//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6: Back to Normal 
// Story: The Heart of A Soldier 
// by Always Shipper6 
//------------------------------//

	I drew the gun from Discord's throat, also drawing out a long line of saliva with it.

"AW, COME ON! I JUST GOT THIS GUN!" I said as I slung the heavy rifle towards the ground trying to sling the saliva off. After I managed to get a little of the saliva off I looked at Discord.

'What the hell? The round should have gone off by now. What happened?

'Is his stomach expanding?'

'Oh you've GOT to be shitting me.' I let out a very annoyed sigh. Apparently Discord can't be blown up. From the round exploding inside his body, it should have blown up; but it didn't. All he did was expand into a ball like shape, then burp out fire and shrapnel.

"Seriously man, if that can't kill you what can?" I said as I threw my arms up in the air. "Oh well, seems like that finger that I chopped off is still gone, might as well use my sword instead."

"*Cough* My my, *cough* what a rude awakening. You didn't even give me enough time to *cough* show you my welcoming party I had planned. Besides, you've only been gone for about half a day." I've only been gone half a day? Well, that's good news. Maybe I can finally kill this son of a bitch and get on with my new life.

"Okay," I said as I drew my sword, "Which part you should I cut off next?" My sword was fully drawn and was emitting a stronger glow than usual. 

"Ah ah ah, I wouldn't do that if I were you," He said while floating lazily around me in the air, "You see, I cannot be killed by any normal means; not even by your sword. The only thing that can kill me is, wait what am I doing? I'm not telling you that." He said while he began to laugh. "I'd like to see you try and hit me with that puny sword of yours." He popped up in front of me, literally, he just popped up out of nowhere. I swung and he popped out of existence and back into it again; completely dodging my sword. 

"Okay, you've got to be hacking or something. Unless those horns on your head actually use magic, which I don't see how they do. Besides, when you use magic aren't they supposed to glow in some sort of aura? Because if they do, either your's is invisible, or it's not magic."

"Well now, seems like he's more observant than you Twilight, I'd be ashamed." He said as he looked to Twilight's cage. She looked up at him with a hateful glare, and began to yell. Apparently the barrier was soundproof, with judging by how much the cage is shaking, I'm glad I'm on the other side of it.

"Well, I know my way around a few things, but seriously, how do you do it? How do you do all the stuff that you do?" I said while disarming myself, hoping to look as peaceful as possible.

"Seems like I have an admirer, finally decided to go for the winning side I see." He said as he began to touch my head again. This time, I could feel myself being drained of my anger. However, I was no longer angry; I was beyond furious with the way he treated my friends. This clusterfuck of animals deserves to die for what he's done, and he's going to get it.

"Well, now that you are under my control, I will answer one question, and one alone." He said while sitting back down. I stood there for a minute pondering on how to ask the question.

"How do you do what you do? As in, how do you use all of your powers without magic? How do you randomly teleport and change the whole world with just the snap of a finger?" He sat up in his chair and looked at me, and smiled that evil grin.

"My minion, I simply hack. That's right, I can hack into realities and change them the way I see fit. I go into their molecular structure and begin my work, which doesn't take long since I've had tons of practice." He said as he put on sunglasses.

'If there's one thing I hate more than anything, it's hackers. They always try to cheat to get their way, and it isn't right. I know of one way to take care of hackers. It didn't really help back on Earth, it just made things funny. However, since everything here is magic....it may work. I got a grin on my face, and the color appeared back on my body.

"W-What b-but how did you do that?" He said as he stood up.

"Discord, there's one thing you must know about me. Before I joined the army, and before I came here, I was a hardcore gamer. Games and reading were my ways of escaping from society, and there's only one thing I hated more than anything in the world; hackers. Now I know only one way of taking care of them, and sense there's no ban hammer here, there's only one thing to do." I stood straight up, arms at my side. Discord was giving me the 'what the hell' look. I put on my shades with my left arm, and slowly raised my right arm; pointing at him with my index finger. I yelled the only thing that came to mind.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAXXXX" I yelled as I quoted my favorite character from the g-mod idiot box. God, I loved those as a kid. I wonder if he's still making those? I saw a big white computer monitor fly out of nowhere and hit Discord across the face. 'Holy shit that worked! Hell yea!'

Discord fell to the ground, out cold. I saw the barrier around the cages flash and break apart, sending pink dust everywhere. God, I hope this stuff isn't harmful to breathe in. I don't feel like dying to something called the 'pink death', that would just be discriminating. The cages opened, and out walked the 8 ponies, thankfully unharmed. They all rushed and hugged me, except for Celestia, and Twilight was the first to speak.

"Thank Celestia your here! We thought you were gone for good when he told us what happened. You were finally getting used to being here, and then Discord showed up and ruined everything. I'm sorry." She said as her and the rest of them let go of me.

"It's okay, but now we have to deal with that." I said gesturing to the unconscious body of Discord. I looked back to Celestia, awaiting an answer.

"Well, Discord had broken out of his stone prison twice now, so I don't know what to do. Do you have an Idea John?" She said looking to me. 

"Yes, but it's not a pretty one. Anyone who can think they can stomach it can look, if not, then look away while you can." I said as I drew my sword and walked over to Discord's unconscious body. I looked back to see just Celestia, Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash looking at me. I sighed and put my sword above Discord's body. The sword shined in the daylight, right before it got covered in Discord's blood as I began to carve into him. I must say, I did a very brutal job. All I simply did was disconnect all his body parts and set them in close proximity, then severed his head from his body. I watched as the force I put into the slash made Discord's head roll over and over across the floor, eventually stopping and turning to dust. I wondered why he turned to dust, and when I inhaled it by accident, I wondered why it tasted like coffee beans.

"Well, now that that's over, I'd like to listen to some music. Gizmo, you there?" I said as I pulled out my iPod. Everypony looked at me weird, so I just shrugged it off. Gizmo let out a purr, then transformed and began rubbing up against me.

"Hey buddy, sorry I haven't given you much attention lately. I've been...caught up...in things." I said as I began petting the cybernetic cat. Yes, I know, a cybernetic transforming cat in Equestria, weird right? Well so is a human, so shut the fuck up. Anyways, as I was petting him, Fluttershy got curious, and walked up to him. He didn't pay any mind to her, as he was concentrating on getting me to pet him with both of my hands. When Fluttershy got close though, he took a defensive stance and looked at everyone. I heard something say 'Attack mode initiating', and instantly I jumped in front of her. 

"WOAH! Gizmo, it's ok, their friends." He backed down and walked up to Fluttershy, sniffing her to get her scent I guess, and started rubbing up against her like she did me.

"Well, seems like someone found a new friend." I said as I looked towards Gizmo, who let out a meow and walked back over beside me and sat down, then began lick his paw and scratch his ear.

'Damn robot even acts like a cat.'

'You don't say?'

'Where the hell have you been?

'Oh, just here, there, and getting drained of anger. You know, the everyday stuff.'

'Okay, you have fun with that, I'm getting back to the thing at hand.'

"So, what do we do now that that's over?" I asked to Celestia.

"Well, since Discord is now gone for good, we can now reward you for your bravery and celebrate." She said while walking towards me. She stopped just in front of me, "You don't mind being rewarded do you?" She said as she stared me down.

"N-No, not at all. However, I just don't want to be big and famous. I just want to live a normal, peaceful life with my six new friends, find a job that pays well, and hopefully live a good life." This is how I wanted my life to be. I wanted it to be peaceful, normal, happy, and fun. Just ignore what else is going on in the world and just be happy. Still, my mind won't let me do that.

'Hell no man, your meant to do great things. Become a guard or something like that. Something to keep you in shape, unless you want to be a fatass.'

'Can you please just let me relax a bit...just a little, that's all I'm asking for.'

'Nope.'

'Well fuck you too.'

'Kinda hard when I'm a brain.'

I ignored his reply. I wasn't in the mood to argue. I was tired, wore out, smelled like shit, and looked awful. I was covered in blood, had small cuts and bruises all over my body, my armor needed to be repainted, and many other things. However, I still looked back to Celestia, who just nodded and walked out of the room. I turned around to see how much damage was done, and surprisingly, it was pretty clean. When Discord died his blood went with him, cleaning up the floor and everything else. I guess the world got cleansed as well, seeing as the sun is shining and the sky is no longer covered in pink clouds that rain chocolate milk. 

"Well, now that that's over, how about we head back to Ponyville so I can get some much needed sleep." I said to the girls.

"We can't John, Celestia has to reward you for your service to Equestria, so we're staying here tonight." Twilight said while putting me in a violet like aura. "Now come on, you really need a bath; you smell really bad." I just nodded as she floated me down the hallways until we went into a room. I'm guessing that it's a guest room because it's mainly empty except for a giant bed in front of us as we walked in, a small desk to the left of the bed with a lamp on it, and a dresser to the right of the bed. I was just relaxing as Twilight floated me through a door I didn't see as we entered. It was right beside the door we entered in, and out of my line of sight. She opened it with her magic, somehow still carrying me; she just floated me in and dropped me on the floor.

"Ow, be a bit easier next time will you?" I said as I rubbed my ass from the fall. I thought that the armor would save me from the fall, but no, it makes it worse. 

"Sorry, it's just you smell really, really bad." She said as she nudged me to get in the shower.

"Okay Twilight, I get it, I'll take a bath. Just get back to the others, I should be able to find my way back." I said as I took off my armor. Twilight watched with curiosity as I began to take it off, revealing all the scars across my chest. Not to mention the one I got from the chimera when I came here.

"What happened to you John? That looks...awful." She said with a hint of sympathy.

"Long story, if you can get everyone into the room, I'll tell you when I get out. Well, some of them at least." Twilight nodded and walked out of the room. Now I can get a good look at the room around me. It was the usual white that bathrooms always were. It looked just like the bathrooms back on Earth, but much smaller. I finished taking off my clothes and armor, and proceeded to get into the shower.

*Bonk*

"Ow, damn shower head." I said while rubbing my head. I turned on the water, got in a crouching position, and began to wash myself down. After I was done, I got out and dried off. I looked into the small mirror in the bathroom. My eyes were bloodshot from sleep deprivation, and my hair has grown out a bit. I wouldn't mind my hair to grow back out, but I'm used to it the old way. I shrugged, and put my pants on. I had worn my old clothes under my armor, even though you didn't have to; I wanted too though. I walked back out and sat the armor on top of the dresser, and sat on the bed, shirtless. I don't really find it awkward being shirtless. I mean, it's an easy way to cool off in the summer time. However, I see why some people are self conscious about being shirtless back on Earth. Here though, ponies are always naked, so I don't really need a shirt, but I like to cover myself every now and then. Plus, there's that tattoo on my back. If I walked around in the open with a tattoo of the Grim Reaper on my back , ponies would get scared, and I don't want that. I sat on the bed for a few moments before the door opened, and walked in the mane six. They looked as I waved, looking at all the battle scars on my body, however they have yet to see my back.

"Oh dear, John what happened to you?" Rarity said as the girls began to trot up to the bed. 

"Long story short, these are all scars from the fights I had been in back on Earth." I randomly started pointing to scars across my chest and body, describing how I got them. After describing the stories, they all felt sorry for me and did a group hug. I stiffened up because they may see the tattoo.

"Hey John, what's that there thing on yer back." Applejack said while pointing to my tattoo.

'Dammit, I hope I wouldn't have to describe this to them.'

'INTRUDER ALERT, THERE'S A RED SPY IN THE BASE!'

'The hell is wrong with you brain?'

'Don't ask, it's me being me.'

'Anyways, what am I going to do about this?'

'I don't know, can't help you here.'

'Thanks a lot.' I thought very sarcastically.

'Might as well tell them' I sighed.

"Well girls, this thing on my back is a tattoo. It's when someone takes a needle and embeds an image under your skin. There are many shaped, sizes, pictures, and many other things. However, this one is where I got my nickname from."

"Your nickname? What was it?" Twilight said as they all let go of me and sat down beside me.

"Well, it was Reaper, as in the Grim Reaper." They didn't seem to be affected by the name. So I guess their not that scared.

"What's the Grim Reaper?" Twilight said again. 

'Why all the questions, why.'

"Well, technically the Grim Reaper was a spiritual being said to come for your soul when it was time to die, or if he just wanted to kill you. He's nothing but a human skeleton wearing a black robe; you can tell by the tattoo on my back. You can't see him, you can't hear him, you don't know he's there. Heck, a pony version of him could be pointing at me right now, telling me I'm next." The girls gasped at this. "However, I will die one day, but not today. If you ever get touched by his hand, or hoof in this case, you just die. No heart attack, no falling, no anything, you just fall over dead." The girls looked scared. "But it's alright, you have the human version here now. I was called Reaper because I was much like the real Grim Reaper back on Earth. I was deadly, efficient, didn't get seen or heard, and I killed all targets first time. I killed with no emotion, no regrets, nothing." They all backed away. "Come on, you can't be scared of me after all that's happened. It's noticeable that I'm not going to hurt anypony; unless it's an accident. I tend to be clumsy at times." They all relaxed and got back in their old positions. "Now, can you excuse me, I need to get some sleep. Goodnight." They all nodded

"O-okay John, sorry for bothering you." Fluttershy said hovering behind the rest of the group.

"No problem Fluttershy, goodnight." I said while laying down in the bed.

"Goodnight, and sweet dreams." She said while closing the door to the room. 

'Oh man, what have I gotten myself into. I still need to find a job, get a home, get settled in, and get a decent life going. I've still got a lot of work to do.' I sighed.

'You don't sa-'

'Shut the fuck up brain, I'm not in the mood for your shenanigans.'

'Okay.'

'Goodnight brain.'

'Goodnight.' I finally got some much needed rest that night.





A/N: I am SO sorry for this being late. My friends just graduated yesterday. I knew I said it should be up Friday, but I had to prepare for their graduation (band and all that good stuff -_-). Yesterday my friends and I hung out all day, having parties, watching movies, swimming, driving around town, playing Magic (the card game) at a local game store, and staying at a friends house until a good 3 in the morning, my friend and I driving home sleep high (it's so much fun XD (no actual drugs or anything were involved)), and not waking up till 1 (eastern time).

Still, this chapter is shorter than the others, and I'm sorry for that. Still, I hope it's a good one. =D