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// Chapter 4-Snapped 
// Story: Life Struggles 
// by hillbilly_andy 
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Chapter 4- Snapped
I’m not sure where I am or if I’m dreaming or not, its dark and I can’t see a thing. A flash and I’m in my military fatigues walking through a deserted looking town. It’s hot, dry, I’m very nervous for some reason and the air stinks. Around me are old stone buildings and makeshift house or huts, with strange writing on them that I can’t understand. Across the street is a woman, I see her and she sees me. She’s sitting down outside at a table which I assume is a restaurant. All of a sudden there are many people around me, strange looking people wearing robes and towels on their heads. The large crowds make me nervous and I reach for my hip to be sure that my side-arm is there. The cold metal against my fingers help me relax, somewhat.
I get across the street; weaving in and out through the crowd of people as they gave me dirty looks, make me feel even more uncomfortable. I reached the woman and greet her with a smile and a wave; she matches my grin and waves me over… I’m happy, all cares wiped from my mind as I look at her. I walk to the table and sit down with her. Now, I see her for who she truly is an angel. Her beautiful blue eyes, bright blonde hair, her perfect body, and her flawless skin shinning in the bright desert sun. 
I look from her face to her body, she pregnant. She leans in and kisses me, her lips on mine, just felt right. Butterflies crawled in my stomach making me light headed. I close my eyes to truly enjoy the intense moment…I love this woman. I feel her lips move away and I open my eyes to the sound of gun fire, the sounds of explosions, and screaming. My eyes dart to see some laying dead in the street and others a bloody mess, trying to do what they can to get to safety. As I look towards the woman across the table, I see a bloody disfigured mess covered in shrapnel. Half of her head missing and her organs spread across the table showing the unborn child. I look to myself covered in blood and brain matter, my left arm and chest burning in pain. I reach for my side arm and stand up in a shock…it’s not there. I look up in just enough time to see large shadowy figure on top a building, pointing a dull black, long object in my direction. I knew exactly what it was, I’m trying to move, but I can’t… my boots are melted to the ground. I hear the unmistakable “whoosh” of an RPG. I look up in time to see a rocket and smoke trial heading right for me. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t think, I merely braced for impact. 
It hit right next to me with an ear splitting explosion and sent me flying with an immense pain across my face. Everything goes black again. As light fades to dark the only thing audible was a blood curtailing female scream. The scream sounded familiar… too familiar as if it were an annoying song you were trying to scrape from your mind. As the yell echoed through my mind, it began to turn into a single long, high pitched beep. It soon turned into an obnoxious slow beep… “Beep…Beep,”… “Beep…Beep…Beep.”… The sound slowly faded away, and then I woke up… 
I woke up in a panic, in a cold sweat. I sat up straight looking around taking in my surroundings, realizing it was just another nightmare… ‘That one, again?’ I thought, taking in slow deep breaths trying to calm down.  My memories began to trickle back, who I am, where I am, and what I’m doing... I touched the side of my face and my eye feeling the long directional scar, a twinge of pain and anger as I brushed it.  I took a deep breath and ran my hand across my face, wiping the sweat from my forehead and face. I stood up and I could still here the high pitched beeping. I looked to my wrist to find my alarm had gone off. “Beep…Beep...” It read 6:00 am. I quickly pressed the button to turn off the annoying sound. I made my hand into the shape of a gun and pressed my finger to my forehead, “Get out of there...” I said to no one in particular.
‘The lobby better have some fucking coffee...’ I thought to myself. I looked to the bed remembering the small purple mare. I watched her in silence for a moment, she looked so peaceful, so, carefree. I looked outside and saw what looked to be a ghost town… no sounds, no cars moving, no noise. I saw a bit of frost on the window and on the ground. I threw on a jacket and got ready to walk outside quietly as to not wake up Twilight. I reached for the door when I heard the sound of movement; I looked to see Twilight tossing in her bed. “..Mmmm. Big Macintosh…” Twilight mumbled in her sleep. I just chuckled, ‘Big Macintosh... but that’s a… maybe one of her friends…odd name.’ I thought to myself. I unlocked the door and closed it softly behind me as I exited. I hurried over to the lobby, it felt quite chilly this morning and it was still dark. I hurried in through the door and was greet with the smell of coffee.
“Ahh...” I said aloud with satisfaction.
“Well good morning.” Said a female voice from another room. “Morning.” I replied politely, not sure if someone was talking to me or someone else. “Would you like some coffee? Just made it!”
“Yes please ma’am.” I replied, still not sure if she was talking to me or not. “Ok, I even made it extra strong for ya.”
I was still looking around to see if I could see her. “Me, why?” I asked slightly confused. 
“Well, I know you farming types when I see ‘em… especially you Andy.” I was taken aback by that. 
“How do ya know my name?”
“Silly, everyone round’ here knows ya.” She said as she appeared out from around the corner holding 2 cups of coffee. A small fragile looking lady stood as she handed a cup to me. I took it and drank a small sip…Yep, finally real coffee. The lady just stood there, staring at me looking familiar until finally she spoke. “You go the look of death in your eyes son, who pissed you off?”  She asked concerned. 
“That easy huh?” I said a bit embarrassed. “No, but to an old lady who’s seen it before its easy… last time I saw them eyes, my best friend slaughtered 6 people.” She finished sadly. “Holy shit…Only 6?”  I said jokingly, the old lady caught on and laughed a little. 
“It’s funny, because as fast as news travels here…pretty sure you already know who.” I replied a bit cockily. “Indeed I do young one. Gossip travels fast those with an ear to the wind…”
“Yes it does...” I replied, finally remembering who she was. “Emerald!! My old school teacher!! How are ya?” I asked. “Much better then you obviously.” She said with a laugh. I chuckled a bit, at her sense of humor. 
Then she looked at me seriously. “Between you and me…” she began, paused and leaned in closer. I bent over a bit so I could listen “...When you find them little bastards, you fuck ‘em up good for me after what they did to your pappy.” I grinned an evil smile, 
“Oh, I will, trust me.” I replied darkly. “Good! Now get going so you can go kick some ass.” She said loudly, lightly smacking me in my chest. 
“Yes ma’am.” I said seriously, giving a salute. I broke my seriousness and we both laughed. She left the room to go do…something, and I quickly drank down my coffee and headed back to the room. 
I quickly came in running and jumped in the air landing on the bed with a loud “BELLY-FLOP!!” Twilight woke up frightened. “Ahhh…oh... Morning Andy.” She said groggily. “Morning Twilight. We got to get moving were burning daylight.” I replied cheerfully, crawling off the bed. Twilight got up and looked outside. “But it’s not even daylight yet.  It’s still…ugh, now you’re reminding me of Pinkie Pie.” She said agitated. This made me remember something, 
“Heeey Twilight?” She looked at me as she fixed her “bed head” with her magic; I almost got the hint of a glare for a moment.  “Who’s Big Macintosh?” I asked smirking. Twilight jumped, quick to respond. “What? Oh... Uhh... just a friend, yes! Friend. I have lots of friends.” She replied stammering and a nervous laugh. Her cheeks were burning crimson. Snickering…“Oh, ok. I believe you.”
“Why do you ask?” she asked. “Oh no reason, just heard you say it in your sleep.”
“Oh…uhhh…” she replied embarrassed. A familiar growling and bubbling noise broke the awkwardness. “Ya, I’m hungry too.” I said looking at my own stomach. 
“Do you know of any good restaurants?” the young mare asked. I laughed for a bit, “Ya, that’ll go over bout as well as a pregnant pole vaulter.” Twilight just looked at me, “Yes, you do have a point. From what you’ve told me about humans it wouldn’t go so good.” She said, looking disappointed. “Pregnant pole… I swear, you’re just so random at times.”
“Ya, well… Oh I know why don’t we stop at the super market and get ya some food?” I asked as Twilight lighted up a bit. “Sure, sounds great!”
“Well, come on let’s go!” I said gesturing to the door. She nodded and Twilight and I raced outside and towards the truck, giggling and laughing. The moment we made it, we jumped in and I started the truck. I gave the pedal a few healthy stomps making the engine roar. I had a mile long grin looking at Twilight. She had a raised eyebrow as if concerned. I just chuckled and put the truck in gear. I looked to Twilight, “Hey, watch this.” I said with a smirk.
I held the brake with one foot while bringing up the engines RPM’s with my other foot until I felt that “sweet spot”. I dumped the brake and mashed the gas pedal causing the tires to screech and scream, soon there was smoke from burning rubber, I just grinned as the smoke got thicker and thicker. I left off the pedal just a bit to grab traction; we left like a bat out of hell, leaving two black streaks on the ground from where we parked, to the street. As we drove away, I turned to look and saw that the smoke was so thick you couldn’t see the motel from the road. 
I just laughed as Twilight was waving a hoof in front of her face, “I love the smell of burnt rubber in the morning! WHOO!” I yelled, I think Twilight said something but I couldn’t hear her over the thunderous roar of the engine. I eased off the gas to cruise the speed limit and Twilight as usual, was watching out the window, watching lights, buildings, and looking for people and other vehicles. ‘She is going to have one hell of a research paper once she gets back…if she gets back.’ I thought. ‘Eventually she will see through the face your putting on, and see that your hurt...’ I continued thinking to myself.
In no time at all, we were approaching “Riddle’s”, Pinedale’s supermarket. I could see it as we drove into the huge parking lot. It was a wide, long building, not very tall and it had a plastered of a giant fish on the side of the building above the front entrance. I drove through the parking lot trying to find a parking spot just big enough to park the old truck. I finally found one near the tail end, as I whipped in I could see people staring, not at me, but at Twilight. “Now, remember what I said, no talking and no magic.” I said, serious now. She nodded as I continued, “Oh, and you might want to stay here, I don’t think they will let you in the store.”
“What?! Why not?”
“Well, like I said before, people think of ‘ponies’ as animals, and like the lady at police station, must humans don’t like animals inside their buildings.” I replied trying to explain.
“Oh… well, you don’t see me like that do you?” she asked, putting on the cutest damn face I ever saw.
“Of course not Twilight, if it was up to me I’d let you use magic and talk to everyone and go in all of the stores. But sadly, the world I live in isn’t as understanding as the one you come from… I’m sorry.” Felling somewhat ashamed, “I just don’t want anything to happen to you, your special and I would hate for the government to get a hold of you...Fucking government.” She brightened up a bit at that, “Well, I may not understand your ways, but I trust you. But, I still don’t think it is fair.” 
I looked at her and grinned as I turned off the truck. “Me either, but that’s just how humans are, not all, but most.” I said as she continued to pout. 
Trying to cheer her up, “Don’t worry, well get you home soon and you never have to see this horrible place again.” 
“Your planet is actually quite nice, it’s just the…Humans in it, that I am starting to dislike.”
“Ha, welcome to my world!” I said sarcastically. I ran my hand through her mane messing it up and hoped out of the truck. “I’ll be back in a few.” She nodded and gave me a grin which I returned. I shut the door and turned to walk towards the store. 
As I was walking, I was admiring the sunrise, it had just begun to peek and was spraying colors into the sky, and was beginning to feel the air to start to warm around me. Then, my mind jumped and I thought of the letter my grandpa wrote and what he said about “watching the sunrise” and a growing sadness was swelling inside me that quickly turned to anger. I was so caught up in thought, I almost ran into someone, snapping me back to reality. 
As I spotted the door, I rounded into the supermarket and sighed, looking around and observing the building. Almost instinctively I found all the exits around me. “Ugh… I hate cities…and crowds…and people…and..” I thought aloud, perhaps louder than I thought. 
I wasted no time, I quickly walked to the produce isles, looking around for something Twilight and I could both eat without it being weird, like her asking what KFC was. As I got to the fruits and veggies isles, I really couldn’t think of anything specific that Twilight would like. She’s always asking me questions, talking about her friends, her books, and books. In all reality, I don’t know a whole lot about HER other than what she told me when she first got here. I don’t even know her favorite color or food. That’ll change real quick.
I thought a moment, staring at all the produce in front of me. ‘Well, she’s a vegetarian I know that much.’ I thought ‘Oh fish! Wait… that’s meat too. Damn, think green Andy.’ I couldn’t think of really anything, so I just grabbed a couple bags and went down the aisles. I saw some good looking Gala Apples and threw them in a bag along with a few carrots and celery stocks. I moved to the other table and filled the rest of my little bags with lettuce and some cabbage. As I spun the bags and tied them, I was looking around for the manager.
‘He’s the key if I want to find them boys.’ After I finished tying off the bags, I walked to one of the registers, all the way looking for someone who struck me as “manager.” I put my groceries on the counter and the young lady weighed them and typed things into a computer looking thing. ‘Maybe, but she’s probably jail bait.’ I thought looking her up and down. She struck me as very young, maybe 18. She was very pretty, and tall with red hair and hazel eyes. She was dressed in a uniform of sorts that really showed off her….face.   
She was scanning the carrots while she spoke. “So you a vegetarian?” I raised an eyebrow. ‘Well, might as well just tell her the truth and it’s for Twilight.’ I thought. I grinned knowing how this was going to end. “Nope, it’s for my friend Twilight Sparkle who a purple, magical unicorn from outer space.” She stopped and stared at me a moment, her face looking puzzled. ‘Yep, just as I thought.’
“Oookai…” she said nervously, “That will be $10.25.”
“Ok, but first, I would like to speak with your manager.” Serious now, she stared a moment, 
“Sure, whatever.” As she turned around, I was begging to think this was going a little easy. Not that I was complaining, but something just seemed off here. Nothing was ever easy for me.
As I let my mind wonder while I waited, I found myself staring at some poster on the wall advertising for some new movie. I couldn’t make out the words but it was a dark colored picture and had a little girl in a tattered night dress kneeling down. Her hair was covering her face in a messy ‘been through hell’ kind of way. I assumed it was for a new horror movie. ‘And people call me crazy?’ then it got me thinking, ‘when was the last time I saw a movie, or a TV for that matter? A year or so?’ I shrugged, not really caring. 
My train of thought was cut short as I saw the clerk walking back towards me with a young man in a suit with slick hair. He was tall and had a very round face for such a skinny body. He definitely stuck me as the managing type. He also stood out as a very successful person. The way he walked, smiled, and dressed were all tell tale signs. He wore a cocky grin like most business types do. That is until he got closer to me, eyes locked and grin fading to a more serious look. As he was getting closer his pace slowed down and him, now having my full attention, walked up to me with an out stretched hand for a handshake and a fake grin.
I put on my best, friendly, ‘won’t kill you’ smile and greeted him with my hand. As we were shaking hands, I tightened my grip just a bit, and before he could let go or say anything, I pulled him in close, his head next to mine. I want to try something… Still smiling, I said quickly and barely above a whisper, “Pretty sure you know who I am, and why I’m here… So why don’t we go to your office to discuss some business.” I gently pushed him away and released my grip. He stepped back, cleared his throat and spoke with a grin. “Of course, we can discuss this matter more… privately” the young man’s voice sounded rather high pitched, having a “fruity” tone to it. 
“Ya, guess we should. You lead the way” I replied, still grinning. He turned to walk and then I remembered I still had to pay for the food. I turned to the lady and gave her my money. She gave me the change and I walked to the manager, “Ready?” I said gesturing with a hand. He simply turned and started walking towards the back of the building. I followed him close in toe while observing people, items, and may isles we passed by. 
‘This must be the toy isle’ I thought as I looked at toys for small children from yo-yo’s and action figures to etch-e-sketch’s. I noticed he was walking very fast paced and we got to a door quite quickly that read “Authorized personnel only” in big while letters on a bright red sign. 
He opened the door and we entered quickly, walking down the long grey hallway with only a few doors on either side that we passed. One door caught my eye, a door with a sign that read “Basement/Storage”. I had to fight back the urge to stop, but for my plan to work and get the answers I want, I needed to follow this man. We passed my more doors and turned a few hallways until we reached a door that read “Manager” on it. He opened it and we both entered quickly. He quickly and quietly shut the door as we entered. 
This office was incredibly small, cramped and slightly depressing. It barely had enough room for the desk, and office chair and two folding chairs that took up its space. He walked to the small desk and picked up a fancy looking phone. I was confused.
“What are you doing?”
“Well, I know why you’re here.” He replied between a sigh, “So I’ll save you the trouble and call the police.” He was starting to dial numbers.
‘no, no, NO, NO!’ I ran to the desk and jerked the phone from him and slammed it down, preventing him from dialing anymore numbers. He looked at me quizzically.
“You’re not a cop, are you?” he asked, I laughed a little.
“Me? No… well used to be, of sorts.”
“Wait, your Andy, that guy from the mountains.” I raised an eyebrow at that, “It seems like my reputation precedes me.”
“Yaaaa… possibly more than you know.” He said distancing himself now. I knew what he meant though, everyone thinks I’m bat-shit crazy and honestly, I don’t mind. In fact I kind of like it, It gives me a bit more leverage for getting what I need, especially now.
“So, if you’re not a cop, what do you want?”
“I want the people your hiding in your storage basement.”
“You know? Well, it is a small town… so what do you want with them?”
“Ya, I know. Can’t an old friend drop in and help out another old friend?”
“Old friend?”
“Yes, I know he’s in some trouble so I thought I’d help him out. I have a place in the mountains that he’ll be safer there than hiding in a busy supermarket basement.” I stared at him a moment and he stared back in silence. “Plus, it would really suck if you got caught up in all this…”
He stared at me in silence and moved to his chair, slumping down in it hard. He then began to start shaking, his lip quivering. ‘oh god, please don’t cry’ I thought. Tears filled his eyes and he burst out in tears and sobs. ‘Fuck, I’m not good with this shit…’ “Umm, it’s…Okay… There, there.” I said awkwardly patting his back.
“NO!! I’m happy.”
“Huh?” I said confused, “I was so worried you were a cop, I don’t want to go to Jail, I wouldn’t last two seconds. Please take them away from me; I’ll help you with whatever you need. So, please, just take them. I feel like an enemy of the state, constantly watching my back and getting nervous when I see the law, I HAVE A FAMILY… just take em’.” He replied in between sobs of joy. I couldn’t take it anymore, I started busting out laughing hysterically. After a good, long, hard laugh, I wiped a tear from my eye still chuckling a bit. “You know, you just made this a whole lot easier.”
“Huh?”
“Ya, I thought you were going to be some hardass, know it all guy, and I was going to have to beat you, cut you, do some of my favorite Russian tactics and threaten you with your family. But, I don’t have to do that now, my whole afternoon just freed up. So thank you.” I finished with a grin. “Umm, you’re welcome?”
“Very well, now listen up, and listen up good, because I’m only going to say this once.”
“Okay.”
“I need you to let them know who I am and that I’m going to help them. They will know me, I want you to move them to the loading dock and that’s where I’ll meet them. I want this to be quick. And no one, I repeat no one knows of this conversation or this meeting you and I are having, and no one ever will. Understand?” I said sternly, trying to get across how serious this is. 
“Ok, but what if they don’t believe me or listen to me, they’re not exactly nice to me.” He replied with a frown. I chuckled at a funny memory. “Tell him, if he doesn’t listen to you, I’m going to find that Asian hooker with the purple strap on he was so fond of.” He looked at me strangely, “Just tell him, alright.”
“Okay.”
“Well… what are you waiting for? GO! I’ll be around back in 5 minutes, don’t keep me waiting… It would be in your best interest to be on time.” I said darkly, “Okay, will do.” He replied, walking quickly out the door and down the hallway.
As I watched him leave I took a deep breath thinking that I was about to break my number one moral code… ‘Is it worth it? Just for some revenge?’ I thought, “… OF COURSE IT IS!” I said aloud, chuckling. “But, after this…” I replied, as I continued to talk to myself, “No more, what would grandpa think of me lying like this… he would understand, wouldn’t he? Well, it’s different, these people deserve it…” I guess I would never know, but whatever the answer may be, I need to get going, crazy can wait.
I proceeded to walk quickly out the door and down the hallway, retracing my steps as I left. I quickly found the toy isle again on my way out. As I looked towards the front of the store, I saw many people, children, families. A newborn baby’s face reflected by the bright suns glare. ‘Babies… Babies and animals, the only true, pure, beings on this planet.’ My thoughts were interrupted by almost running into a man holding the door open for a young lady. “Damn, I got to stop doing that..” I said to myself, ‘what being crazy?’ “No, I aint crazy…. Wait… Fuck.” I replied face palming. ‘I’m arguing with myself… of course.’ Like I said, crazy can wait… 
I left the building, walking back towards the truck, I was walking faster then I realized as I reached the truck in record time, almost passing it. I opened the door, groceries in hand and jumped in expecting an ass ripping from Twilight for taking so long. But she just looked at me.
“What took you so long Andy? I thought you said you would be right back?”
“Ya, I know, sorry I got caught up talking to someone.” I replied. “Oh. Old friend?”
“Eh, not really.” I finished as I found my keys. “Twilight, I found the robbers.” She gasped at that, “Oh my gosh, that fantastic we…” 
“Twilight,” I interrupted, “Remember what I said about my justice? My way? ”
“Yes, I...”
“Well, I’m going to give them a ride, and give them justice my way, but they just don’t know it yet.”
“But, why don’t we...”
“Twilight… please this is something I just need to do, please… for my grandpa.”  I said almost pleadingly. Twilight looked at me and sighed, “Very well, I don’t understand your reasoning, or why, but if this is something you truly feel you have to do, then I’ll help you how I can.”
I smiled, “Thank you Twilight, and yes… I have to do this.” She matched my smile as I started the truck. 
“I assume the no talking rule also?” Twilight said, catching the hint of sarcasm and annoyance in her voice. I thought about it a moment. “I don’t see why you can’t talk to these people.” I replied. Her face lit up, “Really?”
“Ya, why not? These people aren’t going to say anything.”
“How do you know?” She asked with a cock of her head. I gave a dark smile, “Because… I know.”
“Well, ok.” She said with a smile. “Yes, but you just can’t talk to them about justice, the robbery or my grandpa, deal?” I said strictly. She was practically shinning at this point. “Deal!” 
“Good, now, let’s go pick em up… Oh, and I didn’t know what you wanted, so I just got a little bit of everything” I said as I handed her the bag with all the veggies and fruits in it. She quickly dug in and began eating on some carrots and apples. I grabbed a delicious looking apple and began eating on it.
I started the truck, threw it in gear and began moving the large beast around the building towards the loading dock. I looked over to see the young mare practically bouncing in her seat as she ate, anxious to meet new humans, and actually talk to these ones. A quick minute and I found the loading dock and began to pull up.
No one was there, the door wasn’t up….were running late. “They were supposed to meet me here, where the fuck are they?”
“Maybe they have a lot of thing to pack.” 
“Well, they shouldn’t have to pack anything, it should have been a snatch and grab…now the only thing we can do is sit and wait.” We sat in silence, anxiously waiting for someone, something, some kind of sign that someone was coming out. ‘Did that fucker rat me out? Did he set me up?’ I thought. ‘No… he was far too happy to get rid of those guys.’ 
We waited for about 20 minutes and its shit like this that bring out my paranoia. They always say someone who’s paranoid is crazy, but when something happens and their ready, people call them geniuses. Funny how people think huh? 
My train of thought was cut short as I saw the large door move, then in a rush, the large door flew open about eight feet. The people I saw standing there made my blood boil. Memories of the video flashed in my mind.
I took a deep breath, tried to calm myself and put on a face. I have to stay under control if this is going to work, I’m so close, but still have a lot of work ahead of me.  Kameron and his twin brother, walking towards the truck. Kameron, a small red-head, about 5’6 tall and his brother, Chris, who was just a hair taller than him. And if I remember right, they are only a few hours apart, with Kameron being the oldest.
Now, I know what you’re thinking, Kameron killed my grandfather not Chris. Well what kind of person would I be to keep family apart? I chuckled at that thought… he will soon realize what it’s like to have the most important thing in your life and the only thing left in your life, taken away… Chris is all he’s got left… my grandpa was all I had… my train of thought was once again cut short at the sound of a finger tapping on my window.
I looked but only saw the top of some red hair. I laughed as I opened the door. I stepped out and standing before me was my grandpa’s killer, but I had to keep it together. So I smiled and hugged him like nothing was wrong. “God damn! What took you so long?” I asked.
Kameron looked at me and laughed under his breath. “Well, at first I didn’t believe him, I thought he was setting us up. Then he talked about that Russian whore, and I knew it had to be you.”
“HA! Yaaa, would you of believed him otherwise?”
“True, you do have a point.” He finished, embarrassment showing on his face.
I looked around, “Where’s Chris?” He looked at me and without saying anything he just pointed towards the other side of the truck. I looked over the hood of the truck and saw Chris. He was standing outside near the passenger window and just staring at Twilight. He turned at me and waved, I waved back and smiled. 
I turned back to see Kameron staring at me with concern. “What’s with the fucking purple unicorn in the front seat?”
“Eh, I’ll explain that later, but let’s load up and get the hell out of here; we’ve already been here too long.”
“I agree, let’s go, but where are you letting us stay?” he asked as he jumped in the truck crawled to the backseat, followed by his brother. I jumped in and shut the door. “My place…” I said flatly. “Really? You know, I don’t think I’ve ever been to your farm.”
“Really?” I said, starting to drive off. “…how about that…”
We made our way through the parking lot and turned to start our way back to the farm. We were on the main road when I caught Twilight staring at me nervously, as if know what she was thinking, I nodded and smiled. The mare moved to look at our new passengers. I chuckled and thought, ‘This should be good.’ “Hey Twilight, why don’t you introduce yourself?” at this point I was cracking up on the inside, ‘This is going to be hilarious.’ I thought. I looked at the rearview mirror to see our passengers, who weren’t paying much attention. 
“Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle, who are you?” You could of heard a pin drop, the only sound was of the engine and my light chuckles. “Well, don’t be rude, answer her.” I said with an amusing grin. Kameron and Chris where both stammering and tripping over their tongues. 
“I.. I’m Kameron, and this is my…uh.. little brother Chris…” he said, baffled and confused. Twilight simply looked at me and coked her head. “You got to remember sug, unicorns and magic are considered folk tale around here, especially talking ones.” “Oh… right, well at least they took it took it better than you did when you met me.” I started laughing, “I think it’s because there’s nowhere to run. HA!’ 
I heard shuffling in the back seat, I turned to see Kameron asking a question with his face. “Ya, she real, technically she’s an alien from a world filled with others like her… oh, and she can do magic, real magic, none of that David Copperfield shit.” 
“Right…” he said scooting closer towards Twilight. “Maybe your not as crazy as we all thought..”
Twilight looked at me and giggled, “Why does everypony…err, everyone you know think you’re crazy?”
“Honestly? I haven’t the slightest clue.” I replied
“Who.. Andy? HA! Shit, I remember the time when me and him snuck into the bar and that guy was talking shi…”
“NO Kameron!” I said abruptly cutting him off from telling any embarrassing, scary, incriminating, or downright scarring stories. “She’s pure; I don’t want my stories or this world corrupting her more than it already has.” I finished as I glared at him through the mirror. 
“Nope.. Still crazy, going on and on with that Native American and ‘the world is un-pure’ shit… but alright, I won’t scar her.” I just nodded. “Still, good to see you again buddy,” he finished. 
I simply nodded again and reached for the radio and turned it on. ‘Yes Kameron, if only you knew.’ I thought as we made our way back to the farm. Cruising down the long twisting and winding road, that was the back country. ‘if only you knew what I was thinking, if only you knew of the ways I was thinking of killing you, making you suffer, the way my mind was taking in your screams from the near future. So wonderful… so clueless.’
Then I had a thought, a brilliant plan. A plan that would give leeway for things if something went wrong or astray. Yes, the perfect plan. Dad always said, plan for the worst and hope for the best. So as we made our way down the road, my mind was engulfed in planning, thinking, and acting out in my head every possible situation with multiple solutions and outcomes. The hundreds of ways that I could make him suffer, and scream… bloodlust…. That’s what I had.
The drive was relatively quite aside from Twilight bombarding Kameron and Chris with questions. When we hit the bottom of the mountain the sky was near high and bright. I looked at my watch, noon… ‘Perfect,’ I thought ‘right on schedule.’ As we made our way up the mountain, getting closer and closer to our destination, my thoughts were racing and my grin was getting wider the closer we got. My train of thought was cut short as Twilight spoke, “Finally, were here. I need to stretch my hooves.”
As I looked up I saw the ranch, oh ya, I’m home. I was so caught up in my thoughts I didn’t realize we had gone as far as we had. ‘Huh, must have been on autopilot.’ I thought chuckling to myself. I shook my head and pulled into the front near the side of the house and turned off the truck.  I looked at my watch and saw 1:30. ‘Wow, I must have been deep in thought to have dazed out like that… should I be worried?’ I thought, ‘Pfft, of course not, we are fine just like this.... wait... What? Who said that? I didn’t think that… or did I?’ now I’ve talked to myself before…. But this was different. I shook my head again and felt a hoof on my leg. I looked to see Twilight asking a question with her worried face. 
“I’m fine, just... long drive. I don’t really like going into town. ” she smiled and opened the door with her magic and jumped out. “Kameron.” I said as I turned in the seat to look at him. “Yes?”he answered raising an eyebrow.
“You sure you haven’t been to my farm?”
“No, I haven’t. I remember it was your grandpa’s, you lived closer town for school but you moved, joined the military, and no one’s really heard from ya till now.”
“Ya.. I guess you’re right.” I said jumping out of the truck, followed by Kameron and his little brother. 
“Yep, nobody really, ever heard from you for a while, and when we did, you were kind of…. Off your rocker. Well more then you usually were…by a lot.” He finished nervously. I just chuckled a bit. “Well, I’m hungry, why don’t we get thing ready so we can have some late lunch?” I said looking at Twilight. They all nodded and agreed. 
We all started walking towards the house when I turned to Kameron and Chris. “Where in the hell you going? This aint no fucking Ramada Inn, you got to work for it.” 
They both stopped and stared at each other. I laughed a bit. “Kameron, you go and milk the cows and Chris, I need you to collect the eggs from the chicken coop, and I’ll start cooking some elk steaks while Twilight gets the salad ready.” They both nodded and stared to walk off, Kameron stopped and turned. 
“Hey, I ahh… don’t know how to milk a cow.” I just smiled, “That’s alright, I’ll show you in a second. Go get a bucket and I’ll be there in a minute.” He turned and walked off with his brother, once they were out of range, I followed Twilight into the house. The moment we entered and I shut the door, I turned and spoke to the young mare. “Twilight, listen, whatever you hear, whatever you think is going on, I need you to stay in the house. Ok?” she looked at me with a tilt of her head. “Just promise me, ok? Please.” 
She took a deep breath and sighed…”Ok, I promise, Cross my heart hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” She said putting her hoof over her eye.
“Thank you, now I’ll be back in a few, I just have to take care of a few things.” I said as I started to leave. “Andy?” Twilight said, the worry in her voice stopping me in my tracks. “They’re not going to be here for lunch… are they?”  I sighed, knowing what she meant. I’m trying to keep her from these things, not introduce her to it. “No.. They’re not, I’m going to give them justice and that will be the last you ever see of these bad people.”
“Does, justice hurt?” she asked so innocently I felt a pain in my chest. I sighed. “Sometimes…” I said feeling almost ashamed, but why? I left quickly trying to abandon those thoughts.
I started walking towards the corals and on my way I picked up a large, heavy shovel. I soon found Kameron trying to chase down a dairy cow and Chris was being chased by a rooster at the coop next to the house. “Fucking city folks,” I thought aloud as I walked up to Kameron. “You’re doing it all wrong, you got to coax her out, then take her to the milking stall.”
“Well, how in the hell do I do that?” he asked frustrated.
“Just be nice, show her that she can trust you, plus it doesn’t hurt to be good with animals or have food in your hand.”
“Ok, So where is the milking stall? And what is it?”
“A milking stall just makes it easier to milk a cow; it kind of boxes it in and cradles it so it don’t move.”
“Interesting.”
“Yes, and for your other question, it’s over here behind the shed, next to the meat locker.” I said a we walked over to the small single stall. As he was staring at the stall, I griped the shovel that I was leaning on tight. “Hey Kameron, I have a surprise for you.”
“Oh really?” he replied as he turned around. I lifted the shovel and swung it at his head as hard as I could, knocking him cold with a slight metallic “Twang”. 
I dropped the shovel and opened the door to the meat locker. Kamerons head trickling blood as I picked him up and put him inside. Once inside I found some rope and duct tape. I tied him up and taped his mouth shut. I then picked him up and hung him from a meat hook by the rope. I wiped the sweat away and walked back out, leaving my shovel and heading towards the chicken coop. 
I spotted Chris just finishing up with the eggs; somewhere he found the basket to put them in. I stopped, took a few deep, quick breaths and ran at him full speed yelling. “Chris! Chris! Come quick, he was kicked by one of the cows fell down and started going into a seizure, I need your help!” I yelled, pretending to be out of breath. He looked at me, trying to see if this was prank or not, “NOW!!” I yelled. 
That must of done it, he dropped the eggs and started running, I lead the way to the meat shed, Chris opened the door and froze to see his bloody brother, tied up, hanging from a meat hook. He turned around to say something but not a sound escaped his lips as hands grabbed his head, pulled, and twisted. A gory “Snap” was herd, like someone popping bubble wrap. He quickly fell to the ground in a heap, twitching ever so slightly. His body was face down in the dirt, but his head was turned like an owl, staring at me. I chuckled a bit, for some reason I found this funny. 
I calmed down, picked him up, and threw him in the meat locker, once in, I positioned his head to look the right way, sat him up in the corner and checked for a pulse... yep he’s dead. I stepped back and looked at my handy work, ‘if I didn’t know better, id think he was just chilling there, taking a break.’ said a voice... “HA!! Good one...” I replied and turned, but to my surprise...no one was there, "Well... its happening.. Damit. Guess its not really a surprise."
I cleaned up the blood, and shut the shed door as I walked out. As I stepped out, I looked at the cow and realized.. “Fuck,” I said aloud, “I still have to milk her… probably should have waited till after he milked her to knock him out...” 
"oh well, got to do what needs done.” I said aloud.
I sighed as I made my way to the dairy cow. After I had a big full bucket, I walked over to the basket that Chris had dropped bout an hour ago. I looked them over, “Only a few broken, that’ll do.” After all that was done I headed into the house and set the eggs and the milk on the counter near the sink. I looked to see Twilight sitting patiently at the table playing with cards. She just looked at me and smiled. “I made you a salad.”I looked to the middle of the table to see a very large salad bowl filled with a variety of vegetables and lettuce.  ‘It’ll work.. .’ I thought, ‘I’ll just cook some steaks and eggs later.’ 
“Thank you Twilight.”
“You’re welcome.”
I walked to the table and sat down across from Twilight. I grabbed the salad bowl and picked up the fork next to it and watched her play with cards in silence, as I started to eat a thought hit me.. 
“Hey Twilight.”
“Yes, Andy?” She replied looking up from her game.
“You say there are other ponies who have no magical abilities right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“And I can tell cards are a common thing on your planet, so how do ponies with no magical abilities play cards? You know, with no fingers and all.” I asked feeling a bit foolish. Twilight started at me a moment and then began giggling, and soon into laughter. After a moment of this, she calmed down and tried to speak. “Im sorry.. um.. it’s.. they just pick them up, just like you do..” she said.
“Ya, but how, without fingers?”
“They just do, It’s one of those things you know. But it’s a good subject to think on.” She replied grinning at me. I smiled back and nodded. ‘..Just one of those thing..’ I thought as I ate my salad.  
‘The salad was nice, but a steak would be awesome’. But the more I thought about it, ‘no, I don’t think I could put Twilight in that position. Her seeing me cook meat… that would almost be like me cooking another human and eating it… then again, its not like I haven’t had to do it before to survive… but that’s different’ I thought.. ‘Its..just one of those things..’