In the whole of time, there have been many mighty warriors. King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans. The mighty Roman army. The United States armed forces. They were the stuff of legends. Me, I was a random Air Force pilot lost in a random universe with my M16. I don't want to brag, but I slayed a Hydra with basic equipment. It took gods to kill one in many legends. I must be something of a god because I killed it. Actually I can't really talk. The last thing I remember was getting in a fight with a hard headed asshole Captain then I jumped in the way of a giant scorpion from hell to save some random talking pony that could fly. Hell of a way for a 'god' to die. I'm kind of glad that I was dead. There wasn't to much to live for in that world. Really the only thing I could hope for was returning to my world and continue the fight for my country. Sure I could stay in the world I was in and live a peaceful life, but there was nothing here for me. Life looked bleak in both worlds, so death seemed appropriate. I guess this must be what's left of myself. I never believed in the whole god or heaven, or any kind of religion for that matter. I stopped believing after my parents died.
My dad was in the military and he survived operation Desert Storm and a couple of 2 year deployments to the middle east. He came home and was discharged when I was 17. We had a nice home on the California coast just north of LA. Everything was great back then. My father deserved a warriors death, but what he got was terrible. He went to LA to purchase some suits from a good friend of his. My mom warned him to be careful, LA at night could be a dangerous place. I went with him, he said he was going to buy me a suit to. We got to our friend on 8th street and bought the suits. As we left, my dad spotted someone crying just down the road. He was a caring man so he told me to wait while he checked on the person. I never heard the words that were exchanged, but after a couple minuets of silence, my dad yelled at the top of his voice.
"James RUN!"
The person wrapped a arm around my dad and brought him closer. I ran over to my dad and saw something dripping on the floor. The drops came into the street light. Blood. The crying person stood up and pushed my dad to the floor. Their scruffy face and cloths were all I could see. His eyes were hidden by the shadow of his beanie. He started laughing as he walked toward me.
"Why hello James. I guess I get two money bags for the price of one."
He looked up and I saw the face of fear. His yellow teeth and eyes made me guess he was homeless. I looked down and saw the knife covered in my dads blood. I froze in fear and watched as the man advanced toward me.
"L-Leave m-my son alone."
We looked down and my dad was on his back covering the open wound. Blood was coming from his mouth as he struggled to get up. The man walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Sorry pal. I need to eat and your suits and wallets are my meal ticket. You shouldn't bring your son to LA."
On the last word he stabbed my father again and again. I lost count after 5 stabs. He stood up and looked to me. I started walking back and he followed. I knew I wasn't going to get away, but at least I could call for help.
"ROBERT! CALL THE COPS!" I yelled to the open air.
Robert was the man we were friends with. I stood my ground and waited. My dad trained me as a soldier, and now it was time to put that to use. The man charged me and held the knife low. When he took a stab at me I jumped to the side and caught his arm. I bashed it against a wall and at that time Robert came out of the store with a phone. He saw my dad on the floor and a pool of blood around him. He ran back inside as I knocked the knife out of his hand. With that I pushed him back and waited with my fists up. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out another knife. He ran again and raised the knife high with the pointed end coming down. I got low and punched him in the stomach a couple times. He didn't drop the knife, but he was way to close for comfort. He pushed me to the ground and tried to stab my chest. I put my hands on his and fought back. He must have been on drugs, because no matter how hard I tried, he was getting closer. The tip touched my shirt and I thought I was going to die. That's when Robert threw himself at the man. They both fell to the floor and I stood up and looked at them. Robert and the man started fighting and I looked for something to use to kill the man. Robert yelled and got my attention.
"Next to the register!"
I ran back inside and hopped over the counter. Next to the box where he kept larger bills there was a M9. It was loaded and the safety was disengaged. I pulled the slide back and ran back outside. The man had picked up the bloody knife he used to kill my dad and was swinging at Robert. I fired a single shot into the air and they both stopped. Robert used that as a distraction and ran back to me, but the man chased him. Robert was ex-military, so he could run a lot faster. He was behind me and the man stopped and put his hands up. There was about ten feet of distance between us. He smiled and his dirty yellow teeth showed again.
"Come on now kid. You can't kill me. Your just a little bitch." He was slowly walking froward.
I held the gun tighter and issued one warning. "That man you just killed was my father. He was a soldier who survived Operation Desert Storm, and a couple deployments to Afgan. He taught me everything he knew and now his killer brought a knife to a gun fight .You have one chance. Stay and live or get closer and die."
"Ha like a teenager can kill me!"
He made a jump for the gun and I fired and hit him in the left shoulder. He dropped his knife and fell to the floor.
He cupped his arm and screamed. "You shot me!"
I trained the sights on to him. "You are so lucky I have a gun. If I was alone with you in a room where nobody could hear you.... I would make you suffer every second of your life."
He looked up in shock. He finally knew that this teen was a trained killer. "Please show mercy.." his voice shook and tears started flowing. "I-I-I'm just a homeless and hungry. I haven't eaten in days and I'm so tired."
I felt a surge of power over come me. "Say the first part again."
He was full on crying. "P-P-Please sh-show mercy."
"AGAIN!" I yelled.
"Mercy!"
I lowered the gun and walked over to him. I squatted down and whispered in his ear. "You didn't show my dad mercy."
I fired a shot through the stomach and stood up. The man cried in pain and fell to his side.
"What do you say Robert? Mercy? Or self defense?"
Robert was saved by my dad during Desert Storm. "Self defense!"
I turned around and fired three more shots. One pierced the leg and the others went through the stomach. He screamed and shook as blood was absorbed by his cloths.
"Kill me!"
"Almost. Thirty more seconds. That's how long my dad suffered."
He rolled in the blood and cried in pain. When the thirty seconds were up, I put the barrel of the gun to the back of his head.
"See you in hell."
I pulled the trigger and the body went limp. The cops would report that the man killed my father and tried to kill us. The report would also say that when the gun was discharged, I kept pressing the trigger because of a mental break down. It was the dead mans fault. Days before the funeral, my mom was found dead at our beach house. She over dosed in the bath tub and left a note saying she couldn't live with out the love of her life. I was all alone at the age of 17. That's when Jason and his family took me in. I lived with them until I was 19. Jason and I left home and went to college on the east coast. Things were okay, but I never really liked college. When I was 21 an Air Force recruiter came to my school and I was hell bent on joining. Jason followed because he wasn't to pleased with his grades. Off we went to fight for our country.
Now I was here. Death finally caught me. I was ready.
"Life signs...." Who could that be? "Get him in here!" Why do I feel warm?
"James? Can you hear me?"
My eyes slowly opened and a bright white light blinded me for a second. Something moved in the way of the light and looked at me.
"James... James are you okay?"
"Who's there?" I asked.
"Just relax. I'm a doctor. You are in the Canterlot emergency center. You were teleported here so I need to ask you a couple basic question. Are you okay with that?" The doctor moved back.
I moved my hand over my eyes and pushed myself to sit up. "Is that a question?"
He looked back and I guess he didn't find humor in that question. "Okay. What's your name?"
"James Ramirez."
"Good. Where are you from?"
"Malibu California."
"Good. How old are you?"
"24"
The doctor smiled and set a clipboard down. "Well the teleport spell didn't mess up your memory and you motor functions seem to be good. Are you okay with visitors?"
I mindlessly looked around the room and replied without thinking. "Sure."
The doctor smiled and left the room.
So close. Death still taunts me. Why?
There was a knock on the door. Jason let himself in.
"Hey man. Everything okay? How you feeling?" He walked in and sat in a chair next to a medicine closet.
"My head hurts a little and I'm really tired. Besides that I'm feeling pretty good." I stretched a little and adjusted my pillows. "I'm going to assume he got all my information from you."
Jason smiled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, but it was to see if you remembered who you were when you woke up."
I shrugged. "No harm I guess. How long was I out?"
"2 days."
"H-How did they save me?" I asked.
His face went pale. "I'm not to sure. They explained to me once, but I couldn't wrap my head around it. They used magic to isolate your blood flow and compare your blood to other parts of you body. When they found a patch of blood that had different chemical signs they extracted it."
It made sense, but it seemed so crazy. They stopped my blood, but kept me alive. I shivered at the thought. "So anything new with our missions? I know we didn't complete our last one, so that must mean Celestia has more for us to do."
"She hasn't sent a single letter since that captain returned to the capitol." Jason looked out the window. "Maybe we can power up the F-22's and get out before something bad happens."
I got agitated at the thought. "Where would we go? This land belongs to her and I doubt any of her subjects would chose random creatures over their princess. If things get hairy, then we'll ask to leave and never return."
He looked back with a worried expression. "And if she won't let us leave?"
"I don't think that will be necessary." A voice said from the door way.
Jason and I looked back and Princess Celestia was standing next to the door. I spoke up first.
"Princess forgive me. I felt that invading hell was not required to prove our loyalty."
She had a blank expression before she spoke. "You disobeyed your orders, and got into a fight with the Captain of my guard unit."
I better unplug my I.V.. Gotta book it to the window.
"But... You showed that you care for beings other than yourselves. You saw the danger and chose to avoid it. You also told others to stay away. Compassion, loyalty, and strong willed. I believed you have passed my tests with flying colors. You are now citizens of Equestria."
------2 months later------
Life was getting better. After waking up in the hospital I stayed for a week to make sure I was fine. I was visited by a number of ponies. Some were from the guard, and the others were the 6 ponies I always bumped into every once in a while. I did physical therapy for a week and was given the okay to be released. I had to say, the nurses and doctors didn't see me as a threat, just a patient. It really helped me warm up to the idea of living in Equestria. Celestia offered us a room at the Canterlot castle, but we refused. Our reason was along the lines of "If ponies there see us they would be scared and ask for our removal." She couldn't really argue. Rich ponies always want what they want, and the princess has to listen. Twilight offered a spare room of the library, but once again we refused because we didn't want to burden anybo.... anypony. I asked Celestia if we could have a place of our own and she wasn't against it. There was an empty 2 story cottage near the center of town and I had an idea to set us up.
"So I was thinking, instead of being free loaders and living off the princess, we could open up a odd jobs place. Ponies from around town can come and hire us to do work." I suggested.
Twilight and Celestia looked at each other and smiled. "That sounds wonderful. The ponies around Ponyville already know of your existence and they saw you save their town." Twilight exclaimed happily.
Celestia smiled. "I shall bring in the necessary paperwork."
We set up the business and named it "J&J Handy Work."
On the grand opening almost all of Ponyville showed up to celebrate. They liked us and I knew we would get orders quickly. The first day we had over 20 jobs. Just last week we finished all of our orders and enjoyed a relaxing day.
I leaned back in my chair and enjoyed the breeze flowing in through the window. It was a bright and sunny spring day in Ponyville, and ponies passed my shop now and again. Some stopped and waved a hoof at me and I would smile and wave back. It was just so peaceful. Jason had gone out to get some things for the store, so I sat alone in an empty house humming songs from my past.
Owner of a lonely heart.....
Owner of a lonely heart....
much better than
Owner of a broken heart
The song played in my head and reminded me of my thoughts before coming to Equestria. The hanging bell over the door rang and I came out of my relaxed state. A mare came in an I greeted her with a smile.
"Welcome to J&J, where no job is to big, crazy, or weird. What do you need help with today?"
The mare chuckled at my rehearsed speech. "I just need my fence adjusted. One of my posts got lose and it's bringing the whole row down."
"That's a simple job. I'll do it for free." I said while looking around for my boots.
"Thank you."
---------------
The job was simple enough that I was done in 15 minuets. While I worked, I struck up a conversation with the mare. Her name was Daisy and she sold flowers for a living. A lot of her orders came from out of town so she never had time to do upkeep. I told her a little bit about where I came from and what I wanted to be. Before joining the Military I wanted to work on cars and race them in the national events. It was a bit difficult to explain what a car was, but I think she got it. When I finished she gave me a couple of flowers and a single rose. I thanked her and started for home. On my walk I bumped into the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The 3 little fillies always made me laugh and (I don't know how), me and Jason were apart of them since we didn't have our cutie marks. I wanted to tell them that humans didn't get cutie marks, but I didn't want to spoil their fun. They talked and talked all the way home. I enjoyed hear their stories about the stuff they tried to earn their special talent. When we got home, I squatted down and patted them on the head.
"Listen girls. Maybe you should focus on having fun. I think that you having no cutie marks is cool. You don't want to grow up to fast."
The sentence haunted me and sent a chill down my spine. Like I did.
"Hey down there."
We all looked up to see Rainbow Dash coming down to land. "Don't you fillies have some crusading to do?"
Scootaloo was the first to react. "Rainbow Dash is right! Come on, lets try pig wrangling."
Sweetie Belle sighed. "I thought you said we weren't going to try that."
The continued talking as they headed for Sweet Apple Acres. I took a deep breath and stood up.
"Hey Rainbow. What's up?"
"I was thinking of going to lunch, and I was passing by so I thought it would be nice to invite somepony to eat with." She said.
I shrugged. "Sure, I don't mind grabbing a bite." What's in my hand? Oh yeah Daisy. "Hey Rainbow. Here." I handed Rainbow the flowers.
She was a bit shocked as she grabbed on the flowers with her fore hoof. "T-Thank you."
I smiled. "Don't mention it. Come on, I'll race you to the cafe on the other side of..." I started running "TOWN!"
"YOUR ON!"
After a one sided race (She literally flew circles around me), we sat down and enjoyed a quick bite. The food here was good, but adjusting to no meat was very hard. I just quit cold turkey...that doesn't sound to bad... but salad and juice wasn't bad either, so I made due. Rainbow talked about her job as a weather pony. It was so bewildering to see the ponies control mother nature. Somethings still shocked me today.
"Hey where you come from, can you control the weather?" Rainbow asked.
I snapped out of my thought and looked back at Rainbow. "No... Well not really. There were rumors that the government would use some kind of chemicals to make it rain, but it was a load."
"Oh... Hey I got something cool in the mail today." Rainbow looked through a bag on the floor and pulled out a sealed envelope.
I forgot they could write.
"It's a letter from my parents."
I stopped eating. parents... Everything started to get cold. The memories poured into my mind.
"They live in Cloudsdale and I haven't talked to them in a while. I'm glad I still.... Hey are you okay?" Rainbow asked.
Death. I couldn't feel my hands and my vision began to get blurry. So young. Why was I left alone int the world? I was just a kid. My body was cold and my hands started shaking.
"James are you okay?"
WHY!
"James?"
Rainbow set a hoof on one of my hands. "Are you okay? Just nod of your okay."
My breath was heavy and I started to regain feeling. It was so strange. I felt like something within me was trying to get out. "Yeah. Sorry, just kinda.... blanked. Anyway, you were saying something about your parents?"
------Canterlot Castle, Throne room. 3rd person.------
Celestia sat on her throne and enjoyed a cup of tea. She had a break in her meetings, so she took full advantage. She had dismissed her guards and removed her crown. She carefully inspected the room with her magic, so nopony could get in. When she felt safe, her horn removed a piece of stone next to her throne. When the stone was removed, steam rose up and traveled across the floor.
"I know I shouldn't.... but..... It's just so good." Celestia whispered to herself.
Her horn lit up and out of the steam came a piece of chocolate cake. It was cold to the touch as it glistened and shed a little steam in the glow of the warm sun.
"Ooooohhhhhh yes my sweet. Come to mommy."
Just as she was about to smash her face into the cake, a dark energy swept across the the throne room. Celestia stopped and shivered.
"What... What could that be?" She asked an empty room.
Suddenly her doors burst open and Princess Luna flew as fast as she could.
"Tia! did you fe...."
The cake was floating in the air.
"Tia! You should not be eating that."
Celestia looked at her piece of heaven. "Isn't there more pressing matters?"
Luna smiled. "Yes dear sister. Your growing flank will not fit on that chair soon. We must handle this!"
"Luna! Please." Celestia barked. "Didn't you feel that?"
Luna was laughing on the inside. Oh yes dear sister! We did feel you sit down this morning. "Yes I did sister. The presence of something evil."
Celestia had devoured the piece of cake so fast, Luna thought she had teleported it away. "Something of pure darkness has descended on Equestria. I shall contact the other princesses quickly."