A Warrior’s Peace
Chapter 4: Memories
By: Ricardo Nixon
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH.” Screamed Rarity, nearly fainting at the sight of the colossal beast making its way through town.
“Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no..eeep.” Fluttershy was working herself into a panic attack, her wings flapping out of sync, matching the distress on the yellow pagasus’ face.
“ Uh, Twalight, I don’t suppose you read a book about what to do in this situation, didya?” said Applejack, looking to her friend, trying to draw some confidence.
“ An Ursa Major!?” said Twilight, jaw agape. “ What could bring it to Ponyville?!!.” She said, her hooves wobbling.
“ Not what…..WHOOO!!” A high pitched, raspy voice called out from atop the massive, celestial bear. “ This time we haves the Ursa Major, all the pretty ponies will dig for us, ahahahahahah.” From behind the Ursa’s head climbed a thin lanky figure, clutching a massive bridle in his paw-like hands, running around the bear’s muzzle.
“ Not these guy’s again!” cried Rainbow Dash. “ I thought they learned to leave us alone after last time.” She said, spreading her wings, preparing to take off.
Jack took in the sight, the gargantuan bear in front of him, and the small army of canines ransacking the peaceful pony village. “ What are these….” Jack refrained from using the more colorful adjective that humans had come up with. “…creeps?”
“We are the Diamond Dogs!” The leader said from atop his mount, picking up Jack’s voice with his sensitive canine hearing. “ And we’re gonna make all these pretty ponies into workhorses to dig us up precious gemstones, and you can’t do anything about it silly monkey! Unleash the hounds!”
On cue, a battalion of armor clad canines charged out from underneath the Ursa Major, their leader heading off the pack, armed with a wooden club in hand and making a beeline for Jack and his companions.
“Run girls!!” yelled Twilight Sparkle, spinning in place, followed by the other five mares and one purple dragon.
“ NO!” Boomed the robed human.
The small group of ponies turned to meet the gaze of their obviously insane partner.
“ Are you crazy?!” yelled Twilight, her voice cracking. “ Nopony can take down an Ursa Major!” she said beginning to take her turn again.
Jack locked eyes with the purple unicorn, freezing her in place. “ Well then it sounds like you need someone that’s not a pony, now do you want to help me or not?” His stern yet caring voice struck a chord within the young mares, putting some stiffness back into their shaking hooves… that is with the exception of Fluttershy, of course. “ Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Spike, search for abled bodied ponies who can help hold these guys off.” The two nodded, Pinkie giving Jack the first serious look he had seen on her face. “Rarity, Fluttershy, get to somewhere safe and tend to the injured ponies.”
“ We can use my house.” Said Fluttershy, with a certain fire in her eye. “ It’s far enough from Ponyville that the Diamond Dogs won’t attack us.”
The pair ran off, Rarity neglecting to fix her now tattered mane.
“ You two, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, come with me but keep your distance, I need you to take any injured pony to Rarity and Fluttershy.” Jack said, turning to face the oncoming onslaught of canine warriors. ”You leave them… to me.”
Jack analyzed the lead Diamond Dog. “ Their body structures are similar to a human. Save for the legs, but that won’t affect my technique much. This shouldn’t be too much trouble.” Jack took a few deep breaths and prepared for the conflict ahead. His head grew light as an all too familiar rush surged through his body.
The lead Diamond Dog was upon him. “ I’ll show you, you meddling monkey!!!!!” The canine cocked his arm back and swung his wooden club full force at the side of Jack’s head.
“ Arrgggh!” The canine let loose a grunt as Jack’s right elbow connected with his jaw. Jack held the dog’s right hand with his left and grabbed the back of his hand with his right. With a quick 180 degree rotation, Jack hyperextended the canine’s wrist, dropping his armpit onto the dog’s elbow, locking the bone and causing him to bend over and let loose a shriek of pain. Jack then sent his foot sailing into his attacker’s chest and torqued his arm, forcing him onto his face, before dropping his knee on the semi-conscious canine’s shoulder. Keeping control of the beast’s arm, Jack turned it’s wrist a bit more, disarming him of his club.
Jack felt the rough cord-wrapped handle of the weapon, he felt its weight and felt his body adjusting to compensate, making the weapon a part of his being. His head became light as his conscience drifted away.
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Colombia, 2006
Jack felt the rough cord-wrapped handle of the weapon, he felt its weight and felt his body adjusting to compensate, making the weapon a part of his being. The rain fell on the tempered steel blade, sending shimmering beams of light gleaming down the length of the weapon’s edge.
Jack reached into his pocket, drawing from it the picture of a well-dressed man, dark skin, slick hair, obviously a man of business. His name… or rather, his title was El Tiburon, and at this point he handled 80% of the cocaine trade through South and Central America. His wealth and influence served to keep the developing countries’ governments frail, allowing him to traffic with little to no resistance. He was the source of suffering for many innocent people, and he had to be dealt with.
Jack replaced the slip of paper back into his pocket and looked down off of his tree perch onto the three guards below. “ Three guards… armed…assault rifles…large caliber.” Jack placed his sword back into its sheath on his back, relishing the ‘click’ as the guard met the end of the scabbard. He grasped the beads hanging around his neck and took a deep breath. “ They don’t need to die, they still have hope…or at least I do.”
They stood with their backs to the glass door, defending their employed.
“ Let’s see, three of them, about ten meters apart, automatic weapons… “ Jack grabbed a fruit off of the tree.”…15 seconds.”
Jack tossed the fruit in front of the center guard, drawing him forward, creating some distance from his comrades. Jack then loosened his robe and dropped in front he the guard to the left.
The guard’s eyes widened as he brought the barrel of his weapon to Jack’s face.
Jack redirected the weapon’s muzzle with his left hand while driving his right palm into the man’s nose, shifting his balance back, the wet crack of cartilage reassuring Jack of his precision. “1…2…3” Jack kept the man off balance as he brought his own right leg up and swiftly reaped the guard’s right leg out from under him, dropping him straight to the floor and straight out of consciousness.
The right guard heard the reverberations of Jack’s handiwork and began to turn around.
“ 4…5…6.” Jack dashed at the man meeting him nose to nose, gripping the barrel of his automatic rifle with his left hand and the stock with his right.”7…8.” With a quick twist, Jack turned the barrel up and the stock down, disarming the man before slamming the weapons metal stock into the guard’s jaw, inducing a condition commonly known as getting knocked the hell out.
The final guard turned around, bringing his rifle to eye-level and took aim at the loosely robed man.
Jack met his eyes and took a 180 degree turn, throwing his cloak into the air.
BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!!
“ Hehehe.” The guard walked over to the smoking pile of cloth to observe his handiwork. “ Whaaa!” he kicked over the pile of clothes as his eyes widened and his arm began to shake.
“9…10”
“ Where are you!” the guard stepped back, nearly tripping in the wet southern mud.
“ Right behind you…” Jack whispered, slamming his left hand into the left side of the guards face, pulling it back with the guard’s jaw in hand. His right hand grabbed the guard’s wrist and, using his stomach as a fulcrum, snapped the guard’s arm, forcing him to drop his weapon. His right hand then shot up to the guard’s left ear, meeting Jack’s other hand as his shoulder supplied a vice-like pressure to the man’s neck.
“11…12…13…14…aaaaaand.” The man’s body went limp and Jack released him, allowing him to drop to his back. “ That’s 15”
Jack turned to face the man inside. Through the glass door, Jack saw the man, El Tiburon, shaking behind his desk, reaching into the drawers.
Jack opened the door, wiped his feet on the welcome mat and proceeded to the desk. The man behind the desk reached a shaking hand into the drawer and produced a rather large revolver, putting it up to feel it meet the forehead of the man who, a mere second ago, was 10 meters away from him. The man’s sinister lips curled into a sadistic smile.
“ The last thing you will hear are these two clicks. The first one is me cocking my gun…” The man pulled back the hammer, letting out and audible ‘click’ “ And the second one..”
“Is me sheathing my sword.”
“Whaa!?”
SHIIIIIIIIING
Jack swung his sword a second time, shaking off the blood as the man’s body hit the floor. He placed the end of his blade in the opening of his sheath and slid it in, SHHHHHHHHHHHH’click’.
WHUAAP!
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Jack felt a dull pain in the back of his skull as he tumbled to the ground, having taken the full brunt of a Diamond Dog’s paw to the back of the head. He dazedly took in his surroundings, taking in the Dogs and the gargantuan bear chewing off the roof of Sugarcube Corner.
“ JAAACK!” “JAAAAACK!” yelled the pair of cyan and orange ponies, helping a young filly out of a collapsing house.
Jack dropped his shoulder and rolled with the strike, landing on his feet, club in hand. “ I’m Fine, I’m Fine, keep going.” Waving off the two mares with his free hand.
“Alright boss!” yelled Applejack, bucking down a door, releasing the two trapped fillies inside.
Jack let the club rest on his shoulder as he dropped his center, bracing himself for the oncoming attack. He had counted about six more Diamond Dogs in his general vicinity, preparing to attack him.
“Raaagh.” The dog let out a roar as it lunged at Jack, paw outstretched, claws bared.
Jack took a step left, parrying the canine’s strike with his left hand, drawing him in as he dropped his armpit onto the dog’s elbow, placing the Diamond Dog under his control. At that moment that dog might as well been in a crate.
Jack heard rushing steps to his right and turned to see a rather massive Diamond Dog rushing at him. Jack waited for him to pounce before introducing his ribcage to the end of his commander’s club, snapping the weapon in two and causing him to fall back to the ground clutching his chest.
Turning to the closest combatant, Jack gave his trunk a twist, hyperextending the trapped canine’s elbow and causing him to move in front of his rapidly approaching comrade resulting in a rather spectacular collision, the end of which was marked by a swift kick to the jaws of both parties involved.
“ Three left.” Jack said to himself, taking the initiative. He charged the next Dog, clenching his fist, to which the dog responded by guarding his face. Little did he know that the punch would connect with his stomach, forcing the creature to bend over, presenting Jack with an opportunity to toss his off-balance opponent to the floor, before driving his elbow into the beast’s stomach, putting him out of commission.
The next two dogs put forth a valiant effort to double-team Jack, one grabbing him from behind, over his arms, and the other charging full speed.
“ Bad move friend.” Jack dropped his center, slipping out of the canine’s grip, sending his elbow crashing into the dog’s ribs and taking a firm grip of his wrist which he swiftly rotated, giving him control of the Diamond Dog’s arm. Placing the dog’s arm behind his back, Jack braced for impact.
“ You think I’ll fall for that trick.” Said the dog, slowing down, preparing to vault over his opponent’s meatshield.
“Not quite.”, Muttered Jack with a smile. With a rotation of his forearm, he brought his captive to bend down. He quickly rolled over the canine’s back, and upon landing rolled the dog over his hip, dropping him right on the head of his unsuspecting partner. The pair struggled to get up before collapsing back onto each other.
Jack looked up to the great purple Ursa Major, finishing the last remnants of Sugarcube Corner’s roof, now moving on to town hall.
Jack turned to his two partners to see Rainbow Dash holding a young filly and Applejack dragging a coughing mare out from underneath a collapsing house. “ Are you two alright?” Jack yelled, hands cupped around his mouth
“ We’re alright, what about you?!” yelled the cyan Pegasus trying to hold back the fatigue in her voice.
“ I’m fine, I’m gonna go..”
“ Mommy nooooooo!!!” Jack was interrupted by a high pitched shriek originating from a nearby house.
A Diamond Bull-Dog stood hunched, casting a shadow over the cross-eyed gray Pegasus and the blond unicorn behind her.
“You get away from us.” She said, opening her wings to protect her daughter.
“ Flying pony will make good slave, carry gems out of dark cav ..ARRGH!!”
Slobber dropped from his mouth as the pegasus’ gray hoof made contact with his chin.
“ Why You!” the colossal canine raised his massive paw above the pair of ponies, causing the gray Pegasus to clutch her daughter.
“This will teach stupid pony!” The Dog brought his appendage down with force.
WHAUP!
A tear rolled down the pegasus’ cheek as she opened one of the crossed eyes to find the Dog with his paw in the air.
“ Wha-a-a.” a strained gasp escaped the Dog’s mouth as it rolled back on its heels and fell back to the ground, revealing an odd cloaked figure behind him.
“Are you all right?” Jack asked, stepping over the large canine
“T-th-thank you, thank you so much!” the grey mare sprung out, hugging Jack.
“ It’s quite alright. Now you two get to Fluttershy’s house.” Jack said, the grey Pegasus releasing him.
“ D-d-do-dog…” She stammered, crossed-eyes widening as she looked over Jack’s left shoulder.
“ I have you now Monkey!!” The massive dog, now on his feet, opened his arms around the robed figure in front of him. “ Gotcha!” The canine wrapped his arms around the brown-cloaked figure and sunk his teeth into his neck. “Arghh! What is this?!” the dog coughed up a bit of brown cotton and observed the empty garment in his paws, his eyes falling on a pair of unfamiliar arms wrapped around his waist.
“ Gotcha.” Jack dropped his center and lifted, bridging back and dropping the enormous Dog on its neck. His eyes quickly shifted to the pair of ponies at his side. “ After you.” He motioned to the door with his left hand, putting his robe back on with his right.
Jack stepped out of the house, watching the pair of ponies fly away. “ There’s still too many of them.” Jack whispered to himself, preparing to go back on the offensive. He finished tying his robe and locked eyes with a nearby Diamond Dog raiding party.
“ We’re coming for you Monkey!” The dogs rushed at him, jowls slobbering as the built up momentum.
Jack dropped his center and prepared to attack.
“ We’re going to…Arrgh!” The head Diamond Dog was interrupted by a familiar red hoof.
“ Nnnnnnope.” The red draft pony stood in front of his friend, yellow bane billowing in the wind. “ Get em’ fellas.” On cue a swarm of stallions attacked the Dogs, bucking them back.
“Allons-y!!” yelled an odd brown stallion, delivering a hoof to a Diamond Dog’s jaw.
“JAAAAAACK!” Jack turned to find Pinkie Pie on the roof, smiling next to Twilight Sparkle who was magically tossing rocks at the invading canines. “Did we do good?” said Pinkie, a wide smile across her face.
“You did fine girls.” Said Jack, waving at the girls.
“Hey!” Jack turned back to Big Mac, a confident look on his face. We got these mutts, you take care of that.” Big Mac pointed his hoof to the purple leviathan.
Jack smiled and matched the draft pony’s smile, turning and heading toward the Ursa Major. Jack climbed a nearby house, giving his a prime view of the bear’s rump. “ Here we go.” Jack took a running start and jumped, sailing through the air for a few seconds before grabbing a handful of translucent purple fur. He made his way up to celestial bear’s neck, grabbing handful after handful of fur. He took a firm grip with his left and reached behind him with his right, pulling the tightly wound ring of beads out of his hair. Beads in hand, he made his way to the top of the beast’s skull, taking position behind the chief Diamond Dog.
Jack grabbed the canine by the muzzle. “ Call off your Dogs, and take this thing out of ponyville.”
“ Are you stupid! Stupid monkey! You think you can beat Ursa Major?!” The Dog said, shaking the reigns, making the bear buck.
“ No.” Jack tossed his necklace around the Dog’s neck and around the excess around his hand, putting a vice-like pressure on the canine’s neck. ”Just you.”
“Arggh. You won’t beat me that easil..arghh!” The dog tried to turn his head only to be met with a crushing pressure on his trachea.
“ You have two choices. We take this thing back to its cave together…” Jack pulled the dog back, making eye contact with it,” or I can figure it out by myself, I learn fast, but I might just have to… squeeze some lessons out of you.” Jack felt the canine attempt a gulp as he nodded his head. “ Alright, let’s get going.”
The Chief Dog pulled back on the reigns as he shouted through the pressure on his neck,” Diamonds Dogs, Retreat!!!! Back to the caves.” He looked back to see Jack’s smiling face.
“ Big Mac!” Jack called for the stallion’s attention. “ Make sure they stay out.” Jack was able to make out the stallion’s telltale, “ Eeeeyup.”
“Move.” Jack said, twisting the beads in his hand.
The Diamond Dogs followed their leader back to their cave, releasing an angry Ursa Major before taking cover in their underground lair.
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Three Hours Later
Jack made his way back to Ponyville, backtracking the path he took to the Diamond Dogs’ lair. The town was silent, although the signs of preliminary repairs were visible
“ I should probably go check on Fluttershy, see if everypony is alright.”
Jack opened the door to the cottage to find all the lights off. “ They must be asleep.” He said, turning around.
CLICK’
Jack turned to find half the town of Ponyville in the brightly decorated cottage. “ Thank You Jack!!” Jack smiled as he was swarmed by an ocean of candy colored ponies. He found himself once again relishing his new home. He felt his stomach grow warm as a smile wrapped around his head as he joined his new family for the festivities.
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