She Wore A Yellow Ribbon

by Backslasherton

Chapter 3 (Old)

“Citizens of Equestria…” Celestia’s voice rang out. Jackson turned his view from the window. His hands were shaking, nervousness overcoming him. He clenched before he started to straighten his cufflinks.

Deep breath. It’s just like talking to the squad. Just calm down.

He kept fidgeting and he couldn’t stop his leg from bouncing. A knock on the door made him jump in his seat. He calmed himself before speaking.

“Come in.”

As Slipstream walked into the room, she saw Jackson sitting there calmly.

How can he be so calm before a speech?

She saluted until he waved her off.

“No need for formalities, sergeant. I only care about those during ceremonies.”

She relaxed and become more casual.

“Your speech is in two minutes, fifteen seconds.” The sergeant told him. He made a face at what she said.

“That’s… oddly specific... “ He said.

“Yeah, Twilight’s been the schedule-master.” The sergeant said with a smirk. Jackson threw his head back slightly with laughter.

“That explains it.” He said. The sergeant saw the look in his eyes and could tell he was trying to ignore the upcoming speech.

“So, do you have a plan for the speech?” She asked. His expression changed instantly. His smile was gone and a slight look of apprehension appeared in his eye. He shook his head.

“Not a clue.” He reached into his drawer and pulled out a notebook. He opened it to three pages filled with crossed out lists and bullet points. “I slaved over it all night and nothing came to mind.”

“What were some ideas?” She asked. He flipped through the pages to a shorter list and began to read aloud.

“Tell them a war story, tell them of home world, tell them thoughts of new world, tell them current living situation. Those were the top ones.” He set the notebook down and covered his face with his hands. “I don’t know what to do.” He sigh.

Slipstream nodded. “I think you could combine some of them together. Maybe you could tell them of your home world, then talk of Equestria and where you live now.”

“I guess…” Before he could continue further, there was another knock. This time, the door open to reveal a young private.

I recognize that kid, where have I seen him...

“S-Sir.” He saluted nervously. He glanced down at his uniform, a navy blue and gold suit-type uniform. Only the guards assigned to princesses and the outer walls wore armor, the rest wore regular formal blues instead. Not only was it cheaper, but it was more comfortable for them. Reading his name tag, Jackson saw his name was Longshot, from the armed-recon division.

“At ease, private.” He said, now remembering him. “What can I do for you?”

Longshot seemed to studder slightly before speaking.

“I-It’s time for you speech, sir.” He said with as much formality as he could muster. Jackson glanced toward Slipstream before quickly straightening his tie and coat.

“Right. Let’s go then.”

“And now, the man I have spoken of, Colonel Richard Jackson Douglas, of the United States Marine Corps and Equestrian and Special Forces.” The applause droned loudly around the castle, but to me, it was dead silent. I glanced around at the others on the balcony and then towards the crowd. A unicorn guard stepped forward to cast a voice amplification spell on me, but I waved him off. Confused, but cooperative, he stepped back into line. I stepped up to the front of the balcony, and waved a hand to silence the crowd.

“Thank you, all of you.” I shouted in my parade command voice. My voice carried easily over the crowd, echoing off the carefully designed walls to amplify sound from the balcony. “I am sure the Princess has explained my presence and a bit of my background. But I’d like to talk to tell you some of my history personally.” Applause started and I smiled before waving them off. Despite my calm outer look, I was absolutely terrified on the inside. I knew that any wrong choice words, I could anger many ponies. I glanced around before waving them to silence again.

“Thank you.” I collected myself again before speaking. “My name, is Richard Jackson Douglas. I am 37 years old, and I am from Dallas, Texas, United States. The United States, my home country back on my planet, get’s its name from the fact it has several different states, states being something like a mini-country, under the main federal government’s control. My state, Texas, was one of them. The states themselves have cities under their control, much the states and the federal government. My city was Dallas. Dallas was a massive sprawling cityscape with a population of over 1.2 million people. I lived and grew up there until I enlisted in the marines when I was 20 and served for ten years before being brought here.” I swallowed nervously and chastised myself mentally for rambling.

“When I arrived here, I was alone, and I almost lost my sense of reality.” I looked back over to Celestia, her smiling face calming me and giving me motivation to continue. I smiled.

“Then I met the Princess. She saved me, brought me here in secret, and helped me cope with this new turn of events.” I turned back to the crowd. “And here I am. Two years later and I’m a current Commander of the Equestrian Special Forces. I hope to further serve this country, as I would my own country at home. I thank you all for letting me speak to you today. Thank you all, and have a nice day.” I turned and began to walk off the balcony as the crowd started clapping and cheering. Celestia and Slipstream were waiting for me at the entrance. As the doors closed behind us, Celestia came up to me and hugged me.

“You did great.” She said proudly.

“I was scared out of my mind!” I laughed.

“We couldn’t tell.” Slipstream said. I shook my head and laughed again.

“Well, at least that’s over. Maybe now I’ll be able to do mo-”

“Your majesty.” One of my Major's, Herbal, saluted to us as he entered. “There is a large number of press officials and citizens outside with questions. What should we do?”

I looked to Celestia.

“I take it back, this is gonna get a whole lot worse.”

Author's Note:

Sorry for the wait. School's been insane and I've forgotten all about this story. I hope I didn't disappoint anyone (I know I did).

Anyways, enjoy!

Comments

[Warlord-1]

Enjoyed this, but I wouldn't mind a faster update speed.

[Backslasherton]

5624292
Yeah, Sorry about that. I was trying to figure out how to advance, and I just forgot about it.