On My Honor
Chapter 8
By Honored Service
Pre read/edited & Technical Names by: CommanderWolffe
She stared at me with her mouth agape, her eyes locked onto mine as we stood there in the foyer of my house. The silence hung in the air suffocating the atmosphere with it. My mother looked the same as she did when the last time I had seen here, nearly six Earth years ago. Be it she now had a few more strands of gray hair on her head, but she was still my mother.
“Hi mom.”
“WHAT THE FUCK TANNER!!??” My mother screamed at me, her voicing seeming to go above and beyond the Royal Canterlot Voice. “SIX YEARS! SIX FUCKING YEARS AND NOW YOU’RE ALIVE?” My mother was positively fuming at me.
“Well actually I was never dead. I was just sent to alternate universe that happened to be filled with magical little ponies and I helped save them from multiple big bad guys. Well I guess technically I did die a few times there, but then they brought be back to life so…” My mother was just looking at me. Her eye was twitching like Luna’s does when I say something stupid. I looked up to Luna who was now standing in front of the couch. She had her head in her hands and was shaking it back and forth.
“WHAT? YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THIS SHIT?” My mother then dropped her purse and stomped up the stairs and into the living room. She gave Luna a wide berth and sat down in the cushioned chair across the room from the couch. “I… Tanner how could you just run away from everything you had.” She looked up to me, tears in her eyes. “Everyone thought you were dead in the woods somewhere or had run away. I mean six years.” She closed her eyes and then just let out a heavy sigh.
“And what the hell are you wearing.” She gestured to my golden armor and sword strapped to back. And probably the pistols and knives.
“Okay you may want a drink for this.” I sat down on the couch and waited as my mother poured herself a large drink. Luna sat down next to me and gave me a reassuring smile.
“It started with a normal training op in the makeshift fort out in the woods with Ryans, Patterson, and Jacobs.”
Celestia trotted around the throne room, trying to not think about what her sister could be doing. Three days. Sure she had been without her sister for a thousand years, but at least she knew then that her sister was safe. But now. Now Celestia had no idea if Luna was safe or being tortured by that planet full of other humans. If Honored was reckless and violent, then what about the entire species?
“Princess I’m sure that in three days, they are going to come tearing through that portal, and be just fine.” Rainbow Dash hovered next to the Princess and gave her a smile. All the Elements of Harmony were gathered around the Princess offering their reassuring opinions.
“What we should do is a have a welcoming committee set up so once they get back,” Pinkie Pie was now grinning from ear to ear as she explained to Celestia, “they can see their friends and know they aren’t in trouble!”
“Not in trouble?” Celestia was dumbstruck. “They are most certainly in trouble! Luna ran away with that… that… human to a dangerous world! And he took her! They are most certainly in trouble.”
“Um Princess Celestia,” Fluttershy squeaked out, coming closer to the Princess, “Luna went with him willingly. Are you um so sure that this is totally about them leaving, and not about them leaving together?”
“I…” Celestia was silent as she thought. Was this just some form of over protectiveness of her younger sister from that human she was infatuated with?
“They are still getting a motherly lecture.”
“And we wouldn’t have it any other way.” Twilight smiled and draped a wing over Celestia as she sat back down into her throne.
“And then we jumped through the portal and landed here.” Let’s just skip over the hunted by the law part. That probably wouldn’t sit too well with mother.
“Do you expect me to believe that?” My mom was just looking at me in utter disbelief. “Ponies from that show you watched. Bug villains. Your own magic. A pony girlfriend which is disgusting. And shadow humans that you basically helped create. I’m spry son, but you have done some serious drugs while you ran away.” My mother now looked utterly pissed at me.
“But I’m covered in armor and weapons. Fuck, mom I have their freaking Princess of the moon right here next to me!”
“Hello.” Luna smiled and waved her hand at my mother.
“She is just some gypsy woman you found in your drugged out wanderings. And you stole all that.” She said bluntly trying to ignore my obvious true story.
“But I did magic for you!” I snapped my fingers and aimed my gauntlet at her drink she was holding and caused the alcohol in it to rise up and out of the glass and spin in midair before splashing back into the glass.
“Clearly that is some fancy illusion you picked up with that damn gypsy.” She pointed at Luna who looked to be on the verge of tears.
“What about me?”
My mother spun around as a pitch black face with glowing red eyes faded into the room from the shadow next to the chair. She then toppled forward from her chair and passed out from shock.
“Wow. Way to go Covert.” I sighed and slapped my hand to my face before moving over to collect my mother from the floor and rest her on the couch. “And what the fuck are you doing here?”
“I couldn’t let you leave without your shadow.” He said smiling at me. “And it would seem that I was straw that broke the camel’s back.” He pointed a shadowy finger at my passed out mother.
“Yeah. Maybe she will believe that.” I laughed and walked over to the kitchen, Luna and Cover following me. “Now that my mom knows, I have to tell my sister and father. Well my sister is in college so maybe not her since she won’t be coming home.”
“Will your dad be easier to explain to?” Covert said while looking around the kitchen, “because I don’t know if I can scare another person without just exploding into laughter.”
“Why does she think I’m a gypsy?” Luna mumbled to herself.
“Okay listen, both of you. We have to be careful. Do not get seen by anypony - fuck. Anyone. Don’t get seen by anyone. If you think my mother over reacted, then just wait till more people see us.”
“So then… now what?” Covert said leaning against the wall next to the refrigerator.
“We tell my father. Then we go shopping for some hardware.” I smiled and pulled out a map of the greater area. I dropped my finger on the map to a small cluster of building roughly thirty miles away.
“Wouldn’t that be stealing?” Covert said as he looked up from the map and saw my grin.
“Think of it as borrowing for the greater good of Equestria.”
“Honey I’m home.” The rough voice called out into the house, but there was no answer. A large man in his mid-fifties walked up the stairs of his home. Still no response. As he stepped up the stairs he noticed his wife lying on the couch, a spilled drink splattered across the carpet. Something screamed wrong here.
The man reached to his side and unclipped the handgun from the hidden holster in his waistband and withdrew his son’s favorite handgun. He held it out in front of him while slowly putting down his work uniform and creeping into the kitchen. Dishes were laid in the sink, but when he had left in the morning, nothing had been in there. Just like a crime scene he had been at today, the man added up the pieces and new only one answer.
Someone else had been in the house, or was still here.
CLICK
“Drop the gun.”
The man felt the cold barrel of a pistol pressing into the back of his neck. He slowly loosened the grip on the old Colt single action custom revolver his son had worked on for over four months. It dropped to the carpeted floor with a dull thud. The barrel slowly pulled back from his neck and the man suddenly found himself wrapped in a tight bear hug, pinning his arms to his side.
“What man walks into his house with a gun drawn?”
That voice.
“Son?” The old man slowly turned around in the grip to come face to face with a man a few inches shorter than he was. He was wearing army digital camouflage and had golden armor strapped all over his body save for the chest where an old Army chest rig was set up. A small Velcro patch was sticking onto the rig. In faded black lettering it read one word.
Johnson
I felt bad aiming a pistol at my dad, but fuck, he pulled one out first. My revolver! I wanted it back, but more importantly I had to make sure my dad didn’t put a .357 round into me.
“Drop the gun.” I said hoping that he would and not try some stupid heroic shit. Come on dad, how did he know someone was in the house. We were all so well hidden. But somehow he knew. I guess that’s what I get for trying and hiding from a detective.
“What man walks into his house with a gun drawn?” I said while wrapping my arms around my dad, to insure that he couldn’t start swinging when he saw me.
“Son?”
He had turned around and I dropped my grip from him as looked me up and down. I was just standing there, letting him take everything in. He was just looking at me, like he was trying to get what happened to me in the last six years by just looking at me.
Suddenly I was jerked into the air by my father. He picked me up and hugged me, holding me off the ground.
“My Son! I thought you were dead! Once they stopped looking, I had lost hope. I knew you wouldn’t run away. You love that damn college too much to run away.” The mammoth of a man, standing six feet and five inches, slowly lowered me to the ground.
“Nope. I was just transported to another…” I stopped and looked at my passed out mother, “you know what, maybe you should come sit down for this.” I gestured to the chair my mother had been sitting in.
“And then mom passed out.”
“So that shadow thing is going to scare me?” My dad said, quickly looking around the room.
“Do you believe me?” I asked sitting on the edge of the couch that wasn’t taken up by my passed out mother.
“Well I mean you obviously have magic. The levitating and turning the fifty inch plasma screen TV into… what is that?” He pointed at the strange contraption on the ground at his feet.
“You know, I’m not sure. My special talent is turning things into weapons to protect, so it’s a weapon, but sometime the magic does its own thing.” I picked up the weapon. It was obviously a gun, based on its shape and trigger, but it was stocky and looked like it was built out of Legos. It was kind of heavy. It was solid black and had a square barrel sticking out of one end. I placed the stock of it into my shoulder and aimed down the top of the weapon, where a circular rear sight lined up with a simple ‘stick’ front sight. I reached out and racked the small bolt on the left side of the weapon before squeezing the trigger at the wall where the TV had been.
BZEW
A quick flash of purple left the barrel and smashed into the wall, where a black scorch mark was slowly burning. A wisp of black smoke curled off of the center of the mark where a few embers burned.
“Uh. That’s pretty damn cool.” I said turning the Lego rifle over in my hands. There wasn’t any magazine or anything where ammo would fit in. it came from a plasma TV… no way. “Dad how many pixels was that TV?”
“I don’t know. It was a 1080 one so a lot.” My dad said staring in awe at the weapon in my hand.
“I’m going to go with it runs on the gas from the TV.” I smiled and put the, squeeeee, plasma rifle down before smiling at my father.
“So then you do believe everything I said?”
“I mean do I have choice? The proof is pretty good.” He motioned at the rifle and all of me.
“Okay good.” I turned over my shoulder to the hallway where the second story bedrooms where, “Okay y’all can come out. He believes!”
Luna and Covert stepped out from the hallway and into the living room where my dad stared at them. He then looked at me and smiled.
“Dang, she’s a looker.”
I slammed my head down into my hands right as my mom sat up and looked around. The first thing she saw; Covert with his mouth open in a smile, showing his four large fangs. She promptly fainted again.
“And that shadow is kind of spooky.”
“God damn it dad.”
“Okay so you’re not going to faint again?” I was holding my mom in my arms as she just stared at the shadow across from her. Covert was sitting in a chair just watching us.
“No. I think I can manage.” It had taken about an hour to get my mom back to consciousness and then to accept that everything that had happened was real. She was now merely trying to cope with me being a magical warrior, Luna being a pony princess, and that a being made of shadows was sitting in her living room. She then took a deep breath and stood up from the couch to approach Covert. “Mr. Covert I’m sorry for being so shocked at you.”
“It is no problem.” Covert replied smiling at my mom, trying not show so much of his fangs, “and please just Covert.”
“Alright Covert. Princess Luna, Covert, can I get you anything to drink.” My mom was sure giving it the ol’ college try at being accepting of the new guests in the house. And for that I was grateful. I was sitting to the side of the couch, fumbling around with my old pistol after putting the plasma rifle down.
“Yes I’ll have some water please.” Luna said. She was still a tad bit upset at my mom for the whole ‘gypsy’ thing, but was slowly warming up to my family.
“And I’ll have so coffee. Black please.” Covert said.
“Really?” I stared at him. “You can drink normal stuff?”
“Well yes.” He said, acting as if it was common knowledge that shadow beings can eat and drink normal things. “I am a living breathing creature. Now granted I breathe in shadows, but that’s another thing all together.”
I ran my hand over my face before turning my revolver over in my hand. It was still in good shape, as I had left it in. the black oxidized metal was nearly scratch free and the ivory handle was in perfect shape. I had asked my dad for it back, which he gladly gave me since it was mine.
“So when will you be leaving?” My mother asked me as she walked by, handing a class of water to Luna and a steaming cup of coffee to Covert who smiled and thanked her.
“Well,” I looked down and checked my watch, “two days and thirteen hours.” I looked up and saw sadness wash over her face. She looked utterly heartbroken. “I’m sorry mom. But it is impossible for me to stay longer. The portal will pull us back through at the end of the three days.”
“I know. But you just can’t leave us. Not again.”
My dad was remaining silent in the corner of the room. He looked sad too, but I think he was more of just happy to know that his son wasn’t dead and was a hero. But then again I was leaving them. I was getting my closure, but what about my family. Now they knew I was alive, but no one would believe them if they tried to explain what had actually happened to me. Forever stuck having to live the rest of their lives saying their son was dead.
That’s why they were so upset. Having to keep their son dead.
“Mom. Dad. I’m sorry. I… I didn’t mean to upset y’all by coming back. This was meant as a way to show you what happened.” I hung my head when I felt a pressure on my shoulder armor. I looked up to see my father beaming at me.
“Son. You may live in some girly world now.”
“Hey!”
“But damn it, you’re a hero. I can live my life knowing that my son saved a world. Twice over at that.” He continued to beam at me before walking over to the close in the hallway and getting something. I heard a jingle and he stood in front of me. “Tanner listen, you’ve got two more days with us, so let’s have some fun.” He held out a key ring to me. It had one silver key on it and a Rarity key chain.
“You still have it?” I stared at the key.
“Yeah. After you well were declared lost by the search and rescue teams, I just couldn’t bring myself to get rid of the old girl.”
“Carly still works?” I took the keys from him and got up from the couch and followed my dad to the door leading onto the upper deck patio. Outside below us was a long shape underneath a plastic blue tarp.
“Only one way to find out.” He smiled. I jumped over the balcony and dropped fifteen feet to the pavement of the patio below.
“TANNER!” my mother screamed at me and then looked over the railing to see me just smiling up at her.
“What?” I said looking at her from my crouched position where I had landed. I rose to my full height and gave her a wave, “come on mom, I’m a super magical warrior now; that was nothing.”
Luna walked down the stairs to stand beside me as Covert simply appeared out of the shadows below the upper deck. I reached out a hand to pull the plastic back.
“What is it?” Luna asked as I gripped the plastic.
“This here is my car.” I began to reminisce about the old girl. “What I’m about to say means nothing to you, but I’ll say it anyway. Carly is a 1994 Pontiac Firebird with a 5.7 liter General Motors LT1 V8 engine. I spent a shit load of money that was supposed to be used for college (sorry grandparents, though it was totally worth it!) to max this baby out. Double air intake system, 5.7 Venom-1000 series nitrous kit, five speed short shifter transmission, ProCharger supercharged engine kit, dual exhaust system with two Magnaflow Catalytic converters, and finally a Cyro 2 cooling fuel system.” I jerked the plastic off the car as the sun hit the roof of my baby. The light reflected off of its deep blue color and sparkled in the light.
“I missed you.” I gently hugged the car as I stroked a hand across the roof of the muscle car. I quickly opened the door as Luna and Covert stepped back. I put the keys in the ignition and looked at the review mirror. I adjusted it and smiled at the Princess Celestia sun pendent hanging from it. I turned the ignition as the engine roared to life.
“Oh my god, SHE LIVES!” I choked out as the engine revved under me. I rolled the window down and looked at my two traveling companions, “Well are you to coming or what?”
“Already here.” Covert said from behind me in the backseat bucket seats.
“Is it safe?” Luna said as she walked around the car and stared at the passenger seat.
“We have fought armies together, and you ask if my car is safe?” I reached over and pushed the door open and Luna ducked low to get into the seat. I aimed my gauntlet over and shut the door before using my magic to strap the seatbelt across Luna’s chest. “And it’s not safe with the way I drive!”
I shifted the gears and punched the gas down, the wheels spinning against the pavement, sending smoke into the air as we hurtled from my backyard and onto the neighborhood street. I rocketed the car towards the highway where I could really open up and let this baby purr.
It was getting hard to hear the song that was playing on my radio because of Luna’s screaming and Covert’s laughing. I shrugged and reached over, turning the volume up.
I sped out of the neighborhood, drifting through a turn and onto the road leading to the main highway cutting through the town. Luna was grasping the door panel and holding onto dear life as I raced through the green light. With only two days to live here again on Earth, it was time to have some real fun.
I watched as I entered the highway, making sure that I didn’t hit any of the other motorist on the highway. I weaved around sedan, the man giving me the finger, before zipping in between two rental trucks hogging up the road. I turned and smiled at Luna, “Try to have fun with this!” I screamed over the heavy bass of the music pumping through the car. “Besides, we haven’t even hit the interstate yet!”
Luna seemed to turn visibly green as we raced towards the on ramp. The speedometer was racing up to the eighty miles per hour mark as I hit the on ramp. I hugged the guard rail as I skidded along the shoulder kicking up rocks and small pebbles behind me.
“WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” I screamed as I fishtailed onto the interstate, multiple cars behind me laying on their horns. I straightened out before rocketing down the interstate, having some open space between me and the cars a head. I swerved around a slow moving Charger when suddenly blue and red lights flashed on behind its tinted windows.
“Honored what’s that?” Luna yelled over the music.
“We just got tagged by police. They want us to pull over.”
“Honored this is insane!” Luna yelled at me, she looked back at the police car that was trying to keep up with me.
“But this is going to be fun. Come on Luna. I have two days to live on this planet, and I’m going to do what I’ve always wanted!”
Luna looked nervously at me. “And I promise no one will get hurt.” That seemed to ease her mind as I gave my car more gas and zipped away from the patrol car.
As we continued to race along I noticed in my side mirror that a few more cop cars were joining the chase. I smiled devilishly before looking at the clear path ahead. “Luna, hit the red button!”
She looked down at the red button beneath the short stick shift. She then smiled and slammed her fist down on it. The nitrous flooded forward as the car rocketed ahead of the police, the speed gauge maxing out at over one hundred seventy miles an hour.
“YYYYYYEEEEEAAAAHHHH!” We all screamed as the cops were left in the dust as we raced down the interstate.
“Local authorities are in a high speed pursuit of a blue Firebird that is exceeding speeds of over a hundred seventy miles an hour.” The Johnson parents were sitting in the living room watching the evening news on a new smaller TV as a police helicopter was trying to follow a speeding blue car along the interstate. “The culprits are unknown at this time, but authorities are preparing to catch the speedsters.” The camera turned towards a police roadblock a mile ahead of the racing car.
“Oh my god,” Jackie turned to her husband, “what the fuck is he doing?!”
“I don’t know dear, but over a hundred and seventy? I didn’t think he would be able to get it to hundred and fifty.” Ryan Johnson said with a smile. He loved his son, and something about seeing him racing down the highway, avoiding cars left and right, was making him proud… for some strange reason.
“Ryan!” Jackie leaned over and smacked her husband on the arm.
“Sorry, and besides, that could be a different person, we don’t know if that is our son.”
The helicopter tracked the car as it continued to hurtle towards the police cars that were blocking the interstate ahead. The barricade of readied weapons ranging from pistols to assault rifles.
“Ryan, he’s not slowing down!”
“Still might not be Tanner.”
As the car was within two hundred yards of the police barricade, it disappeared in a flash of white only to reaper hundred yards from the police cars. The reporter in the helicopter voiced over the action. “It would seem that something happened to the vehicle, it is equipped with a series of lights that are capable of blinding. But it would appear the criminal was able to dodge the spike strips laid out.”
The blue muscle car was nearing fifty yards from the police line when once again the car flashed into a bright light right as the police barricade exploded into weapons’ fire. The camera searched for the car, but it had vanished from the area in front of the police. Another flash lit up the TV screen as the blue car reappeared far behind the police barricade an instant after it vanished. The police scattered like ants as they tried to climb into their cars and continue chasing the disappearing car, but as soon as the police at the barricade took off down the road, the cars all spun out at once.
“It would seem that the car… I can’t believe I’m saying this, teleported around the barricade? I… I am at a loss of words here. And the spike strips placed ahead of the vehicle have somehow needed up here behind the police lines, where the cops, only moments ago, seemed to have destroyed their tires. I’m speechless at these events.”
“Okay so can I be impressed now at our son?” Ryan smiled and looked to his wife who continued to stare at the TV.
“Sir did you see that?”
“Yeah. I sure did, but I’m not believing it.”
“Sir if I may, maybe we should look into this.” The man standing behind the desk slowly turned around, silver from the rows of awards on his chest glinting in the dying light inside his office. “Sir, we both know what that was. That was no lights on the car. That was just what the reporter said, teleportation. Or something just as insane.”
“What do you think I should do Lieutenant?”
“Sir, honestly, we need to get in there and secure the person and the car once the police have caught them. If the military tries to interfere now, it could raise alarm. Let them get him, and then we can reap the rewards.” The man adjusted the glasses on his face as the man behind the desk sat down and began writing order.
“Good work Lieutenant Patterson.”
“HOLY SHIT!” I screamed as the hit another turn, the car zooming down the off ramp, the very same one we had entered the world near fourteen hours ago. My gas gauge was showing its need for fuel so it was time head back home. The only problem being the four police cars that were still on my ass. The nitrous was out and I was only holding a steady hundred and forty. But having magic was certainly giving me the upper hand. Covert had spotted the spike strip before me, and with Luna calculating the amount of magic needed, we teleported over them, while she then grabbed them in her magic.
Once we reached the barricade, I preformed the necessary magic to teleport around the police and then Luna dropped the spikes out across the road once the jump was completed. After that it was easy speeding until these four goons showed up.
“Covert?”
“Yes?” The shadow replied from the backseat.
“Have you been paying attention to how to drive?”
“Well I may have missed the teleporting part, but yes I understand the clutch and the operating system of the hydraulics required to turn the-“
“Okay good. We can’t get back home until I lose these four cops, so I’m going to immobilize their vehicles, as to not hurt them, and you drive while I do that. Can you do it?”
“Yes.” Cover was shaking the back of my chair with anticipation.
“Okay, now once in control, follow this stretch of interstate until you see the sign that says exit 11B. Take that one off and I should be back by then.”
“Can do.”
“Honored what are you going to do?” Luna asked as she looked back at the approaching cop cars.
“I’m going to stop their engines.” I reached behind me as Covert passed me my Element of Protection. “Ready Covert.” I held onto the wheel with my right hand and aimed my gauntlet ahead of me on the side of the road. “On my mark.”
The chiming of magic filled the car as I charged my gauntlet with my blood red aurora. “3.”
“2.”
“1.”
“MARK!”
I released the magic and flashed onto the shoulder of the interstate ahead of my car. It zoomed by me, Covert giving me a wave from the driver’s seat as he raced down the road. The news helicopter was still following behind us. “Shit.” I groaned and realized I would have to get him to bug off too.
I tracked the approaching cop car and pulled the sword out of its sheath before slinging the sheath. I readied my gauntlet again and flashed forward where I slammed down onto the hood of the racing patrol car. I smiled at the officer gripping the wheel behind the windshield. I raised my hand and slammed the red magical blade of Protection into the hood of the car, easily slicing through the engine, shredding the parts in it. The car suddenly lost its forward momentum. I stood up and gave the police officer a two fingered salute and then aimed my gauntlet at the next car behind the slowing one I was atop.
FLASH
I landed on the roof of the second car where I jumped to the back of the car, dropping the sword through the trunk and effectively slicing the rear axle in half, both rear wheels sticking up at weird angles as the halves of the axle sent sparks flying up from the road. I stared at the third police vehicle as the two officers in it stared right back at me. I smiled and then charged my magic up.
FLASH
I appeared on their hood as the officer riding shotgun pulled out his pistol, “OH DAMN!” I quickly slammed my fist down, a blood red shield erupting around me, stopping the nine millimeter rounds before they could inflict any harm on me. As I pulled my shield back, I noticed that the bubble that had formed around me, had sliced through the car cutting the engine block and its surrounding parts that had been beneath me from the rest of the car.
“Hahaha!” I laughed as the two officers sitting inside of the rest of the car stopped off to the side of the road. I summoned up the last bit of magic and aimed my gauntlet at the last car that was still in pursuit of my car.
FLASH
I landed in front of the car and quickly planted the sword in front of me. The front of the patrol car hit the sword dead center and was sliced cleanly in half by its magical blade. The left side skidded to the side of the interstate while the right side slowed till it lightly bumped into the 11B exit sign.
The dazed police man stepped out of the left side of the car and looked at me. He was trembling as he raised his 92F Berretta at me. I smiled and charged my spell into the black metal gauntlet.
FLASH
“Hello.” I said right into the officer’s ear. He tried to snap to the side, but I threw my hand up and knocked the pistol from his hand. I grabbed the pistol out of midair in my right hand and then looked up to the helicopter still following… me?
“Oh fuck.” It had stopped chasing the car and was now following me. With its camera. “Sorry about this.” I said to the officer as he just stared at me. I aimed my gauntlet at the officer and blasted him back with a harmless burst of magic. He landed safely in the median. I turned my attention to the helicopter and began focusing my magic. I felt the presence of the helicopter in my magic as I charged more magic into my gauntlet. I slowly closed my fist in midair and was rewarded by a sharp crack that snapped the tail of the helicopter from the main body.
I then caught the falling body of the helicopter in my magic. I struggled to keep such a heavy object up, especially since the rotor was still going, trying to lift the object back into the air. I grunted as I added another level of magic into my gauntlet and forced the helicopter to the ground. I panted as the stunned crew looked at me, the camera man in the back pointing his camera directly at me.
I quickly pointed my gauntlet towards the rapidly disappearing blue car and charged up the final burst of magic for the night.
FLASH
“Sir?”
“Don’t bother Lieutenant. I saw everything. I’ve got it looped and am having it analyzed by the crew downstairs already.”
“Excellent sir.”
The man with the glasses turned to exit the office, but the commander behind the desk stood up. “Patterson.”
“Yes sir?” The young Lieutenant quickly turned around and stood at attention before the older man.
“What do you see in this… man?” The commander held up a still frame shot of the man that had been driving the speeding car that was lost to the police after all the vehicles in pursuit had been destroyed, but with no casualties. The picture was taken from the dash cam of the first car the man had just appeared on. He was crouched over, with old faded Army ACUs and had gold armor on his body. But the name tape JOHNSON could easily be seen. His face was marked with different scares that spoke of many fights and his hair was dyed with streaks of red and yellow and maybe orange in it. But the eyes. The eyes of a determined and reckless person.
And Patterson had seen those eyes once before. In a long lost friend.
“Tell me Lieutenant,” the commander spoke again, “what do you make of this man?”
“Sir, I see a man with some valuable tech we should apprehend.”
“Oh my lord!” My mother was currently smacking me over and over again. “What the hell! What were you thinking?!”
“That I only have two days left here, so why not have some fun?” I said nervously before getting another whack from my pissed of mother. My dad was still gawking at the speed of the car and the fact I could teleport it, and that I brought down a chopper and at least ten police cars without hurting anyone. Some quote, “fucking Die Hard shit”, but he was pretty happy regardless.
“Sorry mom but what happened, happened and nothing can change that." I smiled and patted her on the head before heading into my room and adding the police officer’s Beretta to my bag o’ guns. I still felt like I was missing something. Some more weapons, some more stuff. I turned back to the hallway and walked up the stairs to the kitchen where Covert and Luna had both sat down at the kitchen table. I pushed the map over to them and sat down.
“Okay let’s make the plan for this.” I smiled and looked at the map, plotting the best route to take to the small cluster of buildings.
The phone rang behind me and my mother walked over and answered it. I paid her no attention as Luna poked the building, “Honored this seems worse than a chase along the streets.”
“I know, but think of what I could do to protect Equestria should I get that stuff.”
“I know.” Luna said looking away, “but that is stealing and if that place is guarded-“
“Tanner.” My mom turned and looked at me, her face was very pale. “There’s someone on the phone. And they are asking for you.”
“What?” I stood up and took the phone from her. I slowly brought it to my ear and waited.
“Johnson.”
“This is him.”
“What was the nickname of the junior that was in charge of us on the last training op you were on at the college?”
“What? Who is this?” I spoke angrily into the phone, my fist balling up at my side.
“Answer the damn question now!” The voice shouted back at me. “This is fucking important, now answer the fucking question!”
“Boomer! His name was boomer.” I said. The voice went dead on the other end before the sound of a door locking was heard.
“Johnson. This is Patterson. I know it’s been a long time, but I stay loyal to my friends. I’m a first Lieutenant with a military developing station located around thirty miles from your home town. They are about to start a mass search for you. So far they don’t know where you live, but it could only be a matter of time before they track you down.”
“What… how… why are you helping me?” I stammered out into the phone. My friends… they still cared, they still knew me.
“I stay loyal to my buddies. But listen, they have video from the police chase. I don’t know how you did it, and I don’t want to know, but the military is about to be on your ass. So you need to move.”
“Don’t worry buddy, I’m leaving in two days, and then I’ll never be back. It’s a long story and I wish you could hear it.”
“I’m sure it would be great, but I’m busy on my end making sure the Commander doesn't pick up your scent and find your family. Just get out of here as soon as possible.” Patterson’s voice was shaking as he finished.
“Thank you Patterson. Thanks Bobby.”
“Don’t worry about it Tanner. I’m just glad to know you’re alive ponyfag.”
I busted out laughing as the line went dead. Damn it Patterson. That son of a bitch had just saved my skin. I walked over to the map and slammed a fist onto the map. “We now have to go. Not to get supplies for Equestira, that becomes secondary objectives. The first thing we have to do is wipe my name from the records here.”
I pointed to the name above the small cluster of building. US ARMY RESEARCH FACILITY.
“Why?” Luna said looking up to me and back to the map.
“Because my old friend just gave me a head’s up. The Army knows about me, from the stunt with the police chase. And if they find out who I actually am, then they can go after my family to find me. And I’ll be damned if I get them hurt for my carelessness.”
“So here’s the plan.” I bent over the map and began mapping out the strategy we would use to get into the compound. From there I explained the way we would get my name erased and then vanish into thin air.
Covert nodded and then smiled, “good thing I came along. I knew you would need your shadow.”
“And I’m glad that I get to save your friends and family for a change.” Luna said while planting her hands on her hips.
“Dad!” I yelled out.
“What?” came a voice from downstairs.
“Come up here, I’m planning.”
“Hi planning, I’m dad.” Came the reply.”
“Fuck meeeee.” I groaned out. “just get up this is beyond fucking serious.”
My dad walked up the stars and stopped at the edge of the table. “What is it son?”
“Dad I’ll skip pretty much everything. Just know that by tomorrow afternoon the garage has to be cleared out. Like there can’t be anything in the front three fourths of it. I need a lot of free space. So all that old stuff of mine, throw it in the backyard or in my room. Just clear the garage.”
“Okay I will.”
“I mean it dad.” I gave him a stern stare. “Don’t say that and then thing you’ll save it to the last minute, I need that done.”
“Okay. Okay. Jeeze Mr. Bossy pants.” My dad shrugged and walked off.
“Alright, we can start this early in the morning. The earlier the better. So let’s rest up tonight and move out at 0430 tomorrow morning.”
“Sounds good.” Covert nodded and then disappeared into the shadows that now occupied most of the house. Darkness had crept up on me while I had made my plans.
“Very well Honored. I feel a bit better now that stealing is only a secondary objective.” Luna said before looking around the room and then looking down at me.
“Thank you Luna, I’m going to need your help.”
“And you shall have it.” She smiled and placed a hand on my back. “Everything will go fine. It always does for you.” She leaned forward so that her face was only a few inches from mine. “I noticed you have a large bed-“
“Nope.” I quickly ducked under Luna’s head and skidded around her body. “Guest bedroom. I’ve got cleaning to do tonight.”
Luna gave me a scowl and marched into the neutral painted guest room and then smiled. “Good night Honored.”
“Night Luna.”
I sat on my bed, weapon parts scattered around me. I was cleaning the different weapons I would use for tomorrow’s assault on the military compound. The revolver was cleaned to perfection, the cylinder spinning perfectly smooth. The new plasma rifle didn’t need cleaning, but I was still amazed by the complexity of my magic to form something so advanced. Granted the ponies had no technology for my magic to play with, so this was amazing.
I hadn’t brought all my weapons with me to Earth so I cleaned my M16A2 and both Glocks before moving on to both Berettas. I could only fire magic through one, but I only had one magazine anyways. The magazine that had been in the police officer’s pistol at the time of me relieving it from him. Now I could dual wield those, one magic and the other regular.
I reached into my gun bag and drew out another weapon from the seven I was brining with me back to Equestria. I racked the pump back and inspected the chamber to insure it was clear. I then began to clean the Mossberg 88 combat system shotgun. It had a fold up stock and a shell holding clip put onto the folding stock as well. A short grip was molded onto the pump allowing it to be gripped easier. And it had a shorter barrel, only fourteen inches long. This caused it to have a greater spread in close quarters, making it more effective.
“Wait what am I doing?” I shook my head and looked at the guns spread out before me. “I’m not fighting bad guys. I’m just fighting people that want my stuff. Well that being magic. They don’t know any better.”
“Fuck.”
I realized I was going to have Batman my way through the compound, not Punisher it.
I would take my Element of Protection and the Berretta for my magic to be channeled through, but other than that, anything else would kill people. And I promised Luna that no one would be harmed.
“This may be difficult.”
I slowly got up and walked towards the guest room. Time to swallow my pride. I lightly knocked against the door.
“One moment please.” Luna’s voice called out as I stood outside of the door with my Berretta ‘Spike’ in my hand. Luna opened the door and smiled, I was staring in shock. Luna was fully naked with her hair spilling down around her shoulders, the moonlight coming through the windows reflecting off her-
I slammed my head into the door frame and feel backwards into the hallway.
“Alright fine, I’ll put on clothes. Gosh you humans are picky.”
“So go over it one more time. Please?” I said trying to focus the freeze spell through the pistol. I could blast raw magic and fire through the pistol without fail, but trying to get a freezing paralyze spell was causing me trouble.
“You can channel the magic right, but something is stopping you here.” Luna pointed a finger at the pistol in my hand. “It’s just not channeling right in that weapon.”
“Damn it. I can’t hurt anyone, and now I can’t use this pistol.”
“Do you have to use that one?” Luna said taking the pistol from me and setting it on the bed beside her. “You channeled magic through the rifle, right?”
“Yeah once, and that was a ballistic shit show of magic over powered bullets.”
“Have you tried channeling your magic through different weapons to see the results?” Luna said before picking up the Colt Army revolver and handing it to me. “What about this? Try the paralyze spell in it. It is simpler as not so many moving part inside it to disrupt the spell.”
I examined the pistol and then transferred it over to my left hand where it fit snuggly into my gauntlet’s grip. I relaxed and began funneling the magic required for the paralyze spell into the pistol. I felt the magic began to grow in the pistol, the level growing enough to fire. I aimed the pistol at the pillow beside Luna and pulled the hammer back on the revolver and then squeezed the trigger.
CRACK
What sounded like glass breaking sounded out through the room as the pillow turned stiff as a board. I poked it with the barrel of the pistol and it felt hard as a rock. “Well I’ll be damned. That worked.”
“And just like that you can perform a paralyze spell.” Luna smiled at her achievement in teaching me.
“Thanks Luna. You just totally saved me some trouble for tomorrow.”
“So do I get a reward?” Luna said, growing bold and scooting closer to me.
“Yeah.” I gave her a dead pan stare. “You get a kiss.”
Luna closed her eyes and leaned forward. I reached into my pocket and placed a piece of chocolate in front of her and then snapped my fingers of my gauntlet, teleporting into the safety of my man cave.
I could hear Luna fuming from down the hall.
“Alright. Everyone ready to go?” I asked my two passengers from the driver’s seat of my car. I got to short nods from Luna and Covert as we backed out of the drive way. “Then let’s go over it one more time.”
“At point Alpha, I will disembark from the car, handing controls over to you Luna.” I turned to her. She understood now how to drive the car, just not as recklessly as me or as well as Covert, but he had his own mission. “You will then move the car to Bravo, and wait for the signal.”
“Okay.”
“Covert, your part it crucial in beginning.” He nodded as we merged onto the road. The darkness from the early morning start was preventing the dark blue of my car from being seen. Hopefully luck would hold out and the car wouldn’t be recognized later in the day when the sun was up. Luna had suggested taking my parent’s car, but they had to work. Fucking bullshit. “I’ll cause a distraction that should positively get you into the compound unseen. From there, complete your part of the mission.”
“It will be done.” He smiled at me from the back seat.
“And then we can just kind of improvise from there.”
“But Honored,” Luna chimed in from her seat, “that only covers like the first fourth of the plan.”
“Yeah?” I said turning the wheel and putting the car on the interstate heading out to the deserted outskirts of the town. “Most of plans are built like that.”
“My sister help me.” Luna said shaking her head.
“Hey, how many of my plans have failed?” Silence filled the car. “Exactly, so let’s have some faith. Please.”
“Honored you’re using an entire day to do this mission you know that right?” Luna looked at me through the dark car.
“I know. So what?” I smiled and began weave around some of the slower traffic on the road. Not too many cars out this early, but still the slow ones are always in front of me. “We are doing good things. Protecting my family from anything and getting stuff to help Equestria. Well help me help Equestria.”
We spent the reminder of the car ride silent. I was trying to work the plan out more in my head, just too mentally prepare myself to move along and get the mission wrapped up. We reached point Alpha, which was spot on the interstate a mile away from the compound. I hoped out of the car and ran to the trunk, throwing it open and removing my satchel full of distractions. Luna climbed into the driver’s seat and looked out the window at me. I gave her a thumbs up and then dashed into the wood line beyond the guardrail.
I watched from the darkness of the trees as the car sped off to point Bravo where Covert would move out and Luna would try and hide the car. I quickly ran along through the woods, dodging around trees and scooting past bushes. I forgot how pathetic these Earth woods were compared to places like the Everfree. I was making incredible time through the woods. Nothing was trying to kill me or stop me. And I wasn’t tripping over roots are falling into mud. Fuck yeah Earth woods!
I checked my watch, one day and twelve hours left till the portal would rip be back into Equestria. I wanted to be in my house when that happened so that my family could see me off.
But then again, being in the middle of a mall or park would definitely shake things up for the world. I could see the headlines. ‘Two people and a shadow vanish into flash of light.’ Ha that would send everyone for a loop.
Shit!
I was so lost in thought I almost ran right out of the woods. I quickly ducked down into a bus and began picking off small branches and leaves and weaving them into the burlap cloth I had with me. It was just a simple square sheet roughly four feet long and three feet wide, but it would make great camouflage blanket to hide beneath.
I would wait till exactly six o’clock before launching my distraction, until then, I needed to watch and observe the compound. And the best part of the observation, I could see how my new weapon worked.
I owned a few good rifles, all very well equipped for long range engagements, but only one of them seemed to channel the paralyze spell properly. And that one was currently slung around my shoulder as I finished making my hideaway blanket. Once I was satisfied with my camouflage, crawled my way over to a position underneath a large tree that had multiple fallen limbs around it. I carefully wedged myself under the branches, drawing the blanket over me before sliding my rifle over my shoulder and then propped it against a large branch in front of me. I had a few bits of twine wrapped around the old barrel and wooden guard so that I could tuck leaves and branches into it to camouflage the weapon as well. I had a honeycomb cover of the Cvlife hunting scope mounted to the rifle as to stop and glare that could strike the front of the rifle scope. I let out a deep breath and aimed down the scope of the 1942 Mosin Nagant that I have dumped a shit load of time and money into perfecting. The wooden stock is original, as well is the barrel, but the bolt, scope and scope mount are all newly built. With the way the scope sits on the rifle, a new wrap around bolt had to be fitted to this baby so I didn’t smash my thumb against the back of the scope every time I worked the bolt. The scope mount from the original rifle wouldn’t allow me to attach this powerful illuminated 2-24x65 hunting scope so a new one had to be drilled onto the wood on the left side of the stock.
I lined the crosshairs up on the gate to the compound where a lone guard sat inside of a booth next to the gate. “Like any videogame.” I whispered to myself while checking the range. I had no idea the range of my spell, but I figured with more power put into the spell, the farther it could go. The long barrel of the rifle should concentrate the spell to travel straight and true out to far distances.
Or at least I hoped, since I have never tried shooting a spell from this far away. The small range finder tactically duct taped to the side of the rifle half way down showed the guard to be roughly one hundred yards away.
I’m sure I could hit that if this spell worked right and didn’t just stop halfway there.
“I really should have tested this out before now.”
“Oh well too late.”
My watch gave a faint ‘beep’. I looked down and could just make out 0600 on the screen through the dim light beginning to break over the horizon.
“Showtime.”
I charged magic into my gauntlet and felt it travel through the rifle from the front grip carved into the wood, all the way down to the chamber where the magic began to pool. Since it didn’t need ammo, I would only just have to flip the bolt up to prime the hammer, meaning I could fire this baby with magic rapidly. Or again, I at least hoped.
I squeezed the trigger as the red illuminated chevron lined up with the guard’s chest.
A muffled crack sounded from the woods as a light blue streak of light smashed through the guard shack and into the private’s chest as he looked up from his cell phone resting in his lap. The man went rigid and then toppled over from his seat disappearing from my scope.
“Sweet.” I mumbled, flipping the bolt up and then back down, the rifle ready for a cleanup shot immediately after the first spell had left the tip of the barrel.
I waited with baited breath for anyone else to come to the scene but no one showed up.
“Time for phase two.” I sat up from my hide and slung the Mosin, pulling the satchel out from behind me and running over to the road leading up to the gate. Time to set up some distractions.
I pulled out two firework cakes, big circular cardboard packages that contained mortars, sparkler fountains, and a few bottle rockets. I placed one in the dead center of the road and then propped it up with a rock so it was aiming directly over the gate. I lit it and ran to the other side of the road where I placed the other one and then waited.
Within a few seconds the screaming of mortars filled the air and a beautiful fountain of red, white, and blue sparks exploded from the cake on the ground. The mortars traveled right into the gate, exploding, sending colorful balls of embers along the gate and over the top where the popped and snapped. The bottle rockets let of a powerful whistle and then detonated inside the compound. Within seconds I could hear alarms sounding out and the gate began to slowly slide open as a squad, nine men, came rushing out.
From my spot in the woods, I lit the second cake of fireworks before running deeper in the woods to loop around and enter the compound. The Mosin and M16A2 bouncing on my back as I ran. The third phase was about to begin. I could hear the men yelling about the fireworks as I slipped along the wall and then through the unguarded gate.
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
BOOM
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
BANG
“That must be the signal.” Covert rolled his eyes and then vanished into the shadows.
Same old human. Even here he has no idea what stealth is. Amazing that he even managed to complete the first three phases. ‘Honored should really be in my stealth class for the guards.’ Covert thought as he melted from shadow to shadow as he worked his way into the compound.
Covert was seeking out the main building of the compound and from there he needed to find something call the mainframe. Whatever that was.
Covert quickly wrapped himself into the darkness of a room as three men ran by, all wearing that same pattern clothing that his human wore.
“Some lunatic is setting of fireworks or something.”
“Shut up Private, let’s just get out there and shut these alarms off.”
The men disappeared around a corner leaving Covert to himself once more. The shadow looked around the room and then began walking along the wall towards a hallway to the side.
“Mainframe?” He looked at a door and then willed himself into the shadows beyond the door, reappearing within the secured room.
Luna sat on the hood of the car waiting for Honored. Once he had completed the mission, Luna would start the car and race to the main gate to help Honored with what he hoped would be the final stage in this makeshift plan he had.
He said he would just need a lot of magic to boost the teleportation spell. To Luna that meant either they were jumping a long distance, or they were teleporting a lot of stuff a short distance. One or the other.
A series of explosions caused Luna to look up from her hands and towards the location in the woods.
“Can he not do anything stealthy?”
I slipped into the base and checked behind me to make sure the squad that had just left was still busy securing the cheap fireworks. I could see them walking around the still going distraction and smiled.
Everything was going perfectly.
“HALT MOTHER FUCKER!”
“Damn.”
“FUCKING ASS!” Sergeant Hallard ducked behind a drab green shipping container as another one of those unknown rounds impacted in front of him. It exploded, causing a hole to appear where it hit. Those would kill a man even if hit in the leg, good thing the lone insurgent attacking had such bad aim. ““TANGO WHISKY ALPHA Niner-five-three-one-zero, radio frequency QUEBEC ROMEO four-three-six-eight OVER!” The Sergeant screamed into his headset linked to the compound’s main transmitter.
“This is Tango Whisky. Send over.” The radio crackled into his ear as another wave strange chiming filled the air. One of the Sergeant’s newest members was thrown into the air and landed next to the Sergeant behind his cover. The Private sat up and looked dazed, but other than that he was fine.
“TANGO WHISKY –“ more chiming blasted into the air. Another container stacked next to the Sergeant dropped on top of a grenade a Specialist threw at the insurgent. “GET THAT FUCKING DOOR SHUT! WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT ANYWAY?” the Sergeant yelled at a Private that was coming out of the secured entrance to the compound’s main building.
“Quebec Romeo repeat last over.” The voice squawked into the Sergeant’s ear as he leaned around the top of the container to try and get a bead on the enemy. The man was wearing ACUs but had golden armor strapped all over him. He had an old outdated M16 in his hands and an even older rifle strapped to his back which was covered with a burlap camo blanket. The container the Sergeant was taking cover behind suddenly began taking fire from that enemy’s weapon and was actually being pushed back along the ground by the impact of his rounds.
“We’re being hit! One hostile. He’s got some kind of heavy firepower. We need help ASAP! Armory location Echo Hotel five-eight-one-niner-two-four-fife-seven. Over.” Sergeant Hallard dropped a magazine from his rifle and loaded another one into his M4A4. He then fumbled with his chest rig before drawing a 40mm high explosive grenade and feeding it into his under barrel M203 grenade launcher. And took aim at the enemy as he began to load his own weapon.
The enemy looked up and saw the Sergeant lining up the sights to aim the grenade launcher. The enemy smiled and then raised his left hand which had some kind of armored glove on it.
“EAT THIS FUCKER!” Sergeant Hallard screamed while depressing the trigger of the M203
BLOOP
The enemy disappeared in a flash of intense white as the grenade struck him. “HOOHA SERGEANT!” The Private next to the Sergeant yelled as the light died down.
FLASH
Suddenly the enemy appeared standing on top of the military container the Sergeant and Private were taking cover behind. The enemy was just a kid. A kid with lots of scars across his face. He smiled at the two hunkered down soldiers while aiming an old black revolver at them; except the barrel was glowing light blue. In his right hand was the M16 pointed down at the ground.
Both soldiers were frozen in terror as the man reached down and simply took the M4A4 from the Sergeant’s grasp. “Thanks y’all.” He sounded completely American and then slung the weapon around his shoulder.
CRACK
CRACK