what she was going to ask him to do. “It is fine, I was just curious is all” Celestia told him then let him go on his way.
As Metal Jacket left the throne room Rarity spoke out again. “Celestia, you aren’t seriously going to let him just walk away” Rarity argued and Celestia once again shot her a terribly cold glare. “Rarity, I have a great respect for you. You have helped save Equestria time and time again. But do not tread where you haven’t been. Metal Jacket has served Equestria in ways you could never hope of doing. He has put his life on the line even before you were born. He was fighting demons more powerful than King Sombra while you were still an infant. Do not say that he cannot walk away if he wants to” Celestia said in a deep an agitated voice.
Rarity gulped as the princess became agitated with her constant arguing. “I’m sorry your highness” Rarity apologized. “I forgive you, but never forget that Metal Jacket is retired and can do as he wishes… Luna?” Celestia asked as she realized her sister was gone.
Elsewhere outside Metal Jacket walked towards his truck but suddenly three large stallions charged him then pinned him against the truck. Metal Jacket’s head bashed off the metal hood of his truck with a THUNK and he grunted in pain. Flim and Flam both trotted up beside him.
“Let me go you fuck heads” Metal Jacket snarled. Flam smirked, “Or what?” he challenged. Metal Jacket took full fledge of the challenge and quickly swept out one of the stallion’s hindlegs with his own, toppling the big stallion.
With the stallions confused MJ quickly spun his body, flinging the stallion on his right onto the ground then slammed a punch with his right hoof into the stomach of the last stallion. As the third stallion collapsed to the ground in pain, Metal Jacket looked to the two brothers who were struck in fear and awe.
MJ walked up to the brothers. “You know I like you Flam, you’re a cool guy” MJ said in a casual voice, Flam calmed down a little. “That’s why I’m going to kill you last” he said in a serious tone and Flam lept back into his brothers arms. They galloped off as Metal Jacket chuckled to himself.
“Metal” called out a voice and he turned to see Luna rush down to him. As she took the corner around his truck she tripped over the body of an injured stallion. Metal Jacket immediately caught her and she looked down to the injured stallion in curiosity.
“What happened to him?” she asked and MJ shrugged. “He’s just getting in touch with the ground is all” he replied but then Luna brought the subject back to why she had come out.
“Why won’t you save their sisters?” she asked and he sighed. “I’m too old” he told her. “Horse apples, you single handily saved my flank last night from a large group of The Bloody Hooves. You’re not too old” she told him and he looked away.
“It’s because of what they did, isn’t it?” she asked and he nodded solemnly. Luna stepped up beside him and whispered soothingly, “What would your wife think of this?”
Metal Jacket almost burst into tears right then and there but the years of war and killing had made him rather tough so it was somewhat difficult for him to cry in public.
“I… she…” Metal Jacket trailed off. Luna gave him a gentle kiss to the cheek. “Sometimes forgiveness is a worse fate to your enemy then fighting. If you show forgiveness and save their sisters then they can never repay you for what you did and they will never be able live it down knowing that you showed forgiveness to them even though they would not show you forgiveness when you needed it” Luna said.
Metal Jacket was taken back by her sudden, somewhat dark, change of attitude. Luna pulled out a bible, “Maybe you should read this. It tells of all sorts of things about the soul” Luna told him and he nodded but motioned for her to put it away. “I’ve read the bible before. It’s kind of dark in some spots” he told her then took a deep sigh. “Alright… I’ll do it… but I’m doing things my way”