//------------------------------// // In The End, There Were Tears // Story: Seeds of Redemption // by Pyrefly_91 //------------------------------// Security had the terminal on lockdown as we landed in LAX. If it wasn’t for Coulson, Applejack and I may not have been able to sneak out. Luckily Coulson knew what was happening and had planned an escape route for us before we had even entered Californian air space. The moment the plane touched down, he hurried us out of the craft and into the car that he had waiting for us. From there, we were escorted off the property. We then drove away, unnoticed, out the back of the airport. Tension was high as AJ and I followed Coulson’s escort that led the way to the hotel. Silence was all there was to listen to as we drove, sweat covering our bodies. All we could do was pray we were left alone as we drove. We arrived at the hotel within a half hour. Coulson instructed us to head up to our room while he dealt with the staff. One we entered our room, which was luckily on the first floor and without windows, the noiseless atmosphere was broken. The moment I closed the door, Applejack wrapped me in a tight embrace. “Jay,” She said, letting go of me and walking over to the single bed in the room and taking a seat, “I don’t know what in the hay is going on, but I’m scared.” “I know AJ.” I replied, trying desperately to relax my own mind. “Coulson’s handling things at the front desk. All we can do now is wait for him to come back and tell us what the next move is.” As I said this I remembered something Coulson had said prior to leaving Massachusetts. Quickly I scanned the room, frantically searching for the one thing that would help more than anything in the world right now. Finally I saw it resting in a corner on a counter. Surprised that it took me so long to find it as it stood out in the open like it was, I slapped myself if the forehead, which caught Applejack’s attention. “What are you doing sugarcube?” “Getting us some liquid relaxation.” I answered as I opened the mini fridge. “How do you get ‘liquid relaxation’ from a box?” “It’s a mini fridge, and I’m talking about booze.” “Booze?” I slap myself again. “You mean to tell me you don’t have alcohol in your world too?” “Oh! Of course we do. But It’s mainly spiked apple cider.” “Well how convenient, that’s exactly what we have to drink.” I say, pulling out four tall bottles of the golden fluid. “Want some?” “You better believe I do!” AJ shouts, jumping off the bed and walking over to stand next to me as I open a cabinet and find a few freshly cleaned wine glasses. I take two of them out and fill them to the top. Handing her on, I lift mine into the air. “A toast.” I proclaim, forcing a smile. My comrade looked puzzled at first but quickly understood and followed suit. “To friends that never should have met but fate and circumstance said ‘Fuck that!’ and to the imminent reunion of two friends that were separated by that same exact decision.” And with that, AJ tapped my glass with her own and swallowed the liquid in a single gulp. “Woo Wee, that’s some good cider!” “Slow down AJ.” I said, taking a small, controlled sip from my own glass. “This isn’t a contest to see who can get plastered first.” “Well who says it can’t?” As she said this, a fire seemed to have been lit in her eyes, their emerald rings glowing brighter than ever before. I got trapped in those eyes, and after a few seconds, I shrugged and gave in. “Ah what the hell.” I relented, downing the rest of my own glass before putting it in the sink and grabbing the open bottle by the neck and chugging a few mouthfuls. From there, everything went black. The last thing I remembered upon waking up was that Coulson hadn’t checked in with us once. I awoke to the sound of laughter. I was in the bed alone, with AJ sitting at the foot, watching TV. My eyes were way too clouded by tears and light to make out what was on the screen. Instead, I rolled out of the bed and walked into the bathroom, in which is where I made a heart stopping discovery. “WHY THE FUCK AM I NAKED!” I shouted at the top of my lungs, quickly wrapping myself in a towel, and walking back out of the bathroom. At the sound of my scream, AJ had stopped laughing and met me halfway. That was when I realised something else. She was also wearing nothing at all. “Why the hell are we undressed?” I asked, then quickly I thought of why. “AJ, we didn’t? Did we?” “Did we what sugarcube?” “Did we fuck last night?” I said bluntly, trying my best to keep my eyes focused on her face and not her exposed body. “I’ve got no clue Jay. All I know is that I woke up this morning wrapped in your arms. I wanted you to sleep more so I slipped out of your embrace, took a shower, and started watching TV.” “You know what?” I said, my face red with embarrassment. “If we did, I don’t remember. And that’s good.” “What’s that suppose to mean?” Applejack snapped, putting her hands on her hips. “You don’t think I would be a good lay? Am I not good enough for you?” My face reddened further. “I’m not saying that at all! All I’m saying is that today may be goodbye and I don’t want to make it harder by having sex before that happens. So I’m gonna pretend that if it did happen, that it didn’t. That way there are no attachments, no feelings.” At this AJ lost her angry look, instead she dropped her eyes and turned away from me. “Oh,” she whispered, “I guess that makes sense.” ‘Is she upset?’ I thought to myself. ‘Why would she be upset by that? Unless…’ I slowly walked up behind the sad beauty, who was quietly crying, and wrapped my arms around her. “AJ, I’m sorry. I didn’t think about that.” She pushed me off with her elbows and turned back towards me. “We’ve been through so much. I don’t want to think about a goodbye. Instead, I want you to come with me back to my world. Then you’ll never need to worry about anything ever again. You can help out on my family’s farm. We can pay you. You can even live with us until you earn enough to buy a place of your own. You can meet my friends. I know that y’all get along instantly! I just know it.” “Applejack. As awesome as that sounds, my place is in this world. My friends, my family, everyone I ever knew and loved. I can’t just ditch them to go on a magical adventure to a mythical land of ponies and magic. I just-” Suddenly a loud knock rang out from the door. “Mr. Marston.” Coulson called through the door. ”You need to leave. The police just got a tip that you were spending the night here and are on the way. You have twenty minutes before they arrive. Hurry, get to the location in that text and get what’s yours. I wish you luck.” With that, he was gone, footsteps quickly disappearing down the hall. AJ and I quickly shared a look at each other and instantly rushed to get dressed. Within minute we were clothed and running for the stairs. Applejack was empty handed, however I had grabbed the bag with my rifle in it. I had also managed to secure my pistol in its home on the small of my back. We sprinted down the stairs, bursting through a set of emergency doors at the bottom. The moment we were in the sunlight, a gun fired. Luckily, it hit the door. On instinct, I grabbed my handgun, identified who fired at us, and put him down with a shot to the heart. The gunner was dressed in the same clothes as the people that attacked back at the mall just days before. “Jay!” AJ called, standing beside our car. “Ya, right.” I answered, running over, opening the vehicle and hopping in, AJ jumping in as well. I quickly threw the car into reverse and whipped out of the parking space. Once I was in the middle of the road, I slammed the car into drive and floored it. The moment we got on to the open road, four black sedans pulled behind us. “Shit,” I cursed under my breath. “Jay.” Applejack said, her eyes glowing like they did the night before. But before she could speak, a green flash filled the car, and in her lap laid a scroll. Before saying anything else, she ripped off the ribbon keeping it rolled up. She quickly read it, and once she finished she let out a quiet gasp. “What’s that?” I asked, both trying to focus on the road and looking at her out of the corner of my eye. “It’s from Princess Celestia! She’s gonna open a portal for me to go home through! Jay, I know you said no, but please come back to Equestria with me.” “AJ, I-” Before I could answer I saw a sign that read ‘Race of Death’ on it, and it read that to get there to take the next exit. “Where is she opening the portal?” “The first place we stop at.” “Good, then hold on.” And with that I floored it, racing towards the location of the stash. "Jason Marston! This is the FBI. We have the building surrounded. A SWAT team has been called in and will be arriving in just a few minutes. Please, surrender now and come out peacefully. We don't want to open fire, but we will if we must. Just come out with the girl and be done with this. 'What the fuck.' I thought to myself, glancing over at the girl that had gotten me into this mess. She was looking back at me, tears in her eyes, shaking her head mouthing the words "We can't give up." 'Damn it! Why is it that everytime a chick comes into my life, do I end up being hunted down by some kind of agency.' "Thanks a lot Gramps, you just had to be famous." I muttered, cursing the night I learned about my Great Great Great Grandfather, a hero in the wild west, and the scourge to bandits everywhere. As those word leave my mouth, I stood up, aim my favorite sniper rifle at one of the feds, and I fired. Suddenly there was a bright flash of yellow light and time stopped. A ring of gold energy floated in the air behind us, and out stepped a woman clad in brilliant white armor with gold trim, a sun emblazoned on her chestplate. “Princess!” AJ shouted, running out from our hiding place. “Hello Applejack. I wish we could talk but we need to go, now.” “Right.” The cowgirl said. “Jay, this is your last chance. Please come with me.” “You know AJ, I’d love to, but,” I replied, standing up, my hand over my chest. “However, I don’t think I’ve got very long left.” And with that, I stumbled out from our cover, and fell to the ground. Everything suddenly went dark, and all I could hear was Applejack screaming my name. ‘I’m sorry AJ. I really am.” And with that, everything went silent, and all that was left was a single tear hitting the ground.