Displacement

by hornethead

A Return To Some Normalcy

Chapter 12: Return To Some Normalcy

James and Rainbow Dash arrived at the Apple Homestead just after the sun had begun to descend from it's high point in the sky. The place was virtually vacant barring the elderly Granny Smith a rockin' in her rockin' chair upon the porch.

"Hello there Rainbow Dash, and welcome back from yer trip Jimmers! How can I help y'all?"

"Afternoon Granny, I was just wondering where the girls are. I heard they were here."

"Ohhhh yes! Mah darlin' Applejack and a few o' her friends are out harvestin' th' last of th' zap apples with Macintosh. Should be back any time now."

"Thanks Granny Smith, have a good day now!"

"That I will Jumsen!"

James and the sky blue weather pony set off in the direction of the old barn. James still didn't know what a 'zap apple' was or where they were growing at, so he thought it best to go wash up a bit before seeing the rest of the group. He hadn't had a proper wash in nearly a week and it would be best if he changed into some cleaner, more intact clothing. The two soon reached the barn without even a glimpse of the three other mares. James entered and looked around. His note and radio hadn't been touched and everything else was exactly as he left it. James peeked into the pile of hay blocks where he had stashed his rifle and grenades and was relieved to find it all still there, undisturbed. He pulled himself up into the loft, Rainbow flying up after him.

"So, whatcha gonna do until AJ, Twi and Pinkie get back?" Dash inquired.

"Well first I gotta wash up and get on some clean clothes."

"No argument there." Said Dash, sniffing the air.

"Yeeaah. I also have to do some maintenance on my equipment. Gotta make sure it keeps working."

"Ooo, can I help?"

"Sorry, you can watch if you want, but you can't mess with this stuff without knowing how it works."

"Fine." She crossed her forelegs, ears flattened against the top of her head.

'What is this, a catch phrase or something?'

James descended to the ground, grabbed an empty bucket and filled it up with the pump outside. He returned to the interior of the barn, clambered back up to the loft and extracted the first set of clothes Rarity had fabricated for him from his pack.

"Hey Dash, is it alright if you stepped out for a minute?"

"Why?"

"I'm about to de-stinkafy myself, if you get my meaning."

"So?"

"So, if the females here are anything like the ones back in my world then you were probably told by Applejack why I need some privacy."

She started to blush. "Heh heh, oh yeah. Uh, I'll just wait outside then." She flashed an awkward smile before bolting out the small doors set in the side of the loft.

James still was not too trusting and dragged the bucket of water under the loft's overhang before undressing himself after returning to the barn's dirt floor. He quickly scrubbed himself clean and, after waiting a few moments to dry, slipped into the new clothes that had been made for him. Lastly he donned clean socks and his boots when he heard a knock at the door.

James pulled the door open and was greeted with another hoof across his face.

"What in tarnation were ya gettin' at, actin' like that!?"

Behind Applejack were Twilight and Pinkie Pie. Twilight had an expression of anger crossed with concern that matched Applejack's. Pinkie, of course, was bouncing in place with a smile stretched across her muzzle. She just never seemed to run out of energy.

James rubbed his cheek, having just been slapped for the second time that day. He looked to the two behind the cowpony

"If either of you are going to hit me as well, please do it now and get it over with."

"Yer talkin' ta me, not them. Now, ya got anythin' ya'd like ta say?"

"Yes, yes, I apologize for the way I acted, it was wrong. Just please understand that I don't cope to well with doing the things that you witnessed me do."

"Then why would you do those things?" Twilight countered. Pinkie had stopped bouncing now.

"Because it were necessary."

"Why would something so horrible be necessary?" The purple librarian continued.

"Because if I didn't, then one or more of you could have been injured or killed!" He was beginning to get a little annoyed at having to explain his violent behavior and his left hand was starting to twitch. "I'm not proud of what I did, but if the alternative to doing nothing was one of you getting hurt, then I'm thankful I did! You think I like causing pain and destruction they way I did? I'm sorry I was mean to you. I'm sorry I ran away from you like that. But please, don't bring my motives into question."

All three mares were a bit intimidated by his outburst and it showed.

"Shit. I'm sorry. Again. You didn't deserve that."

"It's ok James, we still love ya!" Pinkie's comment snapped her two friends out of it.

"Please don't be mad James, we didn't mean it that way. We're just worried." Twilight explained.

"Yeah, it's not so often that one of our friends just runs of inta th' forest like that. We were a little scared fer ya is all." Applejack added.

James looked up to the sky and saw that the sun was about half way to the horizon.

*sigh* "Yeah, I understand. Listen. Please just give me a day, come back tomorrow if you want. I just need to depressurize before I say anything else stupid. Is that alright?"

"Take all the time ya need sugarcube. I'll be at th' house if'n ya need anythin' tho'."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

The three ponies turned and left. James turned around and went back inside. He grasped the bucket and dumped the dirty water outside, filling it up with more clean water from the pump after. He took it back inside and scrubbed clean his uniform as best he could before hanging it up to dry on the rafters. James studied the holes in the pants leg. He would have to borrow some needles and thread from Rarity and sew it up himself. Easy day.

Finally he jumped back up to the loft. James took out the other two sets of clothes and placed them neatly in a corner. Then he took out his knife, pistol and NVGs. The knife he ran through a sharpener he always carried in his rucksack. When he was done, he carefully slid it back into it's sheath. Next he grabbed his sidearm. James removed the magazine and locked the slide back, ejecting the round currently chambered in the process. He inserted the round back into the mag and turned his attention back to his firearm. With practiced skill he field stripped the weapon and laid it's components out before himself. James got to work on running a small wire brush through the barrel when he heard something land on the frame of the loft's opening.

"Didn't think you were coming back." He said to Dash without breaking from his task.

"I heard your argument and didn't want to bother you."

"Don't worry, I'm fairly calm now."

"Do you mind if I stay and watch what you're doing?"

"Not at all."

James returned to silence as Rainbow Dash watched him clean and oil the large caliber pistol.

Finally, Dash plucked up some courage. "Why are you taking that apart and cleaning it?"

James finished scrubbing a particularly stubborn spot of grime before answering her, "Because this is one of my tools. Only, it's not like other tools. If for some reason this should fail or jam when I need it, it could mean the difference between life and death. So I make sure it's in top working condition whenever I get the chance."

He swiftly ran a soft cloth over all the parts to remove any excess oil. Then in a blur of hands and metal, he reassemble the firearm in such speed as to impress even the athletic mare sitting beside him. James racked the slide back, made sure the hammer was cocked, deactivated the safety and pointed the end of the barrel at the floorboards between his feet before pulling the trigger, resulting in a satisfying click as the hammer struck the firing pin.

"Woah, how'd ya do that? That thing must've had like, a hundred parts!"

"Lots of practice, my feathery friend."

The tired warrior shoved the magazine back into the well, noting that he only had a few shots left in it as he did so. He would swap it out with a full one tomorrow. Pity that it could only hold seven rounds. James had experimented with using a mag modified to hold more rounds in the past, but he didn't like the way the extra weight off set the 1911's balance.

He stowed the gun under the blanket of his jury rigged bedding and brought his eyes to Dash.

"So, we good? I know you were pretty well pissed earlier and I want to make sure we're cool."

A smirk beset her face and she gave him a bit of a sultry look. "Yeah, we're cool. You act a little loopy sometimes, but you make up for it in awesomeness." She raised a hoof and James bumped it with his fist. "Just make sure you don't leave like that again and I won't have to kick your flank again."

"Alright, I get it. I don't think I could take another beating like that again anyway!"

They both had a brief laugh at their little exchange.

James checked out the loft doors again and saw the sun had set and it was getting dark. He hadn't slept in almost two days, and while he had gone a lot longer without sleep, he still wanted to do some catching up. He yawned.

"Sorry to kick you out here, but I need to get some sleep Dash. I didn't get enough last night."

"Aww, really?"

"Yeah, sorry. I wish I could stay up, but tonight it ain't gonna happen."

"Fine, but I'm coming back to visit soon."

"Fine by me. You know where I can be found."

"Ha, I got wings, remember? I can find you anywhere."

They both chuckled a little more. Rainbow Dash stared at James for a moment, making him a bit uncomfortable before she gave him a playful punch to the shoulder and flew out the opening in the wall.

'She's a bit peculiar, but fun. Wish I met more girls like her back home.'

His own comment caught him off guard for a moment, but he shrugged it off and lay down on his straw mattress, kicking his boots off. James lay there for a time, staring up a the bright moon and stars floating through the sky. He still marveled at their sparkling beauty. Gradually, his heartbeat slowed and his eyelids grew heavy. His mind briefly ran through the day's events before his eyes finally slammed shut and he knew naught but darkness.

=================================================

*thump* *thump* *Thump* *Thump* *THUMP* *THUMP*

He sat on the deck of the helicopter, one leg hanging loosely out the starboard side door, enjoying the view of the small city as is rolled by. Rocka was sitting closer to the middle, strapped into one of the seats. They were returning from a simple babysitting assignment, providing a sniper overwatch for a meeting between the so called 'politicians' of this country and top brass from his military. Easy day. Him and Rocka had just been chillin' out on the roof of a highrise for two days. Nothing had happened. Nothing would have, anybody would have been absolutely nuts to attack and area under the protection of almost a full battalion of marines.

"I don't get how you can do that man, you gonna fall out, crazy ass." Rocka yelled at him. The bulky Brooklyn native has terrified of heights and any transport that had to do with them.

"You worry too much dude, I'm clipped in." He pointed to the tether attached to the back of his tac vest, securing him to the helo.

"Whatever Ghengis, you always were a crazy cracker ass."

"And don't you forge--"

Bullets started slamming into the fuselage, tearing through the body and sending paint chips everywhere.

"FUCK, FUCK! I'M HIT, IT HIT MY LEG!" The co-pilot was screaming from the front. The helicopter started to spin.

"GHENGIS, HOLD ON!"

He tried to, but before he could grab a hold of anything, he slipped out the door. The tether suddenly snapped taught keeping him from going any further, centrifugal force the only thing stopping him from flying into the blades above. Quickly he spun his body around and grabbed the life line and started pulling himself hand over hand back to the cabin.

The pilot finally got the bird under control, halting it's spin, but they were still taking hostile fire. Grasping Rocka's outstretched hand, he hauled himself back inside and brought up his rifle, searching for the source. He spotted a muzzle flash on a rooftop not far away. The sharpshooter sighted up on the target. What he saw surprised and dismayed him.

On the rooftop was a boy that couldn't have been more than thirteen or fourteen years old. The kid had an AK-47, barrel resting on a horizontal pipe, using broken bipod legs to brace against it. The kid was just finishing reloading.

He didn't know if he could do this. The kid wasn't even old enough to be out of highschool. What should he--

The hostile resumed firing, some of the rounds impacting uncomfortably close. Out of reflex, he pulled the trigger.

"NO!"

James shot up, whipping his pistol out and spinning around, looking for a threat. His heart was racing once again, breaths ragged, his sidearm was shaking in his grip and he couldn't think strait. After a moment, he recognized his surroundings and calmed down.

'It's ok, it's ok,' He thought to himself while taking deep breaths, 'you're not in the sandbox anymore, you're not there anymore.'

James paced uneasily around the loft, head in his hands.

'My hair is getting too long, I need to cut it.'

He had a razor he had been using to shave, but of course that wouldn't be practical. He was, however, essentially living in a tool shed. So he jumped down to the ground an rummaged through the various items stowed on some shelves at one side of the room. Soon enough, he had a pair of pruning shears in his hand. They were old and a little rusty, but they were still sharp. He found a cracked mirror on the floor, under the shelves. It was too dark to see still so he retrieved his iPod to use as a light before starting.

When he finished, his hair was a bit uneven in places, but not in a way that stood out. He felt better, but he was still tense. Nothing like an early morning run to relieve some stress. James swapped out his civilian attire for a pair of his uniform pants and a black undershirt. He strapped on his boots and strode out into the chill night air. James started out at a jog and gradually accelerated into well paced run. The lone human ran along the edge of the orchard that bordered the forest, stopping every so often to do pull-ups on a tree branch or push-ups off the ground. He kept this up for about twenty minutes and turned around, repeating his actions on the way back. The sun was rising in the east now, soft pink and orange hues gradually overtaking the darkness of the sky. When James arrived at his humble abode, he had worked up quite a sweat.

Now he felt a lot better. James prepared another bucket of clean water and rinsed the sweat and grime from his body. Then he swapped out his sweaty uniform for the one hanging from the rafters. It was still damp, but manageable.

The sun was almost completely up now. The warm rays were streaming through the loft's doors. Today was going to be a bright and sunny day, he could feel it. Perfect for what he had in store.

=================================================

Flash flew down to the orchard and landed in front of the old barn Big Mac had directed him to. The young stallion trotted up to one of the large doors and knocked several time. He was excited for today, maybe after he did this, he could get his old job back. The green eyed colt waited impatiently for the human to answer. Just when he was about to leave and go look for the man, something wrapped around one of his hind legs and flipped him on his back. Flash looked up to see James standing over him with a wicked smile.

"First lesson: situational awareness. Pay attention to your environment or you'll end up on your ass. Now get up and start running, we got a lot of work to do."

Comments

[MicroUltraMad]

:3

[Mafia]

Awesome chapter. Can't wait for more!

[Dancing Dead]

>Ghengis
ts4.mm.bing.net/th?id=I4948365614318163&pid=1.5

[CannedIce]

AWESOME, THIS STORY IS. ~ Yoda

[Odd_Sarge]

Me at beginning of chapter...

At the end of chapter...

[M3Xkillers]

Okay, epic training incoming
-----
1014323
LOL

[Shimmer_Spark]

[Kill this account]

Wait first you said he preferred a crappy m9, now he has some vauge 1911.

[Stoner Dash]

1239915 His friend Jackson preferred the m9 i believe.

[damnaion]

dam love it

[MurderSassin]

I love this so much!!

[Grave Walker]

4280599 Agreed

[Scribblesheet The Scribe]

"Yeeaah. I also have to do some maintenance on my equipment. Gotta make sure it keeps working."

"Ooo, can I help?"

RD with a gun..........I see no way that would end well at all.

[GordonFreebrony]

As much as I like this story (reread number 2 here) I'm starting to see a lot of things that put me off stories in the past. Namely the pacing and some of the awkward wording. It's interesting to see how my standards have changed in the year or so since I found this story.

[The Dark Bro]

6998354 I came with high standards, I started on fanfiction.net with Diaries of A Madman and Tales of the Oppressed. So it's been interesting to read some of the blooming ones.