A rooster's crow broke through the dawn, and through James' dream. He awoke, feeling very annoyed. How was he supposed to sleep with that red-necked bird singing every morning? It wasn't as if he'd asked for a wake up call.
After a few moments, he calmed down. He got dressed and walked downstairs. No one else was down here yet, so he turned on a lamp (it was still quite dark outside) and began reading Guns of the South where he'd left off from last night.
He yawned. He was still a little tired, and it was difficult to concentrate on the story. He lowered the book and leaned back against the couch, closing his eyes.
His mother seemed to show up the instant his eyelids had shut, the one recognizable shape in the otherwise dark landscape he now beheld. He started.
"My son, where are you?"
"Mom! I'm... I'm right here!"
"You've left us, James, left us forever!"
"What!? No, I'm right here!"
"Good-bye, James."
"No! Come back!"
He ran after her, but she turned into a ghostly vapor and flowed away from him. He chased after her, only to be stopped by a massive head, wreathed in flames.
"D-Dad?"
"Do you see what you've done to your poor mother!?" his father's head shouted at him. "She's gone, gone because you've left us, gone because you disappeared and left us to grieve over your absence!"
"I didn't ask for..."
"Well, I've had enough, boy! You're disowned! You're no longer my son!"
James reeled, the words striking him like a sludgehammer. "Dad, you're not you; you'd never say that!"
"I'm going to do away with you," his father said, ignoring him and raising a giant, fiery hand. "DIE!"
The hand made itself into a fist and rushed toward James.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Clip-clop, clip-clop
Suddenly, his father's head disappeared, to be replaced by all of the Mane Six.
"Oh, thank goodness..."
"What're you doing around here?' Rainbow demanded. Didn't we tell you to take a hike?"
"Ya left our country at the mercy of them Griffons an' Changelin's, and now ya come running back to us?" Applejack shouted at him. "No way, no how!"
"You abandoned us when we needed you most," Fluttershy added, her voice still hers, but more sounding more disgusted than he'd ever known it to be.
"I would never - "
"Girls, ready your elements!" Twilight shouted. "We might be helpless to the invaders, but we can still take this filthy rat down!"
James ran as they charged up their elements. He heard the rainbow chase after him as he fled into the forest. He wondered how a forest had shown us when moments ago there had been little other than darkness, but he was too busy running to ask questions. He ducked behind a tree as the rainbow beam shot by him.
"That was too close," he said.
He knew they weren't going to give up that easily. He began ducking from tree to tree, hoping there wasn't something behind each one. Fortunately, there weren't, and he felt his adrenaline begin to die down.
Behind the last one, though, was a pack of three timberwolves, who jumped at him before he was ready. He dropped to the ground, and they sailed over him.
James reached for his pistol, which hadn't been there a moment ago, and fired at them as they came again. to his surprise, a beam of energy shot out of the end rather than the flame and smoke he was used to, and the wolf began to burn.
The other two stopped, glaring at him in ice-cold hatred. "You killed Applejack!" shouted the one on his left, in Twilight's voice.
"No I didn't..." But his eyes were already turning, in dread, to the wolf he'd destroyed; it's head transformed into that of the orange farm pony who'd taken him in. "Get 'im!" she yelled as he drew back in shock and horror.
"Uh, sugarcube?" came Applejack's voice from his right.
"What?" he turned, but there was only dark forest where he'd heard her.
"You're going to pay!" the second wolf, the one on his right, shouted, in Rainbow's voice. It jumped at him, wooden claws and fangs extended.
"No!" James lashed out with his right arm, which had acquired a pinkish-purple beam sword out of nowhere. The wolf fell to the ground, first the front half, then the back half.
"Hey! Can ya hear me?" Applejack's disembodied voice said again from his right. He heard a Clop! sound as though she'd stamped her hoof. but when he went to look, she wasn't there.
He fell as the last timberwolf jumped him. It followed him down, paws on his belly and fangs unleashed. it's head became that of his mother's. "Good bye, James," she said again.
"Wake up!"
He opened his eyes as his body shook. He was in the Apples' living room once more. Applejack was shaking him with a hoof, and looking into his face, concern on her face.
"Uggggggggnnnhhhh...," he groaned. He regained the feeling in his arms he'd lost inexplicably since he'd first closed his eyes. This was reality, then; what he'd been through was surely a dream.
"You okay, sugarcube?" Applejack asked. "You sounded mighty feisty in yer sleep a moment ago."
"Ugh... Dad... Mom... fire.... you... girls... wolves... death..."
He grabbed at his head as Big Macintosh came down the stairs with Granny Smith in tow. "What's all the commotion about/" the old mare demanded. "Ah'm tryin' ta git some sleep!"
"Ah think our guest just had a bit of a nightmare," Applejack answered, still looking into James' face. "What're ya doin' down here anyways?"
"Rooster..." James grabbed at his head as the sound of the bird's crow reached him; it was now official, he had a headache to go with his recent nightmare. "Came down here to read. Thought you'd all be down here already."
"Well, we weren't ready yet."
James put his right hand on his aching forehead. "I'm... I'm... sorry."
She gazed on him with even more care. "Fer what?"
"In my dream..."
"Settle down. Relax," she told him. "Let's get breakfast outta the way first. Maybe you'll be calm enough ta tell us 'bout it then."
"O-okay." He laid back on the couch, but didn't dare close his eyes again. The dream had felt all too real, now that he thought about it; in it, the very things he dreaded had happened. He felt responsible for destroying wolf-Applejack in the dream, even though he hadn't known it would turn into her. After all she and the other bearers had done for him...
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"So you see, that's what happened," James said as Applejack and Big Mac listened.
He had just finished recounting his nightmare, step by step, and now he felt a twinge of fear peck his heart; what if they ordered him to leave...?
"Ah just think ya had a bad dream," applejack said, draining a mug of milk. "Don't seem like somethin' ta worry about."
"But.."
"Re - lax, sugarcube. We all have bad dreams about one another sometime. It ain't nothin' to get steamed up over."
"Well, alright." James took a biscuit from a bowl on the table and bit into it. it's warmth and the butter in it's core cut through the shroud the dream had placed on his thinking.
What was I thinking? Of course it's nothing to get worked up over. It was a dream, for God's sake! I'm not letting it interfere with the rest of my day.
"Feelin' better now?" Applejack asked.
"Much," he replied, taking another bite out the biscuit.
"Oh, ah almost forgot, ya have ta go ta Rarity's today! She had yer uniform ready yesterday."
"Aw, blast, I forgot."
"Why don'tcha go there a bit later, after the sun's risen a mite more? Everypony else - well, almost everypony else," she added, looking around the room - "is still sleepin'."
"Sounds good to me." James yawned, lifting a hand to his mouth an a futile effort to stifle it.
"Go an' get a lil more rest, James; ya look a bit too tired to do any real work yet."
"Thanks," James said, getting up. But as he went back upstairs, he vowed to keep his eyes open.
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A few hours later, James picked yet another apple out of a tree an placed it with countless others already in the basket. The sun high in the sky, and the day was warming up nicely. The mud had disappeared, which made his job a lot easier than it would have been otherwise.
Applejack bucked a nearby tree, causing the apples on it to fall. "Why don'tcha go ta Rarity's now?" she said, looking in James' direction as she began picking up the apples that hadn't fallen directly into her basket.
"You sure you got this?"
"Yep!" For emphasis, she kicked another tree. "We got things covered here."
"Okay, if you say so." He put down the apple his stick was carrying, then turned around and walked toward the road.
The trip there took perhaps fifteen minutes. He knew enough about the town now that he didn't need a guide to show him the way to Carousel Boutique. As he walked, he noticed the leaves growing on the trees. It had been awhile since he'd been able to his thoughts off the war and just take in the scenery. The flowers and the trees looked healthy, green, and growing, not to mention peaceful, quite the opposite of the war he'd been fighting.
Few ponies had been on the road, but once he got into town, he got a lot more stares and glances than he'd bargained for. He tried to ignore them, hoping this would make them lose interest. He might have done better to stare back, for that did nothing to reduce it, nor did it cause them to abstain from whispering behind his back as he passed.
At least the whispering and the looks didn't last long, and he was at the door to the boutique faster than he'd expected. He knocked on the door.
"Come in!" came Rarity's welcoming voice.
He did so, setting off the bell above the door.
"Oh, good morning, James," Rarity said as she looked over her shoulder from the sewing machine she was working with. "Here for your uniform?"
"Yeah." He looked around. "Sorry about not turning up yesterday, but Applejack asked me to help, and I couldn't say no."
"I hope you're not too dirty," she said, frowning a little as she got back to work.
"I'm not; I took a bath this morning." In ice-cold water as well, he thought bitterly.
"Well, I succeeding in stitching this former mess back together." A set of blue pants, a blue coat, and a hat flew in his direction. James caught them.
"Thanks."
"Any time, darling."
"What's that you're working on? A new design?"
"Hmph. I wish." She got back down on all fours and held her project before her with her magic. "It's another uniform for the military." She sighed, setting it down again. "It was exhilarating the first few times, but after doing the same thing hundreds - probably thousands - of times, it really gets quite dull." She went back to work.
"Is there...?"
"No, there's nothing you can do to help."
"Well, then..." James started to back away, only for his leg to meet unexpected resistance some distance into the movement. He cried out as he tripped and fell over backward. There was a crash as something else fell over as well. Then he felt his head slam into something.
"Oh, you great, clumsy oaf!"
James grabbed at the back of his head; nothing seemed broken.
"Do you know how long it took to set up those mannequin and those dresses? Do you!?" Rarity yelled, standing before him with an angry look on her face; it was almost as scary as artillery fire... almost. "All that work ruined. Now I have to start over."
"I'm... sorry." James collected himself, as well as his uniform, stood up, and turned for the door. "Thanks for fixing up my stuff."
"No, wait," Rarity said, sounding much calmer. He turned to see that her eyebrows had lifted and her teeth were no longer readily visible in her expression. "I'm sorry, darling. It's just that all this work has really occupied my time."
"Considering you don't want to work on uniforms in the first place..."
"I lost my temper when you wrecked the dresses that I had wanted to work on." She sighed again, and James saw, for the first time, that her mane wasn't as well kept as it normally was. "I haven't taken much time for myself lately, with the exception of your trial and the dinner the Princesses invited us to."
"Hey, at least you did a number on Blueblood."
He could have sworn that brought a small smile on her lips, but it was gone before he could be sure. "I haven't even had time to spend with Sweetie belle; honestly, it's been a nightmare, keeping my hooves busy all day and into the night as well."
"Hopefully you've been sleeping better than I have," he said as he stood one of the pony mannequins up again.
"I'll admit, I have no trouble sleeping at night." She stood the second one up and used magic to stand the other mannequin up before bringing up a duster to dust it off. "I'm so tired at the end of the day that all I have to do is just shut my eyes and I'm fast asleep."
"How many more of these do you need to make?"
"At least ten more by the end of the day. If I'm fast I might be able to slip in a new design." She sounded like she was now speaking more to herself than to him.
"Are you sure - "
"Unless you are a talented tailor or have a career in fashion, there is nothing."
"I'm sorry. I hope to God you'll be alright soon."
"Oh, I will be," she said, now adjusting the hat on the second figure.
"Again, thanks for the fix," James said as he headed for the door.
"Any time," she said almost absentmindedly as he left. He heard her sigh again as he shut the door.
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"Sounds like Rarity's busier n' the time we put on our own fashion show," Applejack remarked after James told his story.
"Yeah. I'm not sure what to do. The best thing I can think of is to offer her some rest, but she'd never go for it... and neither would you."
"Hey, we all make mistakes." Applejack looked at the clock. "Oh, gotta go."
"Where to?"
"To market, to sell some o' these here apples." She motioned with her head toward the wagon full of bright red fruit outside.
"Don't let them gyp you."
"Heh. Don't you fret, ah told ya ah know what thing's are supposed ta cost." The orange pony was confident. "Thanks fer yer help yesterday an' today. Ah'll give you yer share fer the work when ah get back."
"Thanks, but you don't..."
"Yeah ah do. Ain't takin' no fer an answer."
"Alright then. I'll see you then."
Applejack left the house, and the door closed behind her. James got up from his chair and walked into the living room, intending to pick up from his book where he'd left off.
He'd never imagined Big Mac would be lying down on the floor reading it.
Ah! What are you doing!?! went through his mind as he panicked.
After a second or two, he began to calm down. I'll panic if he's actually read anything all that bad, and not before. He walked over to the big stallion, who continued reading until he was right next to him.
"Oh, hello!"
"Hi." James quickly looked at the pages the red pony had been reading. Luckily, he had turned more than a couple of pages, and was on the part where Lee was questioning a member of the AWB. Praise be, he didn't actually get to a part with super obscene language, or with the... romance... at the end. "Reading my book, I see."
"Oh, sorry." Big Mac stood up, picked up the book, and gave it to James.
"You're lucky you were just reading this bit. Some of the content in this book is... mature."
"Oh..." Big Mac looked into his eyes. "Did any o' that stuff really happen?"
"What, in this book? No." he heard Big Mac sigh in relief; he must have read through the results of the assassination attempt on Lee. "It's an alternate history novel, so nothing in this book - or I should say, almost nothing - bears any resemblance to reality."
"Wish we had guns like that," the stallion said, pointing a hoof at the book.
"Wish I had any real experience making them." He put the book in his pocket. "I can't give you what I don't have. Believe, me I'd have given you guys the knowledge of how to build them."
But even as he said this, he felt something inside nudge him. He didn't like the idea of unleashing the genie of automatic weapons into this once peaceful land. Perhaps not having AK-47 would increase the casualties of this war, as well as lengthening it, but it might prevent a massive spread of lethal, easy-to-make guns across the globe.
That would be a betrayal of soldiers you could save; in fact, if not for the fact that you have no books with you on how to make such a gun, you'd pretty much be guilty of that right now.
But if... He felt the words he would have used fall to the ground. He had no real answer. Of course he would want to save the lives of as many of his own troops as possible, and if he could give them AKs, he would have, in a heartbeat, too.
"I'll give you boys what I have," he said at last. "I have more I could be doing. And I'm going to do it."
He went back upstairs, grabbed a pen and a piece of paper, and began to work.
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The next few days went by slowly. James enjoyed them to the best of his ability. True, some of that time was spent helping Applejack and her brother with the farm, but even that was bearable when he was able to talk to them all throughout. And she kept her word, paying him a reasonable number of bits for his help.
At one point, after a morning of harvesting more apples, he engaged in a chess match with Applejack. He found to his immense surprise that she was good at it. Aggressive and unrelenting were the only words he knew that described her tactics. Twice he lost pieces vital to his plans, and he lost count of the number of times when he discovered that one of his piece was in trouble and managed to save it. Her hooves were no obstacle to moving her pieces, although she knocked over a couple by mistake.
"Won that little rodeo," she said, standing on two legs and leaning on the table after finally managing to trap James' king against the side of the board with her own king and queen.
James tried to find a way out, but he could see no legal move he could make. "Congratulations," he said, shaking her right hoof with his right hand.
"Ya almost won yerself. Got a little worried in the middle when ya smacked mah bishop off the board. Ah think yer problem was you were playin' too defensively."
"Considering that I've been fighting the war very defensively up to now, that's not surprising."
"You sure yer okay, sugarcube?" she asked, looking a little concerned. "Ah know ya beat Shinin' Armor this past fall."
" I don't know what's off," he said. He brought a hand up to his head, trying to think of that game, long ago it seemed, when both commanders had played against one another. "I didn't beat him, we played to a draw." He looked back into her face. "I think the war might have had something to do with any loss of tactical skill I've suffered in chess. I've had a lot on my mind, Applejack, the horror of war just one of them. I can barely sleep at night with all the nightmares, and that's generally been true since the start of the war."
"Ah'm sorry to hear that," she said softly, concern on her face.
"I'm hoping they'll end when the war's over," he replied, though from the look she bore him now, she knew he doubted that that would be the case.
"Ya seemed ticked at the trial."
"With all the underhanded s..." he cut himself off. "stuff," he finally continued, "after all I've done, after all our soldiers did, that f..." He again stopped, this time partly because of the frown on her face. "After all I've had to do, after the friends I've lost and after all the injuries, they dared call me out? And trying to use my faith against me?" He suddenly realized that he'd balled his hands into fists, and quickly stopped. He sighed and slumped in the chair he was sitting in. James hadn't known just how angry he'd been about the unfairness of the court martial until now.
Applejack's hard, unfeeling, unbending hoof touched his shoulder. When he looked up, he saw her smiling sympathetically, trying to support him. "Least ya still got all of us; me, RD an' Rarity, Twilight and Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and the rest o' the family."
"Thanks," he said. "You're right; I do have all of you, and I'm very honored to have you as my friends." He stood up, walked over a nearby fence, and stared into the distance. "I just wish this d... blasted war was over."
Suddenly, a shadow fell over him; he looked up to see Rainbow Dash floating a few feet above him. "Hey Applejack, hey James. What's up?"
"Nothing," James said. "What're you doing here?" he asked.
"I was just flyin' around. I'm break from cloud duty." Rainbow continued to float there in midair. "How's it been hanging, anyway?"
"Not too bad, I guess."
"Heard you guys used horseshoes of the old kind to solve your mud problem," Rainbow said conversationally. She brought her right front hoof in front of her face, as though inspecting it. "Never really liked wearing them myself; they're way too heavy, and besides, I don't want any part of me to be made any less awesome."
Humble as ever, Rainbow Dash. "You wouldn't feel them directly, and you also wouldn't feel the nails holding them there."
"Well, no, but still, it'd be a pain taking them off in a hurry." Rainbow looked away from him to Applejack. "Hey, AJ, ready for that race later today?"
"Anytime, anywhere," Applejack responded with a challenging expression dancing over her face.
"I'd say four in the afternoon, three laps around the entire town. All on hoof," Rainbow added after seeing her rival and friend look at her in a questioning way.
"Ah'll be there," the farm mare said, "an' don't be late; ah'd hate ta leave ya in the dust."
"You just worry about yourself, old-timer; I'll be there," Rainbow bragged. She landed and spat on her right hoof. Applejack did the same, then they hoof-bumped.
"That's settled," Rainbow said, taking off again. Just then a distant whistle sounded. "Uh-oh, I'd better get going," she said, gathering herself before dashing away at full speed.
"What's all this about a race?" James asked.
"Oh, me an' Rainbow wanted to find out who was the best athlete... again. So we decided ta have another race between the two of us. It'll just be between us, an ah doubt you'll be able to follow us. Sorry," she added, looking a little apologetic.
James shrugged. "I'm fine with it." The truth was, he wasn't very much interested in racing, though he thought it was a bad idea to say it out loud, in case Applejack took it the wrong way. "I have a few things to catch up on anyway." Most notably, my reading.
"Thanks fer understandin'," Applejack replied, smiling again. Then she looked at the chessboard again. "Wanna play again? Got a couple hours before ah have to go."
"Alright." James set up his pieces, those of the white side, and prepared to move. He thought a minute before playing d4.
Nf6. "Weren't we talkin' 'bout the trial before Rainbow came just now?"
"Oh yes," James said, frowning somewhat. "The most embarrassing moment being when they forced me to openly discuss my religion with the entire court." Nf3 "If there's one thing I can't stand, it's a biased justice system."
"Can't say it don't disturb me," Applejack said, playing Nc6. "Some ponies might say that what ya said was an insult o' sorts."
"When has telling the truth been an insult?" James asked, defiance creeping into his tone. "I believe what I believe, and no one short of God Himself will change it." He slammed down e3 a little hard.
"Wasn't blaming ya," Applejack said, looking worried. "An' ah approve o' tellin' the truth. It's just that some ponies don't care ta be told they're wrong." After a few seconds' silence, she moved her bishop out of it's safe harbor.
"People have been willing to die to tell the truth throughout the ages." James moved his kingside bishop out. "Besides, Princess Celestia confirmed, with Twilight and Shining as witnesses, that she and her sister weren't goddesses."
"Yeah, Twi told me herself," Applejack said. "Ya gotta understand why so many ponies believe that. They control the sun an' moon, ya know."
"Yes, and unicorns were doing that long before Equestria was united under one banner; for that matter, long before Celestia and Luna were born. Or does the Hearth's Warming pageant lie?"
"No, it don't. Spike does make a good narrator, though, don't he?" she said, with a mischievous smile on her face.
"He does. He's a little rambling, though."
"Ah think he was a mite excited, an' that was the Hearth's Warmin' pageant ta boot." Applejack moved her d-pawn forward two spaces. "The Princesses can still live a thousand years an' more."
"That is a curse as much as it is a blessing, if you think about it."
Applejack didn't need long to figure out what he was saying. She gave a small shudder. "Yer right." She recovered quickly and moved her d6 knight forward, toward the center. "Gotta give Princess Celestia credit fer over a thousand years' peace even so."
"It's a remarkable achievement." James moved his second knight to c3. "I suppose you wonder why my beliefs are different from any others you've heard about."
Applejack raised her eyebrow in what was clearly a question.
"I'll tell you more about it later tonight," James said. "But first, I think you'll find that it's your turn to move."
"Oh, right." Applejack made her move - another aggressive one.
James was about to make his next move when he heard excited voices.
Applejack must have heard them sooner than he had; her left ear had been pointed in the direction of the incoming Cutie Mark Crusaders for about ten seconds. That made sense, as pony ears had a longer range and sensitivity than human ones. "Sounds like they're happy about somethin'."
"Do you think they got their...?"
"Nah, they'd be more n' excited if that were the case."
All three fillies raced up to them. "Hey, big sis!" Applebloom said, smiling, "guess what?"
"What?"
"We're goin' crusadin' again, fer real this time!"
"That's swell! Ah'm glad y'all got over your fears," Applejack said happily, getting off her seat and nudging her sister gently.
James chose not to make a reference to a holy war, which was what a crusade was really all about, and instead decided to simply be happy that Applebloom and her friends had regained their courage. "What made you feel... ready, I suppose, to go searching for your cutie marks in earnest again?"
"Well," Sweetie Belle said, tilting her head in memory, "We were walking home from school, and we came to the bridge over the stream we cross every day."
"Suddenly this big fish just leaped out of the stream," Scootaloo continued, "and it went right over the bridge, right over us!"
"Somethin' about that big leap brought back somethin' we were missin'," Applebloom went on. "It sure stirred somethin' in mah heart.
"And then," Sweetie Belle cut in, "I said, "we've been giving up too easily on earning our cutie marks; if a fish could jump that high from such a shallow stream, we can find our cutie marks for sure!'"
Something about the story caught James' attention. He thought about it in the few seconds interval. Then he had it.
Scootaloo took over. "Then we started listing all the things we haven't tried yet, like we did before the whole, uh, wolf... thing. We're going to discuss everything in the clubhouse right now!"
"That reminds me," Applebloom said, looking at James curiously, "could ya come to our school tomorrow?"
"What? Why?"
"Fer show an' tell, o' course!" She and the other two fillies looked at Applejack. "Can we take him? Can we?"
James looked at Applejack and frantically shook his head no, mouthing the word to emphasize the point.
Applejack gave him the ghost of a wink, even as she smiled in amusement. "Now hold on," she said, "James ain't a science experiment or a funny-looking rock or whatnot y'all found. He's somebody with his own dreams an' feelings."
"Awwwwwwwwwwww," all three fillies said in disappointment, lowering their heads to stare at the ground.
"Aw, come on," the farm pony went on, "didn't ya just say ya had plans to discuss in the clubhouse?"
All three girls looked up, their disappointment fading. "Yep," Scootaloo said. "Come on, ponies, let's go!" The other two followed her, running full out toward the distant clubhouse.
"Thanks," James murmured.
"No sweat. Anyways, it's yer turn to move."
James castled. "That fish story seems to have aroused something in me as well."
"Why?"
James took out a little piece of paper and a pen, and drew a symbol on it. "Because this drawing is an early symbol of Christianity, the name of my faith." He set the paper of the table face up.
"It looks like a fish!"
"Emm-hmm."
"Well, maybe ah will listen to ya later."
"Yeah, maybe you will, James said quietly. He made a polite motion for her to move.
It was going to be a thrilling game.
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James closed his pocket Bible as Applejack whistled and Big Macintosh simply looked on. They were in the bedroom the family had allowed him to use, and they were all sitting on the bed. Granny Smith was quietly dozing in a rocking chair they'd managed to drag upstairs.
"Wow," Applejack breathed. "That sounds... complicated, to say the least."
"It's actually quite simple," James explained. "All you have to do is believe in God, believe that Jesus was - is - God's Son, and believe that he died for our sins and that he rose again on the third day. You also must know that God is forgiving; if you're truly sorry and go to Him in honest repentance, you can be forgiven."
"Sorry he had to die fer all that to happen, though."
"It was necessary; no amount of sacrifice the human race could make could make up for all their sins. Christ defeated evil through his death, by giving himself up willingly and with no resistance."
"Still kinda sad."
"Believe me, that's why the five Mysteries involving his passion and death are called the Sorrowful Mysteries." James stood up and stretched. "The main messages of Christianity are love and mercy. People who strive for that, and who maintain their faith, shall live even though they die."
"Well, at any rate it's time fer supper." Applejack walked over to the door and pulled it open. "Applebloom!" She suddenly gasped. "What're you doin' eavedroppin'?"
"Ah wasn't droppin' no eaves, ah swear!" the yellow filly protested.
"They why were ya listenin' at the door?" her big sister demanded. James stood up and began walking over, as did Big Mac.
"Cuz it sounded like y'all were tellin' a story without me!"
"Oh," Applejack said, more apologetically. "Oh. Yes, well, it was... uh..." She brought a hoof to her chin as she thought quickly. "It was, uh, important. An' it was more n' a story."
"How long were you there?" James asked, though without any hostility.
"Well," Applebloom said, looking nervous, "maybe a good five... ten... fifteen minutes."
James and Applejack looked at one another. "I never said there was an age limit as to who could listen," he said after a couple seconds.
"Well, ah guess ah'll let this slide this one time," Applejack said. "But," she added looking back at Applebloom, "ah don't like the idea of ya goin' around listenin' at doors; ya got that, AB?"
"Yep."
"Okay then." The orange pony walked toward the stairs. "Who's hungry?"
As James followed the others downstairs, he felt a little more at peace than he had been before.
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On the day before he was due to return to the front, James was in the living room, finishing one of his Warriors books, when the front door opened and closed. Applejack walked in, setting down a pair of saddle bags she'd been wearing.
"Good haul from the market?" he asked.
"Yep. Sold plenty of apples and celery today." She started going through the bags. "Got a ton o' bits, some carrots ah traded Carrot Tor for.." She gave a startled whinny. "Oops, almost forgot, a letter fer you," She said, pulling out a rolled up scroll.
"Oh?" James walked over and took it quietly. He was about to read it when a question formed in his mind. "Why do you occasionally make horse noises? Is it a second language for ponies?"
"Nah, just some sounds we make when surprised, scared, or tired. Leftovers from our ancestors thousands and thousands of years ago, 'cordin' ta Twi."
"Hmm. I wonder why she didn't just tell me herself," he said, opening the scroll."
"She prob'ly has a lot o' studyin' she's been doin' lately. That girl reads more books than ah ever thought possible."
James got the scroll fully open. He was surprised by how short the message was. It read;
I've been doing some research lately, some of which has been illuminating. Please come to the library as soon as possible. Try to keep from drawing attention to yourself. Twilight.
"Hmm," he said again. "Not a very long letter."
"What's it say?"
"She wants me to go over to the library at once. She says she's been researching stuff, something she says is 'illuminating.'"
"Wonder what that means."
"I guess I'll find out." James walked over to the door. "Do you need my help before I go?"
"Nope, but ah will later."
James nodded, then went outside and shut the door.
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The trees along the road were in full bloom as James walked toward the town. In the five minutes since departing the farm, he had been trying to think of what it was Twilight wanted to discuss with him. Nothing seemed to fit. Military tactics were unlikely to be found in abundance in Equestrian libraries, while scientific ideas would have been more likely to have been sent straight to research and development.
A sudden shaking of the bushes made him jump in surprise. He caught a glimpse of mint-green from his right before whatever it was ducked down to avoid being seen.
That's oddly familiar. He tried to remember when he'd seen this... color last.
Then he remembered; The station! Yes, when me and my troops were on their way to the Griffon front, I saw this... thing in a bush... just like this.
He gave a jerk. No. It can't be... her.
James looked at the bush. It was large enough to easily hide a pony,, and it could be harboring...
He broke into a run. He felt his legs protest at the sudden exertion, but it was better than the possibility of being mobbed. Before long, his breath was coming in gasps, but he kept going.
He felt a little ashamed. To think, I'm able to stand tall in a battle, and here I am, running from, well...
A bright, mint-green flash broke out on the left side of the road, then, after he passed that location, it came again from the right. He kept going.
Suddenly, he struck something in the middle of the road. He fell over backward, onto his back. When he looked up, he saw a barrier of the same color as the flashes he'd seen in front of him.
Oh no, I'm trapped!
He took out his pistol. He would never, of course, use it against an inhabitant of Equestria, but it could still come in handy. He held it out in front of himself, pointed the barrel downward, and pulled the trigger. There was the usual roar and a cloud of smoke as the bullet dug itself into the dirt.
James ran. The barrier was gone; whoever had been casting it must have been shocked into releasing it, as he'd hoped.
He saw no more flashes, of orange or green on the rest of the journey. Nonetheless, even after re-holstering his gun, he ran most of the way to the library.
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James stopped to catch his breath, which was reluctant in returning. Once he had managed to coax it back to him, he knocked on the door of the library.
The door opened, and Twilight's face appeared. "Oh, it's you, James," she said, a smile forming on her face. "Come in!"
James did so, making sure to quickly shut the door behind him. As he turned to face the purple unicorn again, she must have seen something on his face, for her smile slipped. "Is there something wrong?"
"It's nothing important." He walked past her into the living room, sitting down on the couch.
"Oh, come on," she insisted, her hard hooves clopping loudly against the floor as she positioned herself in front of him. "I know something's up from the look on your face."
"Well, alright." James related to her the incident on the road.
When he finished, Twilight nodded, as though in understanding. "I was afraid something like this would happen," she said, walking over one of the many bookshelves and using her magic to take a book, one starting to tear and worn from age, down. "Ever since finding this out."
"What's 'this?'" he asked, standing up.
"It's a reference book I found late one night this past week," she said, laying it on the table. "It's something that surprised me more than anything I've read since... well, since reading about Nightmare Moon. It details various species once found in Equestria." She flipped it open. "The date this was published predates the Royal Sisters. It was one I'd flipped through once, then never touched again until three nights ago."
"And what significance does this have for me?" he asked as he sat down, trying to sound polite, although it didn't seem like this fragile, decayed tome could tell him anything new.
Twilight proceeded to prove him wrong. She turned to a page with a picture of a bipedal being. The title for the column next to it read, "Human."
"What!?"
"Exactly my reaction after finding this," she said. "I'd thoughts humans were just from your world; in fact, I'd never heard of them until the Princess summoned you here. However, after finding this and reading it, I was shocked and surprised to have found out that humans aren't a new species in Equestria at all."
James sat up; he'd fallen down onto the couch cushions. "This makes no sense. If human beings came to Equestria in the past, what the hell happened to them/"
"I don't know. But from reading this, I now understand where a lot of things we take for granted, like brides, horseshoes, saddles, and the like, were all human inventions."
"I'll bet they did. What did they..."
"Invent them for?" she finished for him. "They originally designed them for horses that they used for warfare and to plow their farms."
"I bet the horses didn't like that."
"Well, I'm not sure about that. The horses described here are little more than livestock, animals; they definitely aren't displayed as having the level of intelligence of ponies, or horses from Saddle Arabia." Twilight looked like she longed to bounce up and down over the new information.
"You said they used them for warfare?" James asked, a troublesome knot forming in his stomach. If Twilight had found that humanity in Equestria had a bad history, maybe she'd had more than one reason for calling him here.
"Oh yes. Mostly, they were defensive conflict, waged against ancient dragon clans and Griffon tribes," she said, after seeing the look on his face. "What, did you think I was going to tie you up and haul you down to the basement?"
"I... might have worried about that for a few seconds," he admitted.
Twilight smiled in amusement before giggling a little. "Anyway," she said, "humans had a well-developed society, and after making contact, all three kinds of ponies loved their inventions, which you now see as fashion designs and in rodeos and in major events, like the Gala."
"What happened to them?" James asked.
"I don't know," she admitted, looking troubled and flipping over a couple pages. "That's the one thing that troubles me. This book must have been written before their disappearance, and I've been looking through every novel, reference guide, and textbook I could think of," she said, her voice speeding up a little and a worrying tone making itself felt, and she used her magic to flip through the book. "Nothing comes up. In fact, it's the only reference to humans I could find."
"Calm down, Twilight," James said, putting his hand on her mane and patting it. "If I'm sure of anything, it's that if there's a book on a subject you're looking for, you'll find it."
He felt as she took a deep breath. "Thanks for the vote of confidence," she said, turning her head to look up at him. "But I'm quite sure that there isn't another book in the library that discusses your species."
"Can't you order anything from the palace library?"
"I thought of that, but it's going to be hard to find any information unless I peruse the bookshelves myself." She walked over to the window, as James followed her. "Although I know somepony who might have more information," she added... ruefully?
"Now it's my turn to ask what's wrong."
"Well, I think I know who was trying to trail you," Twilight said, turning again to face him. "You see, I ran into a certain mare who was... ecstatic about seeing a real, live human. She couldn't stop talking about the subject, in fact. I've never seen a pony so interested in a different species."
She stood there, looking up at him - though she was tall enough that this didn't make more than a few inches' difference - for a few seconds. "Her name... is Lyra Heartstrings."
"The pony always depicted as being over-fond of humans?"
"You've heard of her?" Twilight said, eyebrow rising.
"Yes. Remember that show, and the fandom surrounding it; I wondered a few times if the real Lyra was as much a fanatic as she was in fiction. It seems like the two version match up surprisingly well."
"That's... incredible," Twilight said quietly, appearing both awed and somewhat disturbed by the information.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes," she answered, "it's just puts me off a little that while we know almost nothing about you" - the "you" embracing the entire human race - " you know everything about us. I never even knew that what we did during our friendship lessons was being monitored."
"Don't blame me; all I ever did was watch." James put a hand to her mane again. "I don't really know what to say, other than that we don't see anything on the show that might be considered inappropriate, and all we've seen are adventures relating to your friendship quests, as well as a few of the misadventures of the Cutie Mark Crusaders."
"I know," she said, still looking downcast. Her head drooped. "it's just that every time you mention that show, I have to wonder; am I real? Is any of this real?"
James was caught off-guard by the question; he'd never expected that Twilight Sparkle, student to the Princess, would ever suffer an identity - or was it a reality? - crisis. As she sat down, he did as well. He took her right hoof in his hand. "You feel real to me," he said, stroking the bottom of the hoof, the hard, unfeeling material un-giving against the pressure he applied.
She looked up and smiled a little.
"If you were only a dream or an illustration, you wouldn't have independent thought, in fact no thoughts at all. Instead you and the other ponies are here in the flesh - and keratin - with a functioning civilization. And," he added, with a note of real regret, "if this weren't all real, how did I receive these?" He pointed to the scratches the timberwolves had inflicted on him during his first little battle. "Or this?" He tugged his collar to the side so she could see the ragged injury a Changeling had given him during the final moments of the battle for their fortress in the west.
Twilight shivered at seeing the wounds, but she recovered quickly. "I guess you're right," she said, her expression becoming more hopeful. "I guess it was a little silly to think that way."
"Yes, and the show is, for all it's virtues, mistaken in numerous ways. For one thing, you guys are quite a bit bigger in real life than you're depicted. And, having met ponies in person, many things your bodies are seen to have done - such as bodies getting flattened on the ground or against a wall - are simply not possible, with the only exception, maybe, being present in Pinkie Pie. And considering that I've been called on to fight a war, this world perhaps isn't as peaceful as the show would have use believe," he finished, cradling his left arm as the ghost of the pain that had wracked his arm made a brief appearance.
"I know," she said in sympathy. "In normal times, war is almost unthinkable, but this... we can't just let them..."
"We don't intend to let them," he replied. "By 'we' I mean of course the army. The enemy have been stopped, and now it's time to see how much they like being rolled back."
"I know that, too," Twilight said. "I have full confidence in you, and so does Shining Armor. His letters carry nothing but praise for you."
"Not always," he said. "Just before we lost Trottingham, he and I had a bit of a fight."
"What? Why?" she gasped, shocked.
"We disagreed on what to do; he wanted to hold the town to the last soldier, I wanted to pull back and save the troops we had. We both lost our temper, and I'm afraid it took the very battle that broke the city to get us to put aside our tomfoolery."
"He never mentioned that."
"I doubt he would. Officers keep disagreements like that to themselves, especially if it embarrasses them. And we managed to patch things up between us after the battle." He shrugged. "We both considered the feud at an end at that point. That's the way it should be." He sat back down on the couch. "Now, what were you going to say about Lyra? That's who we were talking about, right?"
The unicorn nodded.
"If she's such a fanatic about humans, why didn't you hear about them from her before now?"
"It's not like she prances around only talking about humans. But she's been excited the past week or so, and she was quite gabby at the market the other day. I could only assume she wanted to see you in person, perhaps question you... though 'interrogate' might be a better terms," Twilight ended ominously.
"I see," James said, thinking. "And from this you'd probably say..."
"It's best if you avoided her, yes."
A loud belching noise interrupted their conversation. A moment later, Spike the dragon came running downstairs, carrying a rolled-up piece of paper. "The Princess just sent me a letter to give you, Twilight," he said, handing her the scroll.
"Thanks, Spike." The purple unicorn used her magic to unwrap the scroll and read it. She suddenly turned to James. "It's for you," she said, levitating the letter over to him.
"Hmm? She can't know that I'm here," he replied, taking it.
"She doesn't; the letter said to bring it straight to you. I'm glad I don't have to walk all that way," Twilight added. "I have groceries to buy in the market today, and having to make a big detour wouldn't make it easier to get things done."
"Can you buy a big, juicy gem?" Spike asked, licking his lips.
'I'll see if I have any money left to buy some," Twilight said, walking over to her assistant. "I know you haven't gotten the chance to eat any lately, but they're not exactly a bit a dozen."
Spike's hopeful demeanor vanished. "I don't know why ponies would rather trade gems or put them on dresses instead of eating them," he grumped.
James couldn't help it; he burst out laughing.
Spike turned to him, frowning. "Who are you laughing at?"
James tried desperately to curb his mirth. "I'm sorry, son. I know I shouldn't have been laughing, and it was never my intention to hurt your feelings."
Spike pouted at him. "Don't call me 'son,' I'm not that young."
"My apologies." James got up off the couch. "But there are three things you don't seem to understand." James began ticking off the points on his fingers. "One; my teeth would break if I bit down on a gem; same thing with ponies, and most species, come to that. Two; Gems are beautiful, which is why Rarity uses them in clothing so much. And three; gems are very valuable, sometimes more so than currency." James reached almost instinctively for his wallet. At least, more valuable than the greenbacks I'm stuck with.
"Well," Spike said, eyes rolled up toward the ceiling, "I guess that makes sense. But still," he said, tongue again licking and claws intermeshing with anticipation, "it would be nice for me to have one to snack on. Like I said, I haven't had any recently."
"We'll see," Twilight said, smiling.
James read the letter quickly. "It's a reminder for me to go back to the Griffon front tomorrow morning."
"So soon?" Twilight was surprised. "Has it been a week already?"
"I guess so, otherwise Celestia wouldn't be telling me to go back to my job." He shoved the letter into his pocket. "They'll be needing me there in any case. The sooner we end the war, the sooner things go back to normal."
"And the sooner you'll have to leave." Twilight's head went about as low as it could go without hitting the floor. "We've spent so little time with you so far, and it feels like there's an hourglass that's emptying fast."
James sighed, walked over to her, knelt down, and hugged her around the neck. She reciprocated, putting both front hooves over his shoulder.
"I know it's hard," he said, and..."
"You might die before this is all over."
James winced, all too aware that that was a possibility. He was aware, too, of the effort Twilight was making to keep from crying, which he deduced was unsuccessful. "I'm not going to say that won't happen," he said, backing away so they could look one another in the eye. "It's all too possible. And I do have a family to be getting back to, that's certain if I live through all this. But I think we can count on winning the war, in which case I doubt anyone will be stupid enough to offer a military challenge to Equestria for a long time."
"But what does winning matter if your friends die?"
He felt himself shrink away from the question. "A question many soldiers have asked themselves through the millennia. It is for those who yet live that we must struggle on, and in memory of those who are no longer here to enjoy the fruits of victory with us; they wouldn't want us to live out the rest of our days in misery." When that didn't seem to mollify her, he added, "I have a duty to perform. As do you, with your friendship lessons to the Princess."
"I guess I can understand what you're saying," she said, as they broke the embrace and James stood up. "Though I still know, one way or another, that we'll have to say goodbye forever."
"I..." James couldn't think of something to say, because he knew that was all too true, however much he hated to admit it. "I know," he said at last, patting her mane again. "I still have a job to do. And it's best I finish it, so that this country can know peace again. You still have the rest of your friends, I might add."
"Well, yes." Twilight bushed away a tear with a hoof.
"Besides," James said, determination building within him, "If I have my way, it'll be the enemy who will be on the run soon enough."