> The rise of The sacred stallion > by Jack Hooves > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter one :Late nights make big fights > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter one: Late nights make big fights *The Anthro-pony-town of Ruin was darkening as the sun began to set, and the wind began to pick up and blow loose litter down the street making it gather around the parked police cruiser. It was a newer model but still out-dated by modern car standards, its once black body paint was now a washed out grey, and the white was now a old ivory white. The officer behind the wheel was busy eating a cheap taco that looked like it came from the dumpster in the alley next to them, spilling some type of sauce on his name tag, covering the first name leaving only OFFICER. He quickly decided to wipe it off when the sauce dripped onto his freshly pressed navy blue uniform, while his partner was asleep in the passenger seat with his faded blue cap covering his black mane that fell in front of his eyes, and his blue uniform was beginning to get wrinkles as he rolled over snagging his name tag on the seat-belt and nearly ripped it off when Briggs reached to grab his drink and accidentally shifted the gear into neutral and had to slam on the brake to stop the cruiser from rolling down hill, and making his partner fling forward and hit the dashboard. Briggs looked over at his partner and fixed his name tag that read OFFICER Jack Valentine, Jack merely reached over and turned the bulky police scanner on, and tuned it in to his police department and leaned back waiting for a call-in while pulling the front of his cap down to cover his eyes. "Don't you think we should turn on the volume?" Briggs asked while turning the volume knob up till it clicked on in response. ".....Robbery in progress on magic and coffee lane, requesting all nearby units to assist in the apprehension of the multiple armed suspects that are heavily armored and advancing down magic and coffee lane on foot, lethal force is authorized." The speaker blurted out as Briggs looked at me with wide eyes in dismay. "You heard them, get us over there." I said while sighing and opening the glove box and getting out my standard issue 9 mm and loading it with some ammunition, and handing him his after I loaded it. "Subjects are walking down 11th and pinewood avenue, multiple officers down, and at least 12 reported K.I.A, approach with caution." The radio said before going to static. "Do we cut them off, or go around with the others?" Briggs asked while slowing at a four-way intersection. "Cut them off, but get out and place yourself behind that mail-box across the road, if they get through me, you can take them out." I said while unbuckling, and getting in the driver seat as he got out and did what I told him. Once he got into position I sped down the road with the sirens on now, and quickly turned down the road they were on, and saw that there were at least five guys walking with assault rifles trained on the cars behind them, I quickly cut my sirens off and stopped my car while turning it to the side and got out while taking position next to the front of the car and took out my 9 mm, and aimed at the one in the center and looked closer to see they were all wearing some type of body armor that left barely any gap on their joints when the moved, and was about to shoot when the one I was aiming at turned around and opened fire at me narrowly missing my head but making large baseball sized holes in the hood of my car. "We got one in front of us with a car like he said." The one that was shooting at me said to the others who turned around but held their fire till they were within close range of me and flanked the car, and surrounded me as I was caught looking the other way looking for them. "Hands up pig." The one I was going to shoot said while putting the muzzle of his rifle at the base my skull. "No need to do this." I said while putting my hands up and felt him relax by lowering his rifle barrel and aimed it at the ground while he reached for the gun in my hand. I jumped forward when I felt him grip the barrel of my gun and turned to land on my back and let loose my clip catching him in the chest and stomach, He looked shocked and fell backwards onto his buddies who shot back, hitting me in the torso area while I was lying on my back and stopped when they saw my bullets made it in the gaps of their friends body vest and began to drag him into the backseat but gave up and dropped him to the ground when the sound of sirens began to approach as they got in it as the rest of the cops showed up, and decided to leave him with me to die, bleeding out on the dark street that was now littered with brass casings among the other trash the town cleaners forgot to clean up. "You get to die before me." The one they left said to me while sitting up a little and began to crawl leaving a trail of blood as he made his way to his gun that was on the curb next to him a few yards away, but collapsed onto the curb when a large chunk of glass snagged on his arm and fell into the bullet hole of his shoulder and he screamed in pain before giving up, rolling onto his back and exposed his face to me after he managed to get his helmet off and revealed his blue eyes, and his pale grey fur that went with his blonde hair and looked at me weakly before collapsing onto his back. "I guess not." I said while laughing before I began to cough up blood and managed to turn onto my side so I didn't choke on the blood I was coughing up painfully before I rolled onto my back and felt all the energy leave my body as I realized that my blood was coming out of the wounds and pooling around me. "Officer down, I repeat officer down, we need a ambulance on 11th and pinewood avenue !" Briggs said when he finally caught up but was too late to do anything else, and quickly put pressure over the holes that were where my vest used to be, and knew his attempts were useless, and looked me in the eyes before he took off his uniform and quickly pressed it against my torso and stomach areas. . "This is not how it was supposed to happen, just...just....just hold on the ambulance is almost here buddy. think of your wife and daughter!" He shouted close to tears as he saw me begin to black out as a puddle of blood began to form around me mingling with the suspect who I had shot, He was attempting to crawl away again as a swat officer quickly handcuffed him after hitting him over the head to get him to stop squirming, then ran over to me when he was sure the other person wasn't going anywhere, and flagged down the ambulance when it got close to us and opened the back doors of it. "The ambulance is here, lets get him to it." The Swat officer said while moving, and exposing his red fur around his neck while and loosening his helmet and took it off to reveal a orange mane, and quickly grabbing one of my arms, and made Briggs grab the other one as they walked me over to the back of it where the paramedics held open the doors and quickly got me in, onto the stretcher while one of them put a IV in my arm, and quickly began to attempt to stop the bleeding while the driver sped off to the hospital and turned the sirens back on while cutting through the alley we were next to and the other paramedic began to grab a needle and thread, I watched as he heated up the needle and then began to stitch up one of the many wounds on my shoulder. "Get his shirt open, and get me 20 cc's of morphine." The one to my right said while the other handed him a needle which he injected into my arm, and I began to fall asleep while gripping the collar of the shirt of the paramedic to my left. "Tell me wife, I tried to stop them from getting anyone else." I said as I released my grip and fell into a deathly ill slumber hanging in the balance between life and death. I awoke in the hospital that was across the street of my police department and saw that some of my colleagues were in there with me, and the swat officer that helped me into the ambulance was standing at the door watching everyone that came in and left the room, his orange mane was buzzed to keep it short, ans his red fur was well groomed, he turned around when someone bumped into to him, and I had enough time to see his name tag that read Special weapons and tactics response team-captain Officer Big Macintosh. "Macintosh." I croaked out. "Eeeyup." He said while walking over to me, and looking at me as if to say he's surprised I'm alive, and simply sits in the chair next to me. "Can I call my wife and daughter, to let them know I'm all right?" I asked while sitting up to look at him while I talked. "Eeenope." He said while stopping after that. "Why not?" I asked while getting out of bed and leaning on the IV stand like a crutch. "Hey now, take it easy there chief, you shouldn't be moving so soon after being kicked around like a mule." A female officer said while messing up her ponytail as she walked over to me, and looked at me with emerald green eyes that matched her orange fur while she continued walking up to me from a group of people and tried to make me get back in bed. "I'm fine, where's my stuff?" I asked while not aware I was bleeding from where they stitched along my stomach, and continued to the door, and stopped to take out the IV that was in my arm. "It's at the desk." She replied while fixing her ponytail and helping me to the front desk, where the nurse that was busy with a phone simply handed me a clear bag that held my uniform and side-arm. "Sign here, and your good to go." The nurse said while putting a clipboard in my hand while going back to talk onto her phone with someone else while I promptly signed it and handed it back to her and walked to the bathroom and went into it, making sure to lock the door. I took off the simple hospital gown, and saw where my stitches had began to come loose were along my ribs, I couldn't help but look around to see if there was anything I could use to cover it, I saw a first aid kit in the corner and walked over to it, I quickly reached and opened it to see there was a roll of bandages and some safety pins in it. "Are you fucking serious?" I asked myself while wincing a little as I wrapped the bandages around my torso, and ribs before I put the pins at the ends to keep them in place somewhat before I began to change into my police outfit that had been washed, stitched and redyed for me as a thank you by the police chief himself. I walked out of the bathroom to see Macintosh talking to the female Officer, from there arm and hand gestures I could tell they were arguing about something that involved me, when I walked past them I could make out a few things they said. "......He needs to know AJ." "Mac........probably nothing...........nothing else was reported." "Can't argue there cousin." They stopped when they realized I was walking past them, and didn't continue till I had walked outside. I walked to the curb pf the road and saw the road that was normally packed with traffic was now empty, with nothing but a few loose bottles along with a bag blow down the road as a breeze began to pick up, making it a little cold outside since it was normally hot and humid on summer afternoons. "Where can I go to make a phone call?" I asked myself while walking down the road after the bag rolled along ahead of me, being carried by the wind as it eventually lifted into the air, and soon became caught in a tree as I walked under it, wondering where I was since Briggs was the one who usually did all the driving. *BEEP! BEEP!* I jumped as I heard something making a noise a little ways up the sidewalk, and continued up the side walk in the light of the moon since the street lamps now began to go out more frequently as I walked further along the sidewalk. "Everyone hit the floor!" Was being blasted through some speakers, and when I reached the end of the sidewalk I came across a really loud bar and club type place that was flashing lights on the inside, and even though it was against my judgement I decided to use the phone booth that was outside the place. I got in it and closed the sliding door to see that it did nothing to cancel out the noise, I reached into my pocket and found little change and quickly dropped the coins into the machine and dialed the number for my wife's phone. *4337-442-4410* "Please pick up, please pick up." I said while it began to ring. "Were sorry, but the owners phone is turned off, please try again later." A dreadful mechanical voice said into the piece as the line went to static. "Are you FUCKING SERIOUS!" I shouted while slamming the phone on the hook accidentally breaking it, while I was unaware of the people that were watching me. "Sir, do you need a ride?" A blue haired mare asked me while putting a hand on my shoulder, with a look at the mare, I could see that her fur was a pale white, and the patch on her jacket was one of a Music note. "We don't mind helping a officer." Her friend said while brushing the hair off her exposed gray fur shoulders, and motioned me to get in the car with them. "If it's no bother to you." I said while getting into the back of the bright neon cyan colored mustang convertible, and leaned back allowing my-self a few moments of relaxation. "Where do you live?" The white one asked while looking me in the eyes with her reddish hued eyes that made me want to simply kiss her. "I live on Tenth avenue across from the coffee shop called Apple-critters." I said while closing my eyes unaware of the blood soaking through my shirt and was unaware that I fell asleep in their car as they drove down the road quietly into the now dusk of that morning. > Chapter two: Heart Dropping > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "What the fuck are we going to do Tavi?" The blue-haired-mare said while pulling over and stopping the car while looking over at the brunette haired mare. "I don't know but what if he isn't dead Vinyl?" Tavi said while panicking and looking at the pale cop that was slumped over in the backseat with blood covering his shirt and uniform, and trickling down to the seat. "WE HAVE TO GET HIM SOMEWHERE!" Vinyl yelled at Tavi who was now crying hysterically and hugged onto Vinyl too shaken up to do anything else. I woke up from their yelling, and saw them hugging each other while the brunette was crying onto the blue-haired-ones shoulder, leaves streaks of water when it touched her fur. "What's going on?" I asked weakly while stretching and clutching at my ribs when I realized my stitches were coming undone, and put a hand over the wound. "JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!" They both said while jumping a little and hitting their heads on the roof. "Don't do that, we thought you were dead!" Said the Blue haired one while she looked at me a little worried. "Wait a minute......He looks familiar!" Said the brunette while looking at me closer after she got herself under control. "I'm just a street cop." I said while feeling that the wound stopped bleeding. "Wait a minute, aren't you the cop that was shot at the jewelry store robbery two weeks ago?" The brunette said while wiping away her tears but missed a few. "Wait......wait......wait, that was two weeks ago?!" I said while leaning forward a little too fast and accidentally hit the back of the drivers seat. "We are so happy to meet a hero!"The brunette said while wiping away the rest of her tears, and hugged me a little bit, but I had to push her off of me since she was hugging me too tight to where it hurt. "Could you just drive me home please." I said while wheezing a little from the hug she had given me. "Come on Vinyl lets see him home." The brunette said while kissing vinyl on the cheek while she started the car, and backed up slowly. "Are we anywhere near my house?" I asked while looking at the building construction sites as we passed them, and then we began to pass along other people driving, some happier than others. "Should be there in a couple of minutes." She said while turning onto Tenth avenue, "Right there!" I said while pointing to a house that was simple brickwork but had a lavish looking driveway that was filled with parked cars. "Are you rich, or a crooked cop?" Vinyl asked while pulling up to the driveway. "Those aren't mine, and shouldn't be here, would you mind waiting here for a few minutes, and keep your phone out in case something goes wrong." I said while getting out of the door very quietly and closed it with utter silence, and made my way up the driveway very carefully feeling queasy about the cars being there . "You heard him, keep your phone out, This town needs all the hero's it can get, even if there simple cops." Vinyl said while holding Octavia's free hand in her own. I got close to the front door of my house and saw that the people inside it were dressed in suits, 'Who are they, maybe their friendly.' I thought while deciding to go inside. I walked inside and tapped one on the shoulder to talk to him. "He's here!" He shouted while grabbing my arm, and flipped me onto a small coffee table my wife had bought at a garage sale a few years ago, the coffee table broke from my weight, but when I tried to get up I felt a piece of wood and looked down to see a piece went through my calf, and when I looked back up I saw the barrel of a 1911 in my face. "Well, well, well." Said a voice that came down the stairs with my wife and daughter in front of him. "Who are you people, what do you want with me and my family?" I asked while sitting up. "You remember that boy you shot and caught at that jewelry store robbery two weeks ago?" He asked while sitting down in the light, and I could make out his graying mane and his blue fur was speckled with grey, his face had a scar running from his upper lip on the left side to the his right temple. "Yeah.....what about him?" I asked looking at my wife's scared blue eyes and her lush black mane that went perfect with her red fur, and our daughter in her arms that looked exactly like her mother. "Well it just so happens that, that boy you shot died in the hospitable operating room, and he was my SON!" He shouted at me while drawing his weapon. "Your son is the one who shot first." I said after he hit the butt of his gun across my face leaving a gash in my cheek and drawing blood. "You are going to fill a loss too, an eye for an eye." He said while pointing the gun at my wife. "WAIT!" I shouted but to no avail as he pulled the trigger and coated my carpet with her brains. I crawled over to her and held her in my arms till she stopped twitching, and cried while holding her, and looked up at him. "Your going to fucking PAY!" I screamed at him, and he merely pointed the gun at my daughter. "No you don't!" I shouted while two of the many goons in that room grabbed me and pinned me to the floor. "Watch me." He said while pulling the trigger again and killing her painlessly with mercy. "Now boys, don't be too rough on him, after all he is the town's hero." He said while waving them off of me, and simply walked over to me. "Make it look like he did it." He said before kicking me in the face, and rendering me unconscious. *Outside the house in Vinyls car. "What was that?" Octavia said while pulling out of a kiss with Vinyl that she was enjoying before she heard two gunshots and screaming come from the house. "Sounded like someone was shot, Call the cops Tavi and hurry!" Vinyl said while fumbling with the ignition of the car trying to get the car started. Octavia quickly fumbled for her phone, and accidentally dropped it in vinyls lap while swearing under her breath. "It's okay tavi, grab it while I try and get us out of here." Vinyl said while feeling the warmth of Octavia's hand on her crotch as Octavia grabbed her phone and dialed 9-1-1. "Hello this is Ruin police station how may I help you?" A officer replied. "Yes, hello.....I would like to report a shooting at a officers house." Octavia said while vinyl drove them down the road a couple of miles, away from the crime scene. "And who is the officer?" the officer on the phone asked while becoming curious. "Officer Jack Valentine, We dropped him off at his house and there were a bunch of parked jeeps there and he went inside, and a few minutes later there were two gunshots and screaming." Octavia said while close to tears but felt a little better when she felt vinyl hold her hand. "We will have a team dispatched immediately, and try to stay calm mam, did you notice anything about the cars, anything unusual?" The officer replied while flipping a few switches that alerted the swat team to go to his house and see what the hold up was. *Octavia thought back and thought about the jeeps, and remembered one had the words Il mondo del dolore viene salvato da coloro che nudo il nudo il dolore.painted on the rear bumper. "Um....on of them said Il mondo del dolore viene salvato da coloro che nudo il nudo il dolore, or something like that." Octavia said while shaking a little bit. "Okay mam, could you come in to the police station and give a full statement?" The officer asked while giving the swat team a green light to use force. > Chapter three: Convicted > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter three: Convicted I awoke at the sound of nearby sirens, and sat up rubbing my temples and realized there was a 1911 in my left hand with shell casings scattered across the floor, along with my dead family, I looked at the gun again as the front door of my house was kicked in by swat team members, I managed to get to my feet but felt lightheaded as I tried to walk to the other room, as I neared the door I was tackled without warning. "Get off of me, I'm innocent!" I said while managing to bring my knee up and push the person off of me. "Eeeenope, your coming in for the murder of your wife and daughter." The officer said while getting up. "I didn't do it." I said while getting up and aiming the gun at him, while recognizing his voice as officer Macintosh from the hospital. "Put it down and we can stop you from hurting anyone else." Macintosh said while lowering his right hand to his sidearm that was placed on his hip. "Macintosh, subject isn't anywhere....." Another swat member managed to say while running into the room through the side door, making me pull the trigger on reflex, catching him in the chest knocking him into the door frame, and I quickly adjusted my aim and shot off a few rounds into the other guy hitting him in the neck and throat sending blood and bone bits onto the wall, and watched shocked at what I did, as he fell to the ground clutching his throat. "Look at what you did!" Macintosh yelled while getting his sidearm out and shooting til he was empty and crawled over to the dying officer. Lucky for me only a single round of his clip managed to hit me, and catch me in the shoulder as I ran out of the house through the back door while everyone else was surely going to Officer Macintosh to see what happened. I don't know how long I ran that night trying to get away, all I can remember is waking up in a gutter in some lonely alley with the 1911 that now made me a wanted killer in my belt loop, and my clothes were torn and caked in dried blood, I sat up carefully, grateful it was night again and looked around at my surroundings and saw a few bums walking around, some were pushing baskets around and others were around fires they had lit to keep warm in the chilly weather, and I looked down to see that my clothes were full of holes and the weather looked like it was going to snow in the next couple of days. "You new here?" a bum asked me while walking over to me with a basket behind them and their torn clothes covering most of their body, only revealing their face and showed that this one was female, showing her soft pink like eyes, and pale white fur was gleaming as if she actually kept herself groomed despite her current living arrangements. "You could say that." I said while going to stand up, but fell back after the stitches tore half-way and my shoulders were aching as much as my legs were from all that running, but my good arm was unable to move since I felt something grinding against my shoulder joint every time I moved it. She sat down next to me and pushed me onto my back while ripping my shirt open, and looking at the wounds on my body. "Your not a drug dealer are you?" she asked while ripping some of the precious cloth she had that was covering her mane, and ripped enough for me to see the green, blue, and pink mane, and began to take a single long strand of the cloth threading and then began to dig on her basket for something. "Do I look like a drug dealer to you mam?" I asked while in too much pain too move anything. "Maybe, then why else would you be carrying a gun and look like you've been shot up?" she asked while pulling out a needle, and put the thread through the eye of the dull needle that looked like it had been used many times. "I'm a cop." I said weakly while watching her, not wanting to put up a fight since she was caring for me. "Really....your cop.......in the middle of a bum camp." she said flatly while looking at me with a look that said she didn't believe that. "Remember the jewelry store robbery from two or three weeks ago, well I was the cop that took down one of them and ended up in the hospital for two weeks." I said while raising my left arm a little. "Really?!?!?! I've never met a hero before!" She said while smiling and getting beet red, and began to rummage through her basket again, and pulled out a newspaper with my picture on the cover, "Could you sign it?......if your not too banged up that is." She said while looking around for a pen, and eventually found a half dried marker. I did the best with my good arm that was injured, and thought it was the least I could do since she was sewing up my side where I had been originally injured, "There you go mam." I said weakly while feeling the needle go through my skin and felt the pain as it pulled both sides of the wound together. She bit the thread after she finished sewing and blushed when I handed her the newspaper signed with my signature, she then quickly got on top of my chest, and looked closer at my shoulder where I was shot by officer Macintosh. "The bullet is still in there." She said while getting a pair of broken needle nose pliers out of her basket. "What are you about to.......AGhhhhhhh!!!!!" I screamed in pain as she stuck the tip in the wound and began to pull it out even though I could feel it was stuck against some muscle in my shoulder. "Keep still so I can get the damn bullet out." She said while she used her knees to pin me still so she could finish pulling it out without me squirming. "There you go......nice keeper." She said after she pulled it out and put it in my uniform pocket while giggling, and began to sew the wound up. "Are you done here?" I asked while glad the poor surgery was over with, which meant that I could either leave and risk getting busted, or I could stay and let the weather cover my tracks here since I was still wounded. "You could stay for supper if you want, and if you don't I understand, who would want to have supper with a bum." She said while looking at me with puppy eyes. > Chapter four : Meaning well > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter four: Meaning well Octavia and Vinyl were both sitting in the dull grey room that the officer had brought them to since they both were trying to explain what they saw at the officers house earlier, Octavia was rethinking that maybe she saw nothing and simply imagined it when a detective came into the room with the sleeves of his plaid shirt rolled up to his elbows,while his badge was hanging loosely around his neck and the gun holster he had on was snug against his ribs, his face was relatively normal except for a scar that was along his jaw to his hairline, making his grey fur pale as the light shone on him making the scar turn a bright purple. "Tell me exactly what you know about the situation." He said quietly while pulling out a fold-able chair and sat in front of them. "We picked up the officer outside of club since he was obviously having trouble and we dropped him off at his house when we saw a lot of the cars parked outside of his house, and he asked us to wait a few minutes and that's when we heard a bunch of screaming and gunshots that made the windows light up for a few seconds before going dark again." Octavia said while just wanting to leave and go home with Vinyl. "That's it........nothing else, you haven't seen or heard from him since then?" The detective asked while writing down the information she told him on a page in his little flip-book. "No, why would he contact us?" Octavia asked puzzled. "Officer Jack Valentine is wanted for the suspected murder of his spouse and child along with the murder of a cop, we need to bring him in before he does anything rash that might make people wind up hurt." He said while leaning forward, making his badge shine in the light. Octavia read the name on the badge and frowned when she didn't recognize the name, but was surprised when the detective left the room. "Who is he?" Vinyl asked. "Detective Briggs." Octavia replied while thinking. *Outside the police station at a public payphone Detective Briggs was making a call, and dialed a number while wearing gloves to leave no fingerprint. "Is it done?" A voice at the other end said with out even waiting for a greeting. "Yes, they think he is the one that did it." Briggs replied. "Is he in your custody?" The person asked. "Not yet sir, we are trying our best out here." Briggs replied after clearing his throat. "THEN FIND HIM, I WANT HIS BODY BROUGHT TO ME!" The voice on the other end screamed into their phone. "We are close, according to one of the officers that was injured, Officer Valentine was injured and quite possibly crippled by now." Briggs said while trying to ignore the sharp throbbing pain that was making his ear hurt now. The other person hung up leaving Detective Briggs to think about his choices regarding his friends life in his hands, and sat there alone in the phone booth as the sun began to set and watched as the first snowflakes of the winter season began to fall. *Officer valentine sat near the kind lady that had helped him as she began to cook some sort of vegetable stew with some meat in it that I didn't want to know where it came from and only watched as she began to cut them slowly with her soft hands and delicately as she knew what she was doing. "Thank you for staying the night with me......it means a lot since most of the others avoid me around this time." She said quietly while putting the chopped vegetables into a pot that was hanging over a fire she had going, and began to cut the meat into little chunks. "Why would they avoid a pretty mare?" I said while blushing and began to forget about my wife and my sorrows and decided to try and enjoy what I could since the sound of sirens that passed by made me to scared to care otherwise. "You think i'm pretty?" she asked while surprised and nicked the end of her finger while crying out in pain at her foolishness. "Let me help with that." I said while reaching over and placing my hand over yours and carefully tore a strip of my undershirt and wrapped her cut in it. "You don'y even know my name." She said while blushing as I cared for her. "Well.....why don't you tell me since I might be here a while." I said while wiping a few snowflakes out of her hair. "It's.....it's Celestia, and my sister is Luna, but she's busy worrying about her job, and i'm too ashamed to ask her for help since she still thinks i'm living decently." Celestia said while holding my hand nervously. I gently leaned in and kissed her on the lips, and backed up not wanting to rush things, and began to help her cook the meal she was preparing. "Your my personal hero Jack.....you just showed me there is a shred of humanity left in this world after all." Celestia said while wiping away a tear that had fallen down to her cheek. "I....I need to go for a walk while you finish this up." I said while getting up and tucking my 1911 into the back of my pants and lowered my shirt over it to cover it. "Make sure to come back, I don't like being alone." She said quietly while looking at me quietly. "I promise i'll be back." I said while tossing her my wallet. "That's to show i'll be coming back." I said while going down the alley entrance before she could respond to me. I walked to the curb and was glad that the night snow was coming in softly, While I was looking around taking in the scenery I caught a glimpse of the guy who smashed me onto my coffee table and was also there when I was framed for the murder of my wife and daughter. I looked at him as he was walking to a small featureless black car that was a luxury car, but instead of leaving he simply opened the door and grabbed a envelope that was a orange hue in the light of the cab light, I decided to take a chance and walked up behind him while taking the gun out of the back of my pants, and quietly walked faster till I reached him and put the barrel of the gun against the small of his back along his spine. "Don't fucking move." I said to him as he tensed up and then relaxed while put his hands on the roof of his car while I grabbed his gun and tucked it into my belt loop. "What a shame, I thought you would have been in a jail cell waiting for your execution by now." He said while turning around slowly as I took a step back. "How's it feel to have been framed for killing your loved ones." He said while smirking as I put the barrel against his stomach. "I want that envelope now." I said while not knowing why I was doing this. "Can't do that." He said while looking at the envelope in his hands and then to the gun in my hand. I pulled the hammer of the gun back and pushed the barrel against his stomach harder. "Want to say that again?" I asked him while smirking at him this time. "Your a cop, you can't do this!" He said while panicking and kept glancing from the envelope to the gun in my hand. "Just like you couldn't have killed my wife and daughter because they were ladies." I said while getting angry. "That's right, now be a good little pig and go turn yourself in." He said while regaining his cool and began to make fun of me. "You asked for it." I said while pulling the trigger and felt nothing but the recoil of the gun as I watched him drop the envelope and clutch his stomach that had a gaping hole in it now. I quickly picked it up before his blood could taint the letter and quickly took his jacket that had some blood on the inside and put it on, glad that it was red leather so no one would notice the blood, I hurried away as people began to draw to the body that was was lying limp in a puddle of blood that finally stopped expanding. I walked back into the bum camp right as Celestia was finishing up what ever type of soup she was making, and saw that she was busy changing into something when I walked into her little metal hut and couldn't help but watch. "You don't have to be so peepish." She said while finishing putting on her clean laundry. "You knew I was watching?" I asked shocked but turned a bright red and felt a urge to do something. "I also heard a gunshot, that was you also wasn't it?" She asked while turning around in her dress. "No, I saw a mugging on the way back though, and the mugger shot his victim." I lied to her without even looking away. "Where did you get the jacket?" She asked while spying me suspiciously. "I got it from the dead victim......" I said while not looking away. She simply sighed and looked away while fixing two bowls of the soup, that smelled as good as it looked. "Do you know where a ATM is by any chance?" I asked while remembering my wallet with my credit cards. "Yeah......there's one in the liquor store around the corner." She said. "Want to do me a favor?" I asked while putting my arms around her and kissing her neck slowly. "What is it?" She asked while blushing and turning around so she could kiss me back. "Want to go get some money out so we can spend the week in a motel?" I asked while looking in her eyes. "How much do I get out?" She asked while sighing. "And what's the pin?" she said while pulling off of me. "Get all of my saving which should be about three or four thousand, and the pin is 3948." I said while placing my hands on her plot while pulling her in close to me. "I'll be back in a few minutes." She said while going out the door after I handed her my wallet. I simply sat on the little cardboard box and waited while putting my face in my hands and simply fell asleep without even realizing how tired I was. > Chapter five: The problem > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Dreamscape I jerked upright and looked around and saw that I was on a operating table and there were people around me, they had no faces and simply began clicking something as they began to pull me upright but stopped when a bell rang, and scurried away into the wall while leaving me strapped to the table. "You will avenge me won't you?" Someone said while blind folding me since I was bound to the table. "Who are you?" I asked while doing all that I could do not to scream since I had a fear of the dark. "Won't you avenge your daughter and me?" The voice said while turning to a sweet feminine voice that made me fall asleep while it began to cut me slowly. "Wake up Jack." Someone said softly while shaking me awake, and wiping something against the brow of my eye. "I promise." I said while shaking violently while waking up slowly from that nightmare and saw that I was on the floor with Celestia holding me on her lap and in her arms while wiping away at the cold sweat that was covering my face. "It's okay Jack, i'm here, everything is going to be better now." She said in a calming voice while she finished wiping sweat off of my face and pushed the hair out of my face so I could see. "Did you do it?" I asked while sitting up slowly still shaking a bit as I remembered the cutting the other person did in my dream. "Yeah, it's right here." She said while holding up a small brown bag that was neatly folded at the top. "Go and check a motel room for us for the next month just in case." I said while getting six hundred dollars out of the bag and put it in my wallet. "The nearest motel is the sparkling dreamz......it's across the street from the town hall." She said while looking at me worried. "I have to go do something.......I'll meet you there." I said quickly before she could respond and walked outside while pulling out the envelope I had took from the guy I killed. ******************************************************************************************************************************************************** 'The arrest of Officer Jack Valentine will leave more room for the operation of our drug runners and dealers, I expect you to take the position of personal carrier and make sure these orders are dropped off at the locations and time's scheduled for our runners to make their runs, If you mess up like your brother did you too will also be fed to the dogs alive for your failure.' Here are the list of location's and times: 1.)Apple family acres ranch home, meet the client behind the barn at 10:35 p.m. 2.)Public library in the town hall at 12:45 a.m. 3.) And lastly at the new empire military base east entrance at 3:30 a.m. After completing the deliveries come to the old refinery off of Johnson and Grand avenue to receive payment. ******************************************************************************************************************************************************** I looked at the list and quickly at a public bus display in time to see that it was 10 o'clock on the dot, and knew I could make it to the farm to meet this client if I hurried and didn't get lost on the way there, I looked around desperately and saw a lone taxi driver that was sitting in his car and eating what looked like a chewed up sandwich, I quickly ran over to the car and got in the back of it and sat relaxing. "I'm on break." He said flatly while going back to eating his food. "I can make it worth your while." I said while getting out my wallet. "They all say that." He replied while not even looking. "Do they all tip as well?" I asked while throwing two hundred dollars onto his lap, which made him immediately put his food down and buckle up. "Where to?" He asked while wiping his mouth off with the collar of his shirt. I showed him the address but not the time that was located on the paper. "That's close by since were on the outskirts of town." He said while putting the dull taxi in motion. "How long till we get there?" I asked while sliding out my handgun and counted only four rounds left in the clip before I put it back. "About fifteen, maybe twenty minutes." He replied sternly while switching from paved road to a dirt road that was bumpier than a toddlers toy room. I pulled out my 1911 and ejected the mag into my hand and felt that it was light and saw that there was only five rounds left in the clip plus the one in the chamber which I ejected and dropped the bullet onto the dirty floor of the taxi and decided to leave it on the floor of the taxi since I saw used rubbers on the ground next to it. "We're here." The taxi driver said while seeing my gun and panicked. "Take it easy pal, I'm not going to hurt you, It'd be better if you forget you ever saw me." I said while sliding the clip home and cocking my gun while getting out of the taxi. He sped off in reverse after I closed the door, I glanced down at my watch and saw that it was 10:30 on the dot, and saw that there was a light moving to behind the barn and quickly decided to move over there slowly while keeping my noise down to a minimum so I could sneak up on the person. > Chapter six: Loves like a loaded gun > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter six: Loves like a loaded gun Detective Briggs Briggs strolled over to the call in area where a cab driver was busy sitting on the hood of his car answering the questions that was being done by the officers that reached him first. "Detective, glad you could make it." The younger one said while waving him over. "You two can leave, I'll handle the questions from here." He replied while the pair of officers relaxed from relief and walked to their cruiser that used to be his and Valentine's when they worked together. "Tell me what happened." He said to the cab driver. "Some maniac pulled a gun on me after I dropped him off, and he was carrying around a orangesh envelope." The driver replied while looking at the detective sternly. "You have proof of that?" Briggs asked now annoyed. "The hell I do, he dropped a round on the floor." The driver said while tossing the round to Briggs who caught it and recognized the type of ammo it was, the same one that was used by his boss, and the gun was in valentines belongings. "Where did you drop him off?" Briggs said furiously. "At some farm up the road, sweet apple acres I think." He replied. "Sorry to do this." Briggs replied. "Sorry for what?" The driver said curiously. "This." Briggs said while pulling out his .44 and shooting the driver in the eye, sending chunks of blood and bone onto the windshield on the cab, busting through the windshield spilling the remains of his brain matter into the car while sending blood pumping through the many veins that were gone and began to build up in the car as He turned around and walked into the nearest alley He could find and pulled out his cell phone and called his real boss. "What, why and the hell are you calling me this early or late, or whatever for Briggs!?!?!" The voice at the end of the line shouted. "I have that info you were looking for boss." Briggs said sheepishly, while afraid that he might cause his boss to do something stupid. "Well, I'm waiting Briggs." The voice said while calming down. "That 1911 you had placed in his hands to frame him, I just found a round that was in that gun, and was informed of a location he was dropped off at." Briggs said while letting out a sigh of relief. "You did well, tell me this location and I'll call in a few goons to get him." The voice replied while a lighter was heard clicking next to the receiver piece of the phone. "Sweet apple acres.....where Macintosh is stationed." Briggs said while crouching behind a dumpster as he realized that the body was being scavenged by the homeless, and withdrew his .44 again. "Head out there with them, and make sure they don't fuck up......oh and get rid of that loose end, make it look like Macintosh died from a suicide." The voice said before hanging up and leaving Briggs alone to realize that his hole had grown deeper yet, and walked out of the alley with his .44 tucked into his belt-loop and walked over to a car that had a couple of people next to it. "Whose car?" Briggs asked while approaching the group of people. "Mine." A college kid replied while stepping forward and exposing his vast muscles and short black mane. "Give me your keys." Briggs replied. "How about no you dumb-ass mother fucker." He replied while his friends walked behind Briggs. "How about you do it, and I might let you live." Briggs said while pulling his .44 before any of them could understand what was going on. "Take it easy pal, just a joke OK?" The kid replied while taking the keys out of his pocket slowly. "On the ground all of you!" Briggs barked while waving his gun at them. They all did as they were told and dropped to the ground and felt their hands being tied behind their backs and then their legs bound, and they watched as Briggs shot the owner of the car and left him there screaming in pain as he couldn't do anything and neither could his friends. Briggs drove to the farm in silence as he reloaded his .44 and worked out how he would kill his best friend in cold blood and then kill someone he had been working for, for nearly a year. > Chapter seven: Loyalty > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I slid my way forward to the light that now stopped at the barn and made my way up to it silently, and saw that there was a few cars heading up here and fast, I quickly made my way into the barn through a hole that was covered up with a tarp, and quickly hid in a pin as I heard the cars stop outside of the barn and heard a lot of doors opening and closing, and then saw the front door to the barn shudder as somebody was slammed against it, and could make out some of the yelling. "......The fuck is he mac!" I recognized Briggs voice immediately. "I ain't seen him since he was supposed to be arrested." Macintosh said loudly as the barn door was thrown open and he was thrown in here bound up. "Then you are of no use Mac, Burn it down boys, bosses orders." Briggs said while locking the door from the outside, and the rattle of Jerry cans was heard going around to the barn, and Macintosh was busy shouting useless swears at them while I watched from a space in the boards as he attempted to free himself of his bonds but to no avail. "Applejack.......grannysmith.......applebloom......I did everything for you." Macintosh said when he realized he couldn't get free and the smell of smoke began to fill the barn. "Now you know how I feel." I said while standing up, and walking over to him. "But you were helping them frame me, after how I took a bullet for the service, you still did this to me with them." I said while walking over to him quietly while I heard the cars begin to pull away. "Oh my god thank you, please, you gotta get me free!" Macintosh cried out as a few burning planks landed next to him. "You mean the same way you trusted me at that damn crime scene?" I shouted at him while standing above him. "Please, you can't let me die here!" he pleaded. I kicked him in the face. "I can, answer my questions first and then we'll see." I said coldly while nudging a burning plank next to him. "They set you up since you killed the bosses kid, I'm only a drug pusher, not a killer!" He said while beginning to cry a little. I felt sorry for him and dragged him out the way I came into the barn, and leaned him against one of the many stumps that were scattered across the area. I heard a rustle behind me, and ducked while tackling the person that was behind me and hit the person over the head after I got them on the ground, and wrestled the gun from them and saw that it was the female officer from the hospital also Macintosh's sister. "You can't hurt him!" She cried while afraid to move since I had her gun aimed at her. "Applejack......everything is going to be alright." Macintosh said shakily. "Is it now?" I said while putting the muzzle of the gun in her face. "You bastard if you hurt her I will kill you!" He shouted at me. I walked over to him and crouched next to him and undid his binds. "I am no killer either Macintosh." I said and moved aside as Applejack and Macintosh tackled each other in a hug. "If it wasn't for him......you'd be dead now." Applejack cried into his shirt. "Where is your former boss located?" I asked. "In a warehouse.......one next to the water, but I don't know which one." He said while looking at me gratefully. "That'll do.....you never saw me." I said while backing up taking applejack's gun with me after I tucked it into my belt-loop. "You can take my truck since they going to think I'm dead......and thank you for not letting me die." He said while throwing me his truck keys and walked back to his house with Applejack, but he walked with a limp that was noticeable. I quickly walked over to his truck and opened the door quickly when I heard the wail of approaching fire trucks, I quickly got in it and started it while not bothering to buckle up since I was in a hurry, and remembered that Celestia was waiting for me at the motel since I had put her in danger by bringing her into the mess I caused. I quickly drove in silence and slowed as the emergency vehicles drove past me to the barn that was on fire, and sped back up after I passed them and put the seat-belt on since I was trying not to get stopped, and was relieved when I made it to the motel she said she would be at. I parked carefully and walked to the managers office feeling tired from everything and saw that no one was there and reached over the counter and pulled out a clipboard that had all the names and room numbers of everyone there, and saw that celestia was in room 203, which was a little walk if I was correct, I put the clipboard back in place before I left the building. I quickly walked along the rooms till I found the one that celestia was staying in, I walked in quietly after noticing that the door was left unlocked and came in to smell that she was cooking something, and realized how hungry I was from running around town all night and closed the door and locked it before walking into the kitchen to see her busy cooking some type of stew and watched as she cut the meat and dropped it into a pot that was on the stove. > Chapter eight: Hunted > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter eight: Hunted "Back." I said loud enough for celestia to hear but not enough to make it seem like it mattered, I watched as she dropped her spoon in the stew in surprise and turned around to face me blushing beet red as she walked over to me and hugged me and put her head on my chest making her black dress seem tight as her breasts pressed together making me horny and saw that she was wearing no bra. "I was scared you wouldn't come back at all Jack." She said while smiling a bit and gave me a quick kiss on the mouth while putting my hands around her waist and looked up at me. "Why would I let a pretty girl down like that?" I asked while relaxing and getting tired from all the work I did and looked down at her and smiled. "I'm guessing you missed me." I added while ending the hug and going into the kitchen and sat down at the table and ran my hands through my hair. "I did miss you......and your the only one who has ever treated me like this......so nice." She said while fixing me a bowl and then made hers and sat across from me after she set a bowl in front of me. "Please eat and stay the night Jack." She said while looking up at me with a sparkle in her eyes that I couldn't say no and started eating the soup glad to have something home cooked. "Thank you......that was very nice and filling." I said after I finished and looked at her while smiling as I made her blush at my compliments. "You know there is a way you could pay me back." She said while smiling at me. "And how is that?" I asked while getting hard from thinking a few dirty thoughts. "Like this." She said while rubbing her foot on my leg and then began to use her hand to rub my thigh before reaching my erection. "Already ready for me." She said while giggling. I blushed when I felt her undo my zipper and reach into my pants and teased me through my boxers by rubbing the shaft of my cock and looked at me while she made reached into my boxers and pulled it out and began to jerk it slowly. "Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked nervously while she stopped, got up and walked over to me and pushed me and my chair back. "Yes Jack, I want to show you how I love you!." She replied excitedly. "Is there at least a bed in here?" I asked while feeling nervous but didn't want to disappoint her. "There is, so follow me.....Officer." She said while grabbing my hand and leading me to the bedroom that was rather small but there was enough room on the bed for both of us. I followed her not noticing the door to outside open and close silently as she pulled me to her room, and made me get on the bed with her as she got on top of me. "Close your eyes jack." she said while putting a blindfold on me and then tied my hands as she scooted onto my lap, rubbing her plot against my cock teasing before she lowered her panties. "Jack? You already here?"A familiar voice shouted from the end of the hallway as I began to panic a little as it sounded like Celestia. "Yeah.....you okay?" I hollered when I felt the person on my lap hiss a little as I heard something open and felt a sharp blade pressed to my throat to silence me. "I'm exhausted so i'm going to go to bed." Celestia said as I struggled to listen before I heard a gunshot and felt warm blood splatter on me and and the person fell off of me onto the floor making a loud thud. "J-Jack....are you okay?" Celestia asked while she came over and started untying the knots around my wrists before she took off the blindfold. "Yeah....thanks." I said while becoming wide awake and noticed that the girl looked nothing like her and saw she had a rather large knife in her clutched hand. "Are you okay? I mean you nearly died." She said as she kept looking at my hard-on then back to my face. "We need to go." I said while feeling sick and quickly got up as I heard the sound of sirens and quickly grabbed all of our stuff, which was only a duffel bag. "O-okay." She said as she helped me to the door after I got dressed and helped me down to the street, we walked aimlessly as we got further and further away from the sirens, making sure to go to the less desirable side of town until i collapsed into a alley way and felt blood trickle down from my ribs as the scab and stitches broke open. "Celestia....It was fun knowing you while it lasted." I said before I started coughing up blood, shaking violently before I finally stopped and began to feel drowsy and tired. "Jack, don't talk like that.....I can get you some help, real help......I know a few people that can be here in a few hours." She said nearly crying. "Look....go find a pharmacy and buy caffeine pills, and stop at any surplus store and buy me some ammo." I said while struggling to stay awake now. "Jack.....please...Never mind, alright I guess I can do that." She said as she walked off after I gave her some money, leaving me to my lonesome as I took out my gun and looked at it and realized I was becoming what I swore to protect the city from. "Jack.....Your vow you made to the city, you always said you would abide by it and look where it got you." A ghostly figure of my wife said as she appeared and sat next to me. "It got you and little abby killed.....some father or husband I was." I said to the ghostly image as I began to cry. "Jack......just do that right thing, don't you see that your lady friend likes you, and don't say that, you did your best." She said as she kissed me on the cheek before fading away as I fell asleep with my gun in my hand, grunting in pain as I kept replaying that incident in my mind, hearing the gunshots that ended their lives. Hearing that sound repeating in my dreams, haunting me as I began to sweat and shiver furiously from the never ending nightmare that haunted me. > Chapter nine: Awakening > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I woke up groggily with my clothes drenched and clinging to my body, feeling around blindly as I managed to grab ahold of my gun and crawled over to the dumpster sorely, resting my back against it as I heard the sound of a car park outside the alley entrance and multiple doors open and close. "He was last spotted in this area sir, what are our orders?" Someone asked in a deep voice, and the sound of a gun loading was audible. "Find him, bring him to me alive if possible. We still need him as a scapegoat for these crimes." A voice said as I recognized it as Officer Briggs, my old partner that I now knew for a fact was working with the men that killed my family. "You heard him, fan out and find this cock sucker!" Another voice shouted as he fired into the air several times. I leaned against the dumpster and dropped the mag in my gun to see that I only had four rounds left in the mag, breathing deeply I peeked around the corner and saw that there was a guy no more than five feet away from me, his back to me as I could hear him taking a piss and saw that his rifle was leaned against the dumpster. I carefully reached over and grabbed the rifle before I stood up and quietly walked behind the man and pressed the muzzle of the gun against the base of his skull. "No sudden moves." I said to him as I heard him gag in surprise and noticed that he pissed all over his boots and splashed up his jeans. "T-take it easy pal, no need to kill me." The guy said, quivering violently as I pressed the muzzle harder against his skull now. "Here's what's gonna happen, your going to walk me to the car over there slowly, with you in the lead and IF and I mean IF anything seems wrong, I will kill you myself." I said as I backed up and let him start to walk towards the alley entrance. "Hey Look, about time you finished your piss mate. Watch the car so I can go grab me a coffee." Someone said as the guy walked out of the alley. "Sure, no problem and grab me one too." The guy said as he leaned against the car sweating nervously as I kept the rifle trained on him as the other guy walked past and into a shop. "I'm going to shoot your kneecap off so briggs won't kill you." I Said while approaching him. "H-hey no need for thaaAAAAAAA!!!!!!!" He started to say but screamed as I shot him in his right kneecap and then quickly hopped into the car and started it, smiling as Briggs fucked up by leaving the keys in the ignition. I began to lose my smirk when I saw several men run out of several shops, their guns out and aimed at the car as I began to pull out of the parking area, they opened fire on the car as I drove past them. I began to step on the accelerator when I felt a bullet hit somewhere and looked down to see a red spot on my shirt began to appear. "Your phone's ringing, your phone is ringing!!!" A ringtone began to play those lines, I quickly grabbed it out of the cupholder, grunting in pain as I felt the wound and saw that it was Briggs calling and answered it. "Valintine, just come in to the station. We will sort this out together, I am your partner after all." Briggs said. "Fuck you, I trusted YOU, and you let them kill my family, I will kill you before this is over! DO YOU HEAR ME BRIGGS! I WILL FUCKING MURDER YOU!!!!" I screamed into the phone angrily as I tried not to cry out in pain as I began to feel the pain of the wound now. "Not if we get you first Jack." Briggs said before he hung up, making me hit the wheel in frustration before I threw the phone out the window and drove around blindly. Not caring where I went before I passed out from the pain and wrecked into a building that was abandoned. > Chapter 10: The end of the beginning > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I awoke when I felt hands, multiple hands feeling over my body. "G-get the fuck off of me!" I shouted as I swung blindly, and felt myself fall to the ground and looked to see that people were carrying me. "Sir, sir......please calm down, Celestia said you were a friend, and we look out for friends." One said as he stepped forward, he was a bum as well and the others nodded before they kneeled down around me, the four of them looked at me strangly. "W-where is she?" I asked while eying them. "She's just a little further up the road, when we get there she said that'd she'd have some supper ready for all of us, and you should be lucky that we pulled you out of that car before it caught on fire." One said before helping me to my feet. "Okay lead the way." I said while gritting my teeth in pain and and clutched my side as I began to follow the ones on front of me. "Do you need help Jack?" One asked, looking at me curiosly. "Piss off mate......I-i'm fine." I said while taking a few more steps before I staggered and fell to my knees. "Hey get over here now! Sometin's wrong with Jack!" The one next to me hollered to the others who ran back to us and they each got one of my arms and began to carry my down the road as I began to see only darkness. ***************************************************************************************************************** Briggs arrived to at the burned car a few hours later, puffing on a cigarette as he saw some of his men looking around it for a clue. "Whoever is in charge, step forward now." Briggs growled angrily as he looked at the seven of them. "I-i am sir." One said while stepping forward towards Briggs. "Have you found anything of use?" Briggs growled as he looked at the man. "W-well, nothing ye~" Was all the man got out before Briggs pulled out his gun and shot him in the face, killing him instantly. "The second in command is now in command, and you better find something when you report in later." Briggs said while walking off to a alley and stepped into it before he took his phone out and called his boss. "What do you need Briggs." His boss said angrily. "Well for one, some men that know what their doing and maybe the wolf." Briggs said quietly. "Care to repeat that last part?" His boss asked. "W-we need the Wolf out here sir, Jack is one man in a city of roughly 100 thousand." Briggs said sheepishly. "Okay.....I'll send the wolf to you location, you fill him in on information and we'll see if he wants to take the job." His boss said before he hung up. "Hey Briggs. Cars clean, and nothing, nadda, zip." The now newly appointed in command said as he walked over to Briggs. "It's okay the Wolf will get him." Briggs said shakily.