Short Shorts

by Coranth

214. Over.

The Crystal Palace surrounded by the reformed changelings, with whom he had waged a one-pony war, the Equestrian Guardspony glared at Shining Armor and Cadence--and Captain Shining Armor glared right back. "You did everything to make this private war happen. You've done enough damage. This mission is over, Stone. Do you understand me? This mission is over! Look at them out there! Look at them! If you won't end this now, they will kill you. Is that what you want? It's over Heart Stone. It's over!" Shining Armor snapped.

That was when Heart Stone broke. "Nothing is over! Nothing!" he snarled as Cadence flinched away. "You just don't turn it off! It wasn't my war! You asked me, I didn't ask you! And I did what I had to do to win! But somepony wouldn't let us win! And I come back to the world, and I see all those so-called "reformed" bugs at the airport, protesting me, spitting. Calling me foal killer and all kinds of vile crap! Who are they to protest me, huh? Who are they? Unless they've been me and been there and know what the hell they're yelling about!" he continued.

"It was a bad time for everyone, Stone. It's all in the past now." Shining Armor replied, trying to console his distressed Elite Guard. It didn't work; in fact, it only seemed to make Heart Stone angrier. "For you and your pampered little Princess, there!" Heart Stone shouted in response. "For me civilian life is nothing! In the field we had a code of honour, you watch my back, I watch yours. Back here there's nothing!"

"You're the last of an elite group, don't end it like this," Shining Armor tried again, but Heart Stone snarled, pacing.

"Back there I could fly an airship, I could drive an armoured siege tower, I was in charge of million-bit equipment, back here I can't even hold a job in Manehattan parking cars!" Hurling away his magitek weapon and spear, poor Heart Stone broke down; he wept bitterly, as Shining and Cadence started to realize what had been done to this poor soldier, Heart Stone curling in on himself. As they moved to console him, the Guardspony started, "... my friends... I miss my friends. You remember the ERA, the Air Force; I had this one friend there, uh, Granite, and he said, he said, Stone, when this war is over, I'm gonna go home and buy, uh, a Stagecoach and I'll do something with the orphanages so I can take foals on field trips; wherever they want to go, and I'll pull that coach until the wheels and my hooves fall off."

Poor Heart Stone wept again, sniffled, continued, "We... we were in this saloon in Appleoosa and this filly comes up carrying a hoof-shine box. And she says "Shine, please, shine!" I said no. She kept askin', yeah, and Granite said "Yeah." And I went to get a couple of ciders, and the box was wired, and she opened up the box, fucking blew his body all over the place. And he's lying there, he's fucking screaming. There're pieces of him all over me, just..." Shining and Cadence startled as Heart Stone cast off his enchanted armor; it landed on the floor with a clang.

"...like this, and I'm tryin' to pull him off, you know, my friend that's all over me! I've got blood and everything and I'm tryin' to hold him together! I'm puttin'... the colt's fuckin' insides keep coming out! And nopony would help! Nopony would help! He's saying, sayin' "I wanna go home! I wanna go home!" He keeps calling my name! "I wanna go home, Heart! I wanna pull my Stagecoach!" I said "With what? I can't find your fuckin' legs! I can't find your legs!" Now both Shining and Cadence were holding Heart Stone, just holding him as he continued, "I can't get it out of my head. A dream of seven years. Every day I have this. And sometimes I wake up and I don't know where I am. I don't talk to anybody. Sometimes a day - a week. I can't put it out of my mind." He went silent, and then, all looked up to find that Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and King Thorax were there, having teleported in at the start of Heart Stone's story.

All looked utterly stricken, none more so than Thorax, the Changeling King's expression filled with grief and sadness. Heart Stone and Thorax' eyes locked; then the reformed king was kneeling, shuffling over to where he was with Shining and Cadence. Thorax moved to nuzzle poor Heart Stone, over and over, and over. "I... I'm sorry..." he whispered, "I'm so sorry. My Mother has a lot to answer for." Heart Stone trembled, nodded, then Thorax gently pressed his head against Heart Stones' in a deep gesture of trust; his empathy for the stallion's plight so great that he wished he could give the poor broken stallion all the love he had. Alas, this would have to do.

Comments

[ninjanaut1000]

Stone's story seems familiar. i could have sworn i heard it somewhere but i can't quite place it.

[Coranth]

11432564 "They drew first blood. Not me."