//------------------------------// // Chapter 30: Gearing up and saying goodbye // Story: Hatred of the Anti-Brony // by Angrywritingskills //------------------------------// Back inside the shelter there was a storm a brewing. Words were thrown and even a punch was thrown. But that was in the past. Now Derek, with a black eye, and Rodney were trying to make sense of it all. And I’m just sitting here laughing. “I can’t believe this shit!” Derek grumbled loudly. “Well you should.” Jess remarked. “You, you flushed our drugs.” Rodney said in disbelief. “Why?” “You damn know why.” Jess stated coldly. “I told you when you first came here. Don’t sell drugs to people here. Ponies and tourists are fine. Do you remember that rule?” “N-no!” Derek blurted out. “That was like two years ago.” “And it was the only rule so you should have remembered it.” Jess hissed. “But we figured that since Jim is your sugar daddy you’d make an exception.” Rodney explained. Jess looked in my direction and then quickly looked away. I on the other hand started to feel hot around the ears. “Hahaha, alrighty then guys.” I stood up laughing nervously. “There’s no point in dwindling in the past so let’s put this all behind us.” “But she,” Derek stammered. “But she what?” I put my arms around both Rod and Derek. “Cut off your only flow of income?” They gave me an angry look. “Alright now I understand why you’re so angry. But I can fix it.” “How?” Rodney asked. “I’m glad you asked.” I grinned. “I figure the Magic Mist must have lots of wealthy individuals in there. And money must flow through there like water. So what do we do? We interrupt that cash flow and take the money for ourselves. Imagine it. Rolex watches, gold chains, diamond rings, and we can take the hundred dollar bills out of the stripper’s thongs after we kill them.” “That’s only a temporary fix.” Rodney stated. “The money won’t last.” “Well it’s all I got.” I released them from my hold. “You’re clearly not selling drugs anymore. Not with your entire stock gone and the b-i-t-c-h watching over you.” I looked at Jess quickly to see if she was going to hit me. She looked pissed but not ready to strike. “I guess that’s all we have left to do.” Derek said rubbing his wounded eye. Jess had really got him good. He looks silly now. “I really want to kill some rich folk anyways,” he sneered. “That’s the spirit!” I exclaimed. “Now I need to get the rest of the gang. Hold on for a moment.” I quickly bounded over to where Jones and Erik were. They were brooding in the cafeteria. I’m betting they’re still pissed about my failure. But now it’s time to show them how much I’ve improved and made up for it. “Hey guys.” I said warmly, approaching them. “Fuck off Jim.” Erik said tiredly. He was slumped over the table. It was almost like he was defeated. “Guys,” I said sadly as my tone changed. “Please give me a chance.” “You fucked up Jim.” Jones pointed at me angrily. “You had your chance and you blew it.” “No!” I yelled, pointing back at him. There is no reason I should be blamed for this. “I didn’t fuck up! I went back and I forced that old fuck to give me what I wanted. We’re still in this. I tried my hardest and in the end I won.” I grabbed him by his collar. “So don’t tell me I fucked up! I didn’t!” “Get the hell off me!” Jones pushed me back with his powerful arms and I fell to the ground. Jones stood up and walked towards me with his fists clenched. When he was right above me he pulled his fist back. I flinched and shut my eyes in panic. “Wait!” Erik called. I open my eyes to see Jones was no longer about to hit me, and I saw that Erik was standing up. “So you didn’t fuck up? Does that mean you fixed everything?” he asked. “Y-yes, of course.” I muttered still on the floor. “Casey came and everything worked out. I got the guns, man.” “I see.” Erik nodded to Jones. “Pick the man up and let’s see for ourselves.” Jones held his hand out to me and I cautiously grabbed it. He yanked me to my feet hard. I swear my arm is going to come out of its socket if he does something like that again. “Thanks.” I murmured to him. “I really hope you actually settled this.” Jones snarled at me. “Because if you didn’t then you’re going back on the ground except you won’t be conscious.” “Oh I did. You can ask Casey when you see him.” I said dusting myself off. “Just give me a moment. I need to get Drake. Where’s Drake?” “He’s probably still sleeping.” Erik informed me. I headed off to the men’s quarters in search of Drake. I found him lying face down in his bed with his arm hanging over the side. He’s always like this at this time of the mornings. He’s kind of a night person due to his hobby. I walked over to him and gently shook him. “Drake.” I said calmly. “Wake up, we need you for something.” He moved just a bit. “Go away.” He murmured groggily. “Come on.” I pleaded, shaking him a bit harder. “We’re looking at guns.” He continued to just lie there. “How long were you out last night?” I asked. He didn’t respond and just continued to be lazy. I grabbed his arm that was hanging over the bed this time and yanked it. He promptly fell out of bed. “Come on get up.” I prodded him with my foot. “Do what Jesus Christ would do. He’d get up to look at guns.” Drake slowly opened his eyes and moaned. “Jesus hates me.” He said and began leaning forward to stand up. “No, no.” I said quickly and rubbed my hands together. “Jesus loves everyone. Well he does hate…” I looked at Drake. “Sorry forgot about that. You’re right. Jesus hates no one more than the gays.” “Uh huh.” Drake groaned and stood up. He stretched for a bit. “You still looking for a home?” I asked him. “Yep.” Drake yawned. “Looking for something in my price range though.” “Which is?” “Free.” Drake grinned. “Or as close as it comes to that.” “Not in Equestria, my friend.” I grinned back. “Not for us humans, ever.” “I don’t know.” Drake said. We were now walking down the hallway to the cafeteria. “Equestria likes its gays.” I stopped in my tracks. A thought had just penetrated my focus. “Fuck Rainbow Dash.” I blurted out randomly. “Heh, what?” Drake stopped and looked at me. I looked at him. There was a fire in my eyes. I still remember what she did to me so long ago. “Bitch ain’t even a dyke yet she’s the symbol of homosexuality.” I elaborated. “I don’t get that.” “It’s complicated.” Drake said. “I can explain it to you later. I know all about it.” “Sounds good.” I said as my mind wandered to something else. Pete was approaching us, walking down the same hall we were in. As he passed by us he gave me a quick nod. “Hey Jim.” He said softly like he always does. He continued walking away from us. I frowned and, using my arm, latched myself around his neck and pulled him in the other direction. “Where do you think you’re going?” I growled playfully. “I, um, uh.” He stuttered. “Come on. We’re looking at guns. Remember what you agreed to?” I walked him down the hall with Drake and me. “Drake this is Pete.” I introduced the two. “He’s with us.” “Awesome.” Drake shrugged. “We can always use another pair of hands for what we’re going to do.” “Exactly.” I nodded glad he didn’t object to Pete’s inclusion. I’m willing to bet the others aren’t going to be happy about Peter’s sudden inclusion into the group. After all he only joined when I was overdosing in the bathroom. I haven’t told anyone about him yet. We walked into the cafeteria, the three of us. I introduced Pete to the gang and they generally accepted him. They were cool with it, indifferent even. It was confusing to me but I accepted it. Pete was nervous but I could care less. The only one that was a bit skeptical was Jones. “What kind of experience do you have around guns, Pete?” He asked the kid. “Um, does Call of Duty count?” He laughed nervously, however no one laughed with him. “Absolutely.” I answered, happily. “Not.” Jones added onto my statement. “Don’t get me wrong, most of you guys have never picked a gun up in your life.” He eyed the whole group. “I’m just nervous you’ll shoot the wrong person, that being me.” “Ah that’ll never happen.” I boasted. “Accidents happen, Jim.” Jones said sternly. “And friendly fire happens more often than you’d think.” “Then everyone ought to stay out of my way.” I laughed but nobody laughed with me. Now I feel like Pete two seconds ago. “So Pete,” Erik said breaking the awkward tension that I created. “You know anything about computers?” “Uh, sure. Why do you ask?” Pete said. “Well I got a list.” Erik took out his list. “And one of the obstacles in our way is the security cameras. We do plan on leaving alive but there is that possibility they might be able to track us because they’ll know what we look like. We’re covering our faces but we want to have just a bit more obscurity.” “Well, I mean,” Pete got this harden look on his face. I could tell he was concentrating. “A lot of times with these places they’ll have what is called a closed circuit system. That means the system is linked to the building itself. If you’re worried about an outside source seeing it then all you’d have to do is delete the footage. There should be a mainframe somewhere.” I slapped Pete on the back. “I told you guys he was great.” “Guess we can check that off the list then.” Erik said and then put the list away. “Well let’s see the guns.” We all stood up and walked out the door. When we got out I saw that Casey was standing while Frank was still sitting. Everyone greeted Case and Pete introduced himself. “Good to have you on board.” Casey smiled. “You’ll have a great time. Trust me.” Pete nodded. Then Casey looked at me. “What’s up Jess?” Jess? “Hey Case.” I heard Jess’ voice behind me. I spun around, astonished. “When the fuck did you get here?” I exclaimed. “I’ve been here the whole time.” Jess retorted. “Maybe if you paid a little more attention you would’ve noticed.” “The only thing I notice is how nice you look today.” I sneered. As soon as I said it I covered my mouth. Everyone else remained silent although some of them were trying not to visibly laugh. I didn’t bother look at Jess’ expression. She’s probably about to hit me. “Alright! Can we get this over with?” Frank yelled getting all of our attention. “You’re not the ones giving away merchandise so you people can play commando. So let’s get this over with already.” “He’s right, everyone over here.” Casey said. He directed us to the crate. “The deal is you can arm yourselves as much as you can. But have a conscience please.” He glanced at Frank. “You are basically stealing.” We all approached the crate and after everyone had a brief look at it Jones decided he was going to organize this. “Alright Erik and I will pick the guns you can use.” Jones said. “I agree. Because we’re the only ones with experience, so we’ll decide based on what we think is best.” Erik and Jones took their places alongside the crate. “Now hold up.” Rodney held up his hand. “I don’t need you know it alls telling me what I can and can’t do.” “Yeah.” Derek chimed in. “I’m not letting the white man tell me what to do.” “Okay.” Jones crossed his arms. “You don’t want to cooperate? That’s fine.” He walked towards them until he was basically in their faces. I haven’t noticed until now, but Jones is huge. I mean Rodney is taller but not as bulky. Jones is a tank practically. That’s how I should be. Instead I’m stuck in this puny shape. God, I can just imagine what I could do if I was just a few inches taller and about thirty pounds heavier. Maybe nobody would’ve fucked with me. “Just listen for a moment, though.” Jones continued. “You go and fuck this up. Be it you run away or forsake us to the fuzz. I’m not letting you get away with your life. Think about it. I’m a good shot and it’ll only take one shot to your legs to send you down. So you can choose,” Jones got really close to the both of them. “It’s me or the cops.” “Hooray, hear that guys?” Casey came from behind Rodney and Derek and embraced them. “If you don’t listen then you’re pretty much fucking everyone over. And if you can go to jail for your own stupidity, I’m not defending your cases. You can find yourselves another lawyer.” After a couple seconds, the two must have gotten the hint. They shrugged Casey off their shoulders and that’s when I noticed something. Both of them looked kind of down. They were still angry but depressed at the same time. It’s like they want to say do something but they know they can’t. I can remember feeling like that. Hell, I feel like that right now. “Hey guys.” I whisper to them. “Remember, you’re doing this for the loot. I help you grab some. Promise.” I smiled at them but they gave me disheartening looks. Finally both of them turned away. “Alright people.” Jones said. “We’re only taking one gun each. It’s only fair.” He briefly looked at Frank who gave him a nod. “Everyone line up.” So we did. I got in the back. Erik and Jones both chose their guns first. They got out two bolt action rifles. The rifles were like the sniper I had used except without the scope, and these had a lighter wood color. Wonder why they chose those. I would think they would want something with a bit more rate of fire. Whatever, they’re the experts. Next up was Drake. He walked over with a bit of a sway and looked into the crate. Erik reached in and handed Drake a handgun. Drake just stared at it plainly and fumbled it around a little. When Jones motioned for him to move on, Drake just shrugged. Then he reached back into the crate and pulled out a machete. Erik’s eyes widened and Drake grinned at him. “Put that back.” Jones said sternly and reached for the weapon. “No can do boss.” Drake flicked the blade at Jones’ fingers, causing him to pull back. “I always wanted one of these.” “You really think you’re gunna get close enough to use that?” Erik asked. “Oh yeah.” Drake nodded. “It’ll be easy.” With that he walked away. Next up was Rodney and Derek. Jones reached into the crate and, to my surprise, handed both of them shotguns. That really brightened their attitudes. Derek grabbed his gun and cocked it back. Jones just about had a heart attack. “Could you not do that?” He growled. “Makes me uncomfortable.” “Calm down, bitch.” Derek sneered. “My second cousin died from one of these. I know plenty about the danger.” With that the two marched off to examine their guns further. Next person was Pete. Damn, did he look nervous. When he walked it was with a shake and he really didn’t like looking at Jones and Erik. Why are we bringing him along? Oh yeah, he’s disabling the cameras. They handed Pete a handgun and he held it tightly. “Is this-is this it?” He said looking at the gun. “Can’t I have something a little, you know, bigger.” Jones frowned at Pete. “For the love of God! Will you stop pointing that fucking thing at me?” Pete winced as he realized he indeed was pointing the gun carelessly at people. He lowered it. “S-sorry.” He stammered. “I should have known better.” “Yeah you should have.” Erik sneered. “Maybe when you can be a little bit more careful we’ll let you handle something bigger.” “I figure I might survive a nine millimeter. Right Erik.” Jones said. “Oh sure.” Erik nodded. “But I don’t know about a shotgun shell to the chest.” He smirked. “Besides I’d rather have the least experienced with the least damaging weapons.” Pete walked away and then it was just me. I walked up to the crate like it was a shrine. Jones looked at Erik. Their eyes met and they exchanged expressions. Jones then exhaled and reached into the crate, taking out a handgun. He held it out to me. “Really?” I said expressionless. “A measly pistol?” “Yes.” Jones said. “You’re wild and out of control. I’m not risking my life over the fact that you might be trigger happy too.” “That’s bullshit.” I complained. “I came up with this idea so I should get to choose my own gun.” “Listen.” Jones put the pistol back and closed the crate. “You may have come up with the idea but it was our planning,” he motioned to him and Erik “that made it a reality.” “No.” I growled. “I got the guns. I got the masks. I’ve contributed more than others have.” “Very true.” Erik said walking in front of the crate. “But, Jim, you have to understand that for this to happen correctly, there must be order. We need a plan and people need to be able to take orders. Don’t think we’re doing this to insult you. We’re doing this to make your idea become a reality. We’re just planning this like a military operation. It’s all Jones and I know.” I looked away. Everyone was eying their guns. Well except for Jess who was watching me, and Casey and Frank. My eyes eventually found themselves on Rod and Derek’s shotguns. They were so pristine and big. I can guarantee that those shotguns will be doing most of the killing. Rodney and Derek are going to be at the forefront of it all and I want to be there with them. Except nobody will let me. A thought popped in my head. I don’t want a shotgun. No, there’s a specific one that I need. “Jones,” I looked at him. “Give me the pistol.” “Right on.” He said and opened up the crate. As soon as he did I dived into it, putting half my body into it. “What are you doing?” Erik asked, surprise and angry. “Get out of there.” “Where is it? Where is it?” I muttered ignoring my friend. My hands were pushing guns out of the way in search of what I was looking for. Sure there really wasn’t much that needed to be moved but I figured that maybe it was hiding behind one of the bigger ones. Eventually Jones pulled me out. “Alright.” He frowned. “What was that about?” “I was looking for something.” I explained. “It’s,” I winced realizing that to tell him what I was looking for would be to tell him about my first meeting with Frank. That would be bad. “It’s what?” Jones asked. “Nothing, never mind.” I said trying to play it off. “Take this damn pistol!” Jones growled shoving the barrel of it in my stomach. But I refused to take it. “Jim!” I suddenly heard Frank call. He was beckoning me over. Jones gave me a confused look and I shrugged in response. I walked over to Frank. He was still sitting and I could tell he was still in pain. Pain that probably wasn’t just from the fall he took but that fact he was giving his products away for free. I wouldn’t want to be him right now. “Is there something you want?” I asked him. “No,” He replied. “There’s something you want.” He reached behind his back. I figured it was because it was hurting him again but I was wrong. Instead he pulled out a shiny metal object. I gasped. “My uzi!” I exclaimed. I reached for it but refrained myself at the last second. I remember now that it’s not my uzi any more. “I figured you’d be looking for this.” Frank said, lying it down on his lap. “You’d be surprised how hard it is to find a buyer for this thing.” “Yeah it’s your only automatic weapon.” I said. “I expected that to be gone the day you got it.” “Yeah well here’s the thing.” Frank smiled. “I’m not willing to give this thing up unless I get the proper price. So there’s that. And then somebody once told me it would be too hard to conceal. That guy ended up buying a shotgun so I wonder why he was giving me shit about concealment.” “Yeah,” I nodded my head. “That thing is plenty fine at hiding. You just gotta,” I paused and remember how Bill had caught me with that thing “never mind it’s hard to conceal.” Frank looked at me and picked up the uzi. “So,” he said. “You want it?” “Yes!” I exclaimed surprising the old man. “Alright calm down for a sec.” Frank shifted around a bit until he was comfortable. “Let’s make a deal.” I gave him a questioning expression. “A deal? What kind of deal?” “A simple one for your dumbass.” Frank grunted and pointed at me. “The deal is you have to stop annoying me from now on. That means after this is all over, you leave me alone for good.” A pang of sadness hit me. It made me feel cold and small. “Don’t worry.” I said in a low voice. “I don’t think you’ll be hearing from me after this is over anyway.” “I don’t know.” Frank said. “Casey seems to think you’ll be fine.” “Casey ain’t risking his neck.” I replied. “True.” Frank held the gun up to me. “Take it,” he said. “Hope it helps you get what you want.” “I hope so too.” I said grabbing the uzi. It felt heavier than usual for some reason. I swung it up so the barrel was pointing upward. “Hmmph,” Frank grunted. “What?” I asked. “I was just thinking how much better it will be to have a private bedroom instead of what I have here.” He said. “Oh, right.” I replied. “Well I can’t say it was good talking to ya again, Jim.” Frank said as he leaned back. “But I’m glad to finally get you out of my hair.” “Yeah, yeah it was a blast.” I said nervously. “See ya around kid.” Frank grinned. “Oh wait, no I won’t.” “Yeah, bye.” I stiffly turned around and walked away. Now I was holding the uzi close to my chest. For some reason it is so dear to me. I’ve never used it once but I feel like it is a part of me. Thoughts raced through my head about what would happen if something ever happened to it. Sure my friends can die but at least this thing can’t die. I’ll keep it safe. And I’ll name it George. Not looking where I was going, I bumped into Rodney. “Sup Jim,” he said. “Are you- oooo wait a minute.” He looked at George. “What do you got there?” he pointed. “Oh you like it?” I held the uzi up. “I want one of those instead.” Derek said also admiring my weapon. “This was the only one. Sorry.” I replied. Just then, Erik and Jones approached us. “Jim are you done goofing off? Whoa.” Jones noticed my uzi too. “Is that was I think it is?” Erik leaned it. “Yup.” I grinned proudly. “A genuine mini uzi.” “Could I just see it for a sec?” Erik asked with an outstretched hand. I held George close to my chest again. “I, uh.” “Just give it to me.” Erik snatched George out of my hands. A whine escaped my lips which sent strange looks in my direction. So I just remained silent as Erik defiled my buddy. “Interesting.” He said. “Pretty clean and relatively new I might add.” “Huh?” I grunted, paying more attention to how his hands were gliding over it. “What I mean is.” Erik held the gun up for me. “This type of Uzi is a newer model than what you probably are accustomed to. The mini Uzi was developed in 1982 but this model is significantly different than the 80’s model. For instance the foldable stock is much slimmer and there is much more weight at the front.” Erik swung it a bit. “This makes it easier to maintain balance while firing. That function wasn’t added until later. I believe some kid shot himself on accident because it was so light.” “That’s great, Erik.” I said quickly. “But I would really like” “And the sights are different too.” Erik interrupted me. “They’re much easier to see because of the white parts. Also this one goes fully auto. That shouldn’t be available to civilians.” “Okay I get it!” I exclaimed. “You know a lot about guns. Now give me back George!” “George?” Erik questioned right before I ripped it out of his hands. I cradled George and looked angrily at everyone. “Alrighty then.” Jones stepped forward. “What I want to know is how you got that?” I looked at George. “Oh uh, Frank gave it to me.” “I knew it!” Rodney yelled suddenly. “That old fuck is holding out of us!” “Yeah.” Derek snarled. “Let’s shake him down.” “Guys, stop.” Jones stepped in front of him. “What did I say before? We need to hear him out first. Then we’re imprinting the pavement with his face.” The three grinned and stomped over to Frank. I was busy admiring my gun but my conscience hit me. I looked up to see the three looming over Frank, and Frank didn’t look happy to see them. I walked over just to make sure everything was going to be okay. “For the last time, I don’t have what you’re looking for.” Frank stated irritated. “Then where’d Jim get that?” Rodney asked motioned at me with his head. “The uzi?” Frank peered at me. “He gave that to me a while ago. I just returned it.” My blood froze and my hands got clammy. Frank looked like he just swallowed a bug on accident or something. “He gave it to you?” Jones asked. “Meaning it was his before.” Jones looked at me. Frank shook his head. “I’m sorry kid. I didn’t mean to do that.” He looked at me with sad eyes and I looked back. “If it wasn’t you then it would’ve been me to say it.” I said quietly. Now I have a mission. Don’t tell them about Fluttershy. Don’t tell them about Fluttershy. I can’t escape the uzi story but if it leads to Bronycon then I’m done. “How the fuck?” Derek started. “Did you get a fully automatic gun past EQ borders?” I balanced myself on my toes a bit before answering. “I didn’t.” I hugged George. “I used to have a car. A jeep to be exact. And I used it to get here illegally. Drove it into the back of a fruit truck and I made it through.” Everyone was surprised by that. Not one of them withheld shock. “Whoa.” Rodney took a step back. “You telling me you’re an alien?” He shook his head. “I should’ve figured.” “That’s impressive, Jim.” Jones admitted. “You got lucky. Orientation into this place was humiliating.” “What’s it like?” I asked randomly. “I hear it’s bad.” “It’s just some bullshit about how we need to keep our human instincts under control.” Jones explained. “Apparently we might be apt to violence if someone fucks with us. Go figure?” He looked at George. “I just wanna know how you got that. You must have heard about the world wide gun laws.” “Yeah I did.” I said painfully. With the introduction of pony ideals, one of the main topics was how to stop violence. That was very broad challenge but that was the point. They wanted to stop any type of violence, be it as small as a play ground fight to as big as war, they wanted it to stop. So the solution they came up with, ponies and bronies, was to prohibit the ease of acquiring weapons to fund this violence. After some advertisement campaigns its seemed to go into effect and the relinquishment of modern firearms was started. Of course there was resistance. Ignoring the fact that what the ponies were doing was basically stealing; most people didn’t want to give up their guns. The good US of A was the most notorious example. To do what the Equestrians wanted meant changing the Constitution, and the founding fathers would have rose from the dead if we did that. However, in the end we Americans didn’t have to change anything. Eventually the argument for the pro-gun party became that guns were to protect the citizens from a corrupt government and Equestria respected that, although I have no idea why. It didn’t stop them from applying harsh laws that cripple our rights but it stopped them from crossing out the second amendment entirely. I really don’t know what happened in the rest of the world. Although I imagine that those damn socialists in Europe went right along with it all. My problem is that by giving up our weapons, we are left defenseless to those with more power. So then we must rely on them to make the right decisions. Well I don’t trust any Equestrian so I’m never going to submit to their rules. “Jim!” Frank yelled, snapping me out of my euphoric trance. “Jones asked you where you got the uzi.” “Oh, um, sorry.” I winced. “Actually it’s really interesting. I bought it somewhere down south in America. It might have been Florida or whatever is above it.” “That would be Georgia.” Jones said. “Yeah whatever.” I continued. “Point is I was in a ghetto and I was surrounded by spooky black people. Like Rod and Derek except I wanted to shit myself because I didn’t know what was going to happen.” “Watch yourself, Jim.” Rodney smirked. “I might snap at any minute.” “Yeah,” I smiled back. “Point was I was looking for a gun to, um,” now is the time to lie. I don’t want to tell them I planned to kill innocents. Seems kind of counterproductive now but that’s beside the point. “I wanted to protect myself. I never planned on using it. It was just to scare people off. And if someone tried to cut me off while I was driving then I’d flash it at em.” “That’s what I’d do.” Derek agreed. “Nobody would fuck with me if I had one of those.” “Well other than the police.” I told him. “I bought it off some hood rat. He sold it to me for a steep price too. I emptied my pockets that day and slept with an empty stomach that night.” “Was it worth it?” Jones asked. “Don’t know?” I answered honestly. “I never used this thing. Too busy hiding it so I don’t get fucked by authorities.” “Mhm, so when does he come into this?” Jones asked, pointing to Frank. “Right,” I said rubbing my face. “Well I was in Equestria and I found myself in New Canterlot. This was before the assassination by the way. And I ran into Frank and he thought I was a different customer.” Frank grinned half heartedly. “We talked and I sold him the uzi.” “You sold it?” Jones said. “Why?” Frank and I both exchanged glanced but I was out of ideas. We all stood there silently until Frank broke the silence. “He needed the money.” He said. “So I bought it from him and that’s the end of the story.” Before anyone could say anything else, Erik stepped from out of nowhere. He looked really excited. It was like it was his birthday or something. “Guess what guys,” he said mysteriously. “We are one step away from finalizing preparations. All we need is a vehicle. And guess what?” He took a step to the side. “Jess decided to donate her car.” “You guys are sooo welcome.” Jess bragged walking towards us. The shock hit all of us together. This news came out of nowhere. But the thing is, this isn’t bad news. In fact it’s the opposite. So the shock faded and it was replaced with gratitude. At least for me it was. “That’s awfully generous of you.” Jones said, smiling. “Eh, it’s getting old and it’s not even registered. It’s over there by the way.” Jess pointed to an old white van. Sure enough it was missing a license plate and there was rust on the bumper and the paint. Also it was plain white with a small back window. A chuckle escaped my throat. “So, um,” I stifled my laughter. “We gunna be rolling up in the pedo van?” “Yo,” Derek giggled with me. “I was thinking the same thing.” We both snickered as everyone else looked at the van and came to the same conclusion. “It is not a pedo van.” Jess said stiffly. “My father bought that van.” “Did he give candy out of the back of it too?” I said with barely contained laughter. “Do you want the van or not?” Jess growled. “Because I have no problem with it sitting there for another year.” “Yes we want it, of course.” Erik said. “It’s perfect, Jess. Unlicensed so untraceable.” I made my way next to Jess and stared at her. “So,” I said quietly so only she could hear. “you finally support us?” “I don’t support anything you guys do.” She whispered back to me. “I’ve told you this.” “Yeah but the hats and now this.” I said back to her. “I mean thank you. With your help we’ll kill them all and be back for dinner.” Jess’s eyes widened and she looked at me quickly. Then she stomped on my toes. I yelped in pain. “Just be happy I’m not trying to stop you.” With that she stomped off. I saw Casey come from around the corner of the shelter. I was surprised because I didn’t even see him leave. He looked a bit worried though. He walked over to Frank and they talked for about a sec. “Alright, Jones,” Casey called. “Can you and Rodney lift the crate back into Frank’s truck? We’re leaving soon.” I see why he asked Rodney and Jones. They’re the biggest dudes out of all of us. It makes me wonder how Frank ever got that crate out by himself. When they successfully lifted the crate into the truck, I realized that this was the end of Frank. He was off after this. “Hey Frank,” I called to him. “Just a quick question. How’d you ever lift that crate on your own?” The question was really nagging me. “I didn’t,” Frank replied. “I had to get the customers to help me.” Well that explains it. Maybe I can get him to stay longer though. “Alright, one more thing,” Casey turned to Frank. “We need to give them ammo.” “Aaaah,” Frank groaned. “You guys are killing me. In Jim’s case quite literally.” I kind of looked away in shame when he said that. “Anyways, go check the floor of the truck. The ammo is under there.” Frank unlocked his truck with his keys and Casey opened the back door. I peered in to see Casey remove a panel in the truck’s floor. Underneath it was a conglomeration of assorted ammunition. I personally had no idea what I was looking at. It all looked like a bunch of gold and occasionally red mess of brass metal to me. “Jones, you’re the expert,” Casey said to him. “How much do you need?” “Lemme see,” Jones looked into the truck. “Erik,” he called. “Get over here.” Erik went over to inspect the ammo. Eventually he began counting on his fingers. “Shit,” Erik mumbled. “How are we supposed to carry all this?” “Oh right,” Jones said. “It’s not like we got some molle vests lying around.” “Is there a problem here?” Casey asked them. “Yeah we need a way to carry all the ammo we need.” Jones explained. “The problem is we have nothing at all other than our pockets.” “That is a problem,” Casey said rubbing his chin. He looked at me. “What about you Jim? Got any suggestions?” I blinked. I hadn’t been a part of their conversation, just a spectator. But I had an idea. “Um, maybe bags?” I suggested. “Like bags that could clip to our waists.” “Jim that is the dumbest idea I have ever heard.” Jones scowled me. I won’t lie, it kind of hurts that he said that. I’m just trying to help. “But,” Jones continued to my surprise. “It’s all we got.” He nodded to me. “Know where Jess keeps the freezer bags?” I did. She keeps them next to the fridge. So I went and got the box they were in. They were Ziplocs gallon bags. Pretty reliable brand is you ask me. I walked back over to the truck. “Got em,” I said. I began taking some out of the box they were in. I got a good handful of them when I heard laughing. It was hysterical sounding and I didn’t exactly recognize it at first. I found out that it was Frank who was laughing. He was just sitting and laughing his head off. At what I don’t know. “This guy’s losing it,” Casey said pointing at Frank. “I was just,” Frank stammered trying to stop giggling. “I was just thinking how ridiculous you guys are.” “You got to get by with what you got.”Jones said to him. “It’s not that,” he waved his hand, smiling. “Living on ramen noodles, that’s getting by with what you got. You guys on the other hand are just rag tag. All of you are crazy in your own rights. Come on Casey.” Frank held his arm out. “Help me to my truck. I want to leave as soon as possible.” Casey grabbed Frank by the arm and helped him up. They walked over to the driver’s side and Frank hopped in. I handed the freezer bags to Erik and Jones and they started filling them up. After that I didn’t really pay much attention and instead focused on other things. For the most part I noticed how calm everything was, especially the weather. Still don’t like how it’s sunny every day. It’s unnatural. Right now it should be cloudy because a thunderstorm is coming. Before I knew it, Casey and Frank had driven off. I didn’t even get a chance to say a final goodbye which tore me up a bit. On the other hand I was glad that Frank was safe now because he deserves the rest after everything he has sacrificed. We all tossed our weapons and ammo into the purple dumpster for safekeeping until we would have to use them. It was my suggestion to do so. It’s a good hiding place if you think about it. Nobody really wants to check a dumpster. I looked around. Everyone was done with their guns and didn’t know what to do now. Heck, I don’t know what to do now. Well I’ll just go down the checklist of things that need to be prepared. We have the disguises, we have the guns, we have a solution to the cameras, we know the layout, and we finally have a vehicle. Is that really everything? Can’t be. “Good news everyone.” Erik suddenly announced. We all looked at him. “We’re all set.” “You mean we’re done preparing?” Jones asked. “Yep,” Erik replied. “Finished?” Drake asked. He was leaning against the building. “Uh huh.” Erik nodded. “Complete?” I also asked. “Yes,” Erik rolled his eyes. “Concluded, ended, fulfilled, wrapped up. Point is we can now go now.” Erik looked around. “So how about tonight?” “Tonight?” I exclaimed. “That sounds good with me.” Jones said. “Me too.” Drake added. “We’re cool.” Rodney also said to represent Derek and his decision. “Tonight!” I repeated with the same amount of worry. “I’m sorry. Is there a problem, Jim?” Erik growled at me. “Well, uh,” there is a massive problem. I’m just not ready for tonight. It seems so soon. I still might wanna do things. With someone maybe. I need more time to just do my thing. I want something a bit more before I go to die. “Actually tonight is kind of bad.” Peter said. He hasn’t spoken much. “Don’t you think we’re all rushing into this?” “Don’t be a pussy,” was Derek’s immediate response. “Look new guy.” Jones stood in front of Pete. He leaned against him a bit. “You’re young and new so you probably want to experience life some more. Well guess what? Everyone here wants to do that too.” He put his hand on Pete’s shoulder. “You’re with us now. You signed your life away like I signed my life to the Marine corp. Understand?” Pete gulped. “Yes sir.” He said sheepishly. “And do you understand, Jim?” Jones turned to me. I gulped. “You want this more than us so you better say ‘hell yeah’ when we say it’s tonight. Got it?” He’s right. I clenched my fists. “Well then what are we waiting for?” “That’s the spirit.” Erik said happily. “Now remember it’s the weekend so it should be especially packed. Everyone best be on their game today.” “Also,” Jones cleared his throat. “We did this in the corp. If you have anything you want to do before this, then get it done before it’s too late.” He walked off after that. “Yeah maybe try and contact your families. Write a letter.” Erik suggested. “Is that what you’re going to do?” I asked Erik. “Of course not.” He answered. “Might blow our cover. Besides I ain’t got nothing to say.” “What about you, Drake?” I looked at my friend. He grinned wickedly. “My step daddy fucked me in the ass and my mom was addicted to heroin.” Drake said venomously. “So is that a yes?” I grinned nervously. He put his hand on his chin. “Maybe.” He shrugged and walked off too. “What about you two?” I asked Rodney and Derek. “Ain’t got nothing to go back to.” Rodney said. “So why bother?” “Yeah, nothing but up from here.” Derek added before both of them went back inside the shelter. I looked at Pete, the last one out here. “And you?” “Eh,” he shrugged. “I’ll just write a letter and hand it to Jess. Maybe she’ll get it through.” “That’s not a bad idea.” I said as I thought up a letter. “I’m so glad I thought of it. You’re welcome Pete.” “Alright, Jim. Whatever you say.” Pete waddled off and I bounded into the shelter. I found Jess washing dishes. I was about to ask her when I suddenly paused. Inadvertently I found myself admiring her, erhm, special assets. I’ll admit I’m gunna miss them when I’m dead. I’m gunna miss everything about her when I’m gone. That is why I’m gunna leave her with a note, which is why I need to get paper from her. But first I’ll take another sec to admire, or maybe a minute. “Can’t I help you, Jim?” Jess suddenly turned around, clearly annoyed. Shit! “I wasn’t looking at your ass or anything.” I said cleverly hiding what I was doing. “Uh huh, that’s very likely,” she said. Nice, she believed me. “So what do you need?” she asked. “Just a pen and paper,” I said. “Oh okay.” She reached into a cabinet next to here. “What exactly do you need this for? If you don’t mind me asking.” She handed me a pen and a notepad. “We’re leaving tonight, Jess.” I told her somberly. “Tonight?” She leaned against the sink. “Why tonight? You have all the time in the world.” “I don’t know.” I admitted. “They want to go, so who am I to say no?” “It was your idea in the first place.” Jess reminded me. “My idea, their reality.” I stated. “Jones told us to make peace before we go.” “I thought you guys were confident you’ll make it back?” Jess asked. “Oh we are,” I lied. “It’s just a precaution I guess. I’m writing a letter.” “Family?” she asked. A chord was struck. I can’t write to my family. I don’t know where they are. We haven’t talked in six years. I’ve been gone for so long. “Uh, no,” my voice quivered. “No one else is writing to their families so I won’t either.” “Hey I understand if you don’t want to bring up your family,” Jess said softly. “Not many people around here like to talk about theirs’.” “I could tell,” I turned around. “Thanks for the paper, Jess. Pete’s also writing a letter. Don’t know who to.” “See ya around, Jim.” Jess said to me. “And don’t worry. I think you’ll be fine.” Before I left I changed into my jumpsuit. I wanted to be ready as soon as I got back. I walked out the shelter door. There is a new friend I need to visit. Well technically two new friends. *** I swung the doors to the church open. I took a quick look around. It really looks different in the daytime. So much brighter and easier to see everything. I don’t know if I like it. I looked around for Rick but couldn’t find him. He must be gone or something. That’s fine because I need time alone right now. I need to write this letter. It’s special. So I got down to writing it. I knelt down at the shrine and used the marble surface as a platform. Each word I wrote seemed to come out of nowhere. It was like I was possessed. The words were writing themselves. Sentences lead to more sentences and eventually it formed a paragraph. Then I started another. There was no thought involved in this letter and I found it was done in no time. I quickly read through the letter. I turned my head to the shrine. Four candles were burning next to the cross. I cast the edge of my letter into the flame and set it ablaze. I watched the fire start from the corner and then spread. As it caught and turned my words to ash I cursed myself. This letter was terrible. I don’t know what I was thinking writing it. It’s so cheesy. Behind me the door opened. It closed soon after and that’s when I heard footsteps running towards me. The burning paper was quickly snatched out of my hand. “What are you doing?” Pastor Rick wailed as he frantically waved the paper in an attempt to put it out. It did go out eventually but only after it came dangerously close to his fingers. He looked at me. “The fuck was that? Were you trying to burn this place down?” “Uuuuuh,” I only made a noise because my brain wasn’t working for some reason. “Jesus Christ, you were weren’t you?” He snarled and grabbed me. “This is my church, ya hear? It’s the only church in Equestria. You will not destroy it! No while I’m around.” He threw me on the ground. “Whoa, hey man.” I held up my hand, regaining my senses. “I wasn’t trying to burn this place down. I’m not a godless pony. I’m a human. I have respect for this place. All humans should.” Rick took a step towards me. He seemed angry. Then suddenly the anger ended. “Eh, I just wish people visited me more often.” He helped me up. “Sorry about the fire.” I apologized. “I wasn’t really thinking.” “Well I guess it’s my fault for leaving lit candles while I was away.” Rick craned his neck and looked at my notepad. “So what were you doing with that paper anyway?” he asked walking over to the shrine. “I was writing a letter.” I answered him. “Tsk,” he snickered. “Really? Who writes letters? It’s all digital now.” He extinguished one of the candles, with just his fingers. “Yeah well I was just,” he extinguished another candle and now I was fully distracted. “Hey could I try that?” I asked. “What?” Rick put out another one. “This?” “Yeah,” I nodded my head. Rick licked his index finger and thumb and proceeded to extinguish the last candle. “Sorry, I didn’t want you to burn yourself.” He handed me back the notepad and pen. “But anyways, tell me about this letter.” “Oh well it’s complicated,” I was having a hard time trying to word this. I don’t want to tell him I’m gunna shoot up a strip club. But on the other hand I do. I feel like he’s the type of guy that I could tell anything and he wouldn’t flip his shit. I mean I know he doesn’t like ponies so it must be okay. “Take your time, Jim.” Rick said reassuringly. “I have time.” “Alright,” I looked at the notepad. “Could you just give me a few minutes? I need to rewrite the letter and then I’ll tell you everything.” “Alright then I’ll let you have some space,” He began walking away. “If you need me I’ll be in this office back here.” He pointed to a closed door. “I’ll probably be watching porn or some shit. If I am then don’t disturb me.” Rick retreated into his office, leaving me alone. I began rewriting the letter and it was harder this time. I don’t want to make it sound dumb so I’m focusing on the wording. But this focus just made the job so much harder to do. It’s like every word is wrong and I have to rethink it before writing it again. What’s worse is I keep crossing out mistakes so there’s chicken scratch all over my paper. But through determination I did finish the letter. I reread it and I could safely say it wasn’t as bad as the last. I mean sure I kind of poured my heart out here but it’s not as bad as it could be. It’s pretty much gets the point across. I then took the time to transfer it onto another sheet of paper so there wouldn’t be any crossed out words. The process took no time at all and I crumbled up the rough draft. I looked for a trash bin but couldn’t find one. Aggravated I just stuffed the rough draft into my pocket. I then neatly folded the final draft and put it in my other pocket. Looking around the church, I found the room where Rick had gone into. I opened it up and found Rick sitting behind a desk, looking at his laptop. When he saw me he must have jumped about ten feet in the air. “Jim, ARGH!” he screamed and slammed the laptop shut. “Damn it, man,” he was holding his chest. “Ever hear of knocking first? I was just. The girl was just. She was.” He looked at me menacingly. “You better have something good to say.” I just twiddled my thumbs. “So uh, it’s been a while since I’ve seen two people doing it. Actually the last time I did was I was in a parking lot and saw this couple doing it in their car. I remember the girl was fat and the guy was like super skinny. Anyways, I got interested so I tapped on their window and asked if I could join in. The funny thing about it all is I can still remember their faces. At least the girl seemed interested. Anyways I’ve had to go without for a long time. Hey, is it true that the church teaches masturbation?” Rick took a while to respond. He blinked and cleared his throat. “I’m really not gunna justify what you just said with a response.” He stood up. “Hey, could I ask you something?” “Sure?” I have no idea what he wants. “Have you or did you ever have trouble with girls?” He tried to sound innocent, I could tell. Oddly I felt nothing really offensive about this, though I feel I should be offended by such a question. So I’m gunna tell the truth. “No, well actually.” Technically I didn’t get much tail after the whole ripping someone’s face off incident, but I’m not telling Rick that. “You’re not gunna tell me another fucked up tale, are you?” Rick asked cautiously. “No,” I replied, though I’m not too sure of myself. “I just wanna make a… confession.” “Hold it.” Rick exclaimed. He walked over to me. “If you’re gunna confess.” He put his arm around me. “Come on I have something I always wanted to do.” He lead me out of his room and back to the pews. “What are we looking at?” I asked. “There,” he pointed to giant box looking thing. It was big enough to have two doors and was made of a dark colored wood. And again, like a lot of things in this place, it was ornate with carvings of crosses all over it. “What is that?” I asked a bit bewildered. “A confession booth.” Rick answered proudly. “I never got to use this, so whadda you say?” He let go of me. “Actually I think that’s perfect right now,” I admitted. It was really convenient right now. At least I won’t have to deal with a face to face confrontation now. Rick grinned and bounded through one of the doors. I entered the opposite one. Inside the booth was dark. The only light that came in was through the door I had just entered in. At least the place seemed clean. I’m just wondering about anyone else that could’ve been in here before. I can tell this booth isn’t new. I imagine it was in another church before it came here. This place must have heard some terrible things that must’ve only been shared by two other people. It seems holy like the shrine. Still I can’t help shake how dark it is. I sat down on a bench inside here with me. Then a little slot to the left of my head opened up. Two eyes peered out of it. “So,” Rick said. “What’s on your mind?” “Geez, where do I start?” I lounged back in my seat. “Uh, forgive me father for I have sinned.” “Ah let’s skip that bullshit.” Rick groaned. “Okay,” I coughed nervously. “Actually to clarify, it’s not that I’ve sinned but it’s that I plan to.” “Right, I remember that part.” Rick said. “I overheard your prayer. You pray like you’re talking to a friend.” “Is that a bad thing?” I asked worriedly. “Depends on the sect.” Rick answered. “But please go on.” “Well this is where it gets hard to explain.” I said. “Alright, do you think it’s easy to live in Equestria?” “What do you mean by that?” Rick asked. “I mean for us humans.” I said to give more detail. “Has Equestria made it easy for humanity to survive in this environment?” “Ah, geez,” Rick exhaled. “No they really haven’t. I mean there’s a reason I try to help people because I can see suffering. But I figure that it’s a problem everywhere.” “Yeah because ponies made it a problem everywhere.” I responded, getting a bit angry. “Trust me when I say that. You go anywhere now and you’re fucked. Every country now is intertwined to those bastards. They want to kill us all but they know they can’t do it all at once. So they’re gunna bleed us to death until humans are an endangered species. There was this one time where I was on the outskirts of a farm and I came across a herd of cows. I was thirsty so I” “I’m gunna stop you right there.” Rick interrupted me. “I think I’ve heard enough stories from you today. Just tell me how you’re gunna sin.” “Alright,” I said trying to get my brain back on track. “Where was I? I’m sinning, I’m sinning. Oh right.” I sat up straight. “Did I ever tell you I live in a homeless shelter?” “No,” Rick replied. “Well I do,” I shifted around in my seat. “Actually I heard about this place from someone there. You were giving out crackers one day?” “Oh yeah. I had some extra food so I was giving it away.” Rick said. “Why?” I asked. “Because I could. Also I felt I should,” Rick said. “Oh,” that’s nice of him. “Anyway a while back some buddies and I were having a discussion. Basically we’re sick of being homeless and sick of these ponies. Just today we got our hands on some guns and we’re planning on using them,” I got closer to the slot. “Watch the news tonight. We’re hitting a place called the Magic Mist.” I saw a worried looked in the eyes that peered through. “It’s a strip club. You know full of hookers.” “Jesus forgave whores,” Rick muttered. “It’s a pony strip club,” I growled to clarify the situation. “Oh, well that’s different then,” Rick replied. “But I’m still confused. What’s the point of this? What are you getting out of this?” “Heh, here’s the fun part,” I laughed. “The point is to fight back against this hold Equestria has on humanity. The men that are joining me all come from the same background. We don’t have anything and the ponies are making sure of that. So we are trying to get ponies to understand that if they want to oppress us, we are going to fight back.” “Fight back against who?” Rick asked. “I don’t think that anybody around here is trying to oppress us. In fact the only group I can think of is PAHI.” “I know about them,” I growled. A flood of painful memories returned as I remember my encounter with the group. “They visited the shelter one day and threw a brick through the window. Then they tried to lynch me. They had me on the ground and if it weren’t for their leader calling it off, I would not be talking to you right now.” “Really?” Rick said, surprised. “I mean when they were here they tried to storm the building and I had to call the cops. But I never though they actually wanted to kill someone.” “Better believe it,” I retorted. “Now I got scars and I’m just itching to give some of them the satisfaction of revenge.” “Alright, I understand a little bit better now,” Rick said. “I still don’t know why bother waste your time. Aren’t you afraid of the dangers?” “Ha!” I spat. “Let me tell you something.” I pointed at the little slot. “When you have nothing to you but your name and the clothes on your back, you really don’t care what happens to you. Down at the shelter, we don’t have anything to be afraid of losing. And that’s something that Equestria will have to deal with. Humans growing up like this, not just in a shelter but also those projects, don’t have much to be thankful for. And because of that we’re gunna strike back because we have nothing to lose. And that’s the reality of the situation. That’s the reality that Equestria, rich ponies in the suburbs, will have to deal with. Maybe if ponies actually tried to help people out like they said they’d would we could all be happy. But because of things like PAHI and red lining we just aren’t going to see eye to eye.” There was a silence between us. It didn’t feel awkward but more thoughtful. It was like I was relaying a message and this message was very important to the other person. Actually this is kind of like a message. My original plan was to have Rick take this letter I have in my pocket and pass it to where it needs to go. But maybe he can also pass a message. It’s like that note I had when I was planning to shoot up that mall and Bill found it. Rick too can be a conduit that can spread my message even if I’m not here. The message he will spread is the message of hatred. Hate for ponies and their ways. He can do it. I trust him. “Well,” Rick finally spoke. “I don’t know what to say.” “Do you not agree with me?” I asked. “Um, well yes,” Rick said. “Yes I don’t agree with you. I think this is totally irrational and crude. You say you have nothing but I know that’s not true. You have to have something that is keeping you going.” “Actually,” I reached into my pocket. “I do.” I slid the folded letter through the slot and Rick took it. “What’s this?” He asked, opening up the letter. “Another confession,” I explained. “You remember when you asked me about girls? Well here is one I have in mind?” ‘ “Hmph,” Rick grunted. I assumed he was reading my letter. “Her name’s Jess,” I continued. “She runs the homeless shelter I stay at.” “On her own?” Rick asked. “No she usually gets the other girls at the shelter to help her out,” I explained. “I’ve help her clean though.” “Right, right, listen Jim,” Rick said. “If you like this girl then why don’t you just talk to her before you go?” I thought about it for a second. “Nah,” I answered. “Don’t have the balls. And besides this is my way to get my last words to her without saying anything.” “Whatever seems cowardly to me though,” Rick snorted. I frowned. “Listen, I just need you to deliver this letter to her after I’m gone. Tomorrow would be the best.” “Can’t you give it to her tomorrow?” Rick asked. “Do you really think I’m gunna come back?” I sneered. “Do you?” Rick answered me with a question. “Because you seem a bit unsure in this letter.” “Um, well, I,” I swallowed before going on. “It’s complicated. Everyone thinks they have a chance at leaving alive. But I’ve seen shit like this before. We’re gunna get cornered by cops or something. I know I’m not going to Jail, so if everything become lost, I’m taking my life.” “Pfft,” Rick snorted. “Can’t get into heaven that way?” That’s the funniest thing Rick has every told me. “Do you really think I’m gunna get into heaven after what I’ll do?” “Bible doesn’t mention talking ponies,” Rick said calmly. “Well there is a talking donkey.” “Yeah well, wait a minute,” a thought just popped into my head. There is nothing about ponies in that book. So that means they aren’t creations of the lord. Which means God must hate them. I’m pretty sure that justifies killing them. Yeah it does. They aren’t heavenly father’s creation. That must really piss him off. Hell it pisses me off. “You still alive in there?” Rick tapped on the wood, which broke me out of thoughts. “Yeah, I’m fine now,” I smiled and stood up. “I was just coming to understand a little bit more about God and shit.” “That’s great to hear Jim. I’m really happy for you. Now about this letter,” “I told you to keep it,” I instructed. “Tomorrow give it to Jess at the shelter. Unless I survive then don’t give it to her.” I took on a softer tone. “Please just do this for me. This is all I might have left.” “Don’t worry, I’ll do this,” Rick assured me. “It’s just I wasn’t expecting all of this.” “Do you need directions to the shelter?” I asked, ignoring the concern in his voice. “No I know where it is,” Rick answered. “I’m still just a little surprised about all this.” “What’s there to be surprised about?” I kind of laughed at this. It’s such a stupid statement. “We’re fighting back. Nothing wrong about that at all. If someone does you wrong then that gives you full permission to get them back, but worse. It should be common sense.” That was pretty much where our conversation ended. Both of us had nothing to say so we just exited the booths. Plus I had been there in there for a while and should probably return to the shelter in case they need me. We said goodbye and he promised to visit the shelter tomorrow to see if I was there or not, and to deliver my message if I wasn’t. Even after the conversation was over, everything still stayed prominent in my head. For some reason I kept thinking back to one of the most important lessons Darius taught me. I should never let someone get away with hurting me. There must always be payback. I’m pretty sure Darius taught me that. He was always telling me shit to help me out in high school. Not with my grades but with surviving the kids. They always used to pick on me and for a while I thought the only way out was to just ignore them and they’ll go away. I was wrong so Darius gave me the answer. It was better to fight back than deal with their torment. Sure I just ended up escalating the conflict but that wasn’t the point. The point was I felt better. It felt good to just let go of that feeling to feel sorry for myself and replace it with this sadistic joy. I remember feeling so happy to fight back. Most of the time I got my ass kicked but the point is I tried again. What made it better is that even if I didn’t win a fight, I would later win because my opponent would lose in the future. Sometimes they would get in trouble with the teachers and other times I took them out in another way after the fight. Another lesson of Darius is that if the fight was never fair to start with, then there is no reason to play fair. I don’t think I will be able to comprehend the effect of my actions. When I die it will start a chain reaction. Humans will rise up after seeing that we can and will fight for our freedom. It will be like how I got the confidence to fight back after Darius gave me advice. Once I started I couldn’t stop because it was impossible. I’ll be the one to push humanity into revolution, but I will not be the one to keep it in motion. *** When I got back to the shelter everyone was quiet. Nobody asked where I was except for Jess. She wanted to know what I had done with the pen and paper because Pete had wanted to write a letter to his family. Unfortunately for Pete I had left the notepad at the church. Jess was irritated with me but let it go. After that I just sat alone for a while. I thought about the strip club briefly. Jones actually visited me for a sec to tell me to not think too much about the club. He says it will distract me and I will lose focus when I really need it. I decided to take his advice but only because I don’t want to set expectations for the shooting and thus ruin the experience. So I sat and moped a bit. I was bored and there was absolutely nothing to do. Worse was I wasn’t thinking about anything at all. Jones kind of in avertedly put my mind on lockdown. It was okay but time was just never ending. I started playing the clock game I was that bored. I would see how long I made it before I looked at the clock again. My best time was about five minutes. I was pretty sure I was about to get a new record but I was interrupted by someone shaking me. I turned to see it was Jones. He looks solemn for some reason. “Jim, it’s time man,” he said. “What?” I looked quickly at the clock on the wall. “No there’s still like five hours left.” Jones too glanced at the clock. “Jim it’s ten thirty. We’re getting to the club at eleven. Remember? That’s when it’s most occupied.” I looked at the clock again and sure enough Jones was telling the truth. “Oh my fault. I thought it was much earlier. Guess I can’t read analogue. Would you look at that?” I had a quick chuckle but Jones didn’t look too happy. “Great, I’m probably gunna regret this then.” He grumbled. He put his hand on my shoulder. “Jim, you’re driving.” A shot of energy shot up my spine immediately after I heard what he said. “Really?” I asked, trying to contain my excitement. “Really,” Jones stated. “Erik and I figured you’d be the best one for the job since you always talk about how you drove around the country.” “I told you guys about that?” I asked. I must talk in my sleep or something because I don’t really remember telling them anything. “Jim, we’ve been cooped up in this place for God knows when.” Jones put his hands on his hips. “I think I know you pretty well after that. Besides I figured because this was originally your plan, you should have a more prominent role in it.” Jones reached into his pocket and tossed me some car keys. I grabbed them and held them in my hands, and then I stood up and gave Jones a big hug. “Thank you!” I exclaimed, almost tearing up. “Thank you so much.” “Alright that’s great, Jim.” Jones said and patted my head. I continued to embrace him and held it for a while. “Alright,” he said. “That’s enough.” “I’ll never let go, Jack,” I mumbled. “Oh yes you are,” Jones growled and pried my arms off him. I felt so happy. I guess it’s because I’m finally accomplishing my dream from the start. What makes it better is I’m not doing it alone. That is probably the best part. We went outside and found everyone else that was going was gathered there. We kind of gathered in a circle. Everyone was equipped with their gun and they tossed me my Uzi after I arrived. We had to wait for me to get ready so everyone just stood there while I clipped my freezer bag onto my waist with a clothespin. All three of my magazines were inside. It looked really shady right now. Just a bunch of dudes standing in the dark, armed with loaded guns, and wearing dark clothing. I’ll admit it would scare me. But the funny thing is it doesn’t. These guys are my friends and nothing can touch me when they’re around. “Hey Pete,” I said to get his attention. He turned around to face me. “Yeah Jim?” He asked. “Sorry I forgot to bring back that paper. I know you were planning on writing a letter to your family.” “Oh that?” Pete snorted. “Don’t worry about that. I’m not writing a letter.” “Why not?” I asked a bit concerned. “Well Jones and Erik told me that if I sent a letter it might blow our cover,” Pete explained. “The authorities can track us if anything is written down. Besides we’re coming back so why bother?” I stood up. I was done getting ready. But that wasn’t what I was on my mind. Everyone seems to have this disillusionment that we’re coming back. We’re not. And Erik should have let Pete contact his folks. He originally said he could. “Pete,” I looked at him. “Do you really think we’re gunna make it out alive?” “Of course we are,” Peter smiled but he looked confused. “Why wouldn’t we? Everyone else thinks we are.” “Yeah but, it’s dangerous,” I said. “We’ll die in that club. The cops will corner us like rats. Do you even see how many there are? And these guns are meant for hunting, not massacres. What if we run out of ammo or have a hard time reloading? None of us even know how to use guns.” “Enough!” Jones suddenly intervened between the two of us. I looked up to see that everyone else except Pete, Jones, and I had headed into the van. “Pete, saddle up,” Jones ordered and the tubby kid ran over to join the others in Jess’ van. Jones looked at me. “Still can’t shake your pessimistic feelings I see?” “Can you blame me?” I asked. “I can,” Jones pointed at me. “You’re over analyzing this. You need to stay focused when we’re in there. No time to think, just follow my lead.” “I thought I was the leader here,” I grumbled. “Sorry, Jim, but you need a bit more experience before that happens,” Jones put his hand on his gun. “Just forget about your troubles for a while. Focus on your targets and be conscious of your environment. Remember, these ponies deserve it.” I nodded, he was right after all. These ponies deserved it. And I just thought of something great. If I survive that will be the biggest insult I can give to Equestria. I got away with the rightful murder of ponies, and I will be back for more. It’ll be that symbol of hate I was looking for. With that sudden realization, I decided to get this show on the road. I might have been the last one in the van but I was the most important. The inside of the van was musty and with seven guys in the car it didn’t make anything better. The inside also was just one big open area so everyone sat on the floor. There was pretty much no room for stretching so everyone had their legs crunched up. Lucky for me I was driving because that meant I had a comfortable seat to relax in. I gripped the steering wheel and got that familiar feeling on what it’s like to be behind the wheel. I inserted the key into the ignition and gave it a turn. The engine came to life with a soft whine and then a sneer. I took the time to check everything to make sure we wouldn’t break down halfway there. Everything checked out and we were at a little over a quarter of a tank of gas. We are ready to go. But as I was putting the gear into reverse, I saw someone coming towards me in my side mirror. It didn’t take me long to see that it was Jess. But why she was coming was alarming to me. My mind went through the possibilities and none of them were any good. Still I let here come to the driver side window and tap the glass to signal she wanted to talk. Everyone was watching as I rolled down the window to speak to her. “Whadda ya want?” I ask sounding irritated. “Get out of the car,” she said. “I’m driving.” Instant shock set into my mind and I struggled to think of what to say. “What?” I spat. “I thought it over and I want to come with you guys,” she explained. “But I’m driving.” “What?” I repeated. “It’s my car,” she started. “I doubt you’re gunna be a careful driver so you might attract attention. You’re gunna look suspicious just from the way you look.” She was talking about the jumpsuit. “And come to think of it, I doubt you still have your license.” “What?” “Yeah, I bet you would’ve told everyone that you have you license still,” Jess continued. “But you don’t so I’m driving. Out of the car.” Still the only thing I could say was, “What?” “Stop saying, what,” Jess growled. After a while I actually thought up a response but it came out wrong. “What?”