Jackson Douglas is back with the Princess and spends his life with her.
A soldier's death is always hard, especially for their loved ones. Now Celestia is facing one of the toughest moments in her life. Jackson wants her to move on and be happy, but how can she be happy after this. Then to make matters worse he suddenly appears before her, but he's dead... isn't he?
Featured 7/8/2014 Rewritten January 5th, 2018 - Present.
PLACED ON HOLD INDEFINITELY AS OF 11/30/2018 Placed on hold because of my inability to balance two stories at once. We'll see if anything changes, but I'll be focusing my efforts on Textbook Soldier.
“My favorite song,” the man with the tattered suit and tie said. He smiled and opened his arms for her. Celestia jumped up from the bed and ran towards him, but as she neared him she stopped. She took a deep breath, and slapped him in the face.
“Gah! Ow. That hu-”
“Shut up,” she said, tearing up. “Who are you, why do you torment me?”
“Celestia, it’s me, Jackson.” The man said with a worried expression.
“No, Jackson is dead. I saw his corpse, and I saw the guard bury his body. Now, who are you, and how do you know Jackson?”
“I am Jackson!” He shouted desperately.
“Prove it!” She shouted angrily. He stepped back a few steps and blinked in surprise. Eventually, he nodded.
“My name is Richard Jackson Douglas, I am thirty seven years old, and I was born in Dallas, Texas. I last went on a mission to a suspected terrorist camp near the town of Ponyville.”
“This proves nothing. You could have easily forced that information out of one of my guards. Tell me something only he and I would know.”
He sighed before beginning again. “Before I left, Celestia, I told you I loved you and then kissed you because I was worried I wouldn’t come back. In my note to you from that box behind you, I wrote, “I will always be smiling in death, and let me tell you, I am terrified of death. So if I can smile while dead, you can sure as hell give a grin or two when you’re still alive.’ In the very last paragraph, I told you not to fall to grief because Twilight still needed a teacher. In my will-”
“Stop” she said, her tone still the same as before. She smiled before embracing her lost love with a passionate kiss. He returned it fully, happy to be home. Eventually, they broke away, gasping for breath.
“How?” She asked. He took a deep breath, and the smile vanished from his face.
“Ah, That.” He sighed before sitting down on the couch by the door. He motioned for her to sit next to him.
Once she had joined him on the couch, he began his story.
I closed the door behind me as I left the throne room, walking down one of the lesser known side exits. I always took those kind of passages so that no guard, staff member, or random pony would see me. As I approached the private runway under the castle, I saw my squad in line with their combat uniforms on. I myself was in my suit, since I forgot to change. I received a few brief looks of confusion from the squad, but they were quickly extinguished when I looked their way.
“Attention!” I shouted. They all snapped to a sharp salute with perfect unison. “Ladies and gentlemen I hope you are ready because as soon as we get clearance from tower we leave. It’s seven o’clock now, so if all goes well we should be in and out by nine. We are only attacking a small camp so we shouldn't be expecting much trouble. Do I make myself clear?” I said quickly and calmly.
“Sir, yes sir!” The squad shouted back.
“Alright then,” I smiled. “Into the carriages, groups of four. Let’s move out!” They quickly moved into the carriages, and I waited for the signal to leave. A unicorn at the end of the runway gave us the go ahead, gesturing with his horn for our convoy to move onto the runway. I looked to my team in the carriage with me and laughed.
“I kissed a princess.”
Sergeant Slipstream laughed, “Looks like I owe Steel twenty bits.”
I climbed out of the carriage and grouped up with the rest of the team. Once we were all set, I waved my hand at the carriage drivers, a signal that they were dismissed. I removed my coat and jacket revealing ashoulder holsterwith a Beretta M9, the only weapon from Earth I owned. I grabbed my sword and the spare magazines from Sergeant Slipstream, and clipped them to my belt before I grabbed my pack off the ground and stuffed my coat and jacket into it. I threw on my pack and signaled the rest of the group to follow.
“Alright, here’s how we’re going to do this. Alpha will head in first, Bravo and Charlie will stay behind until Alpha locates the target. If things go bad, they will fall back to you. Got it?” Everyone nodded. “Alright. Let’s head out.”
The four of us that made up Alpha team drew our weapons and went into the mouth of the cave. It was dark, once we turned the corner, so I turned on the flashlight attached to my pistol and moved to the front of the group.
“Wait,” I said, raising my hand, “Someone’s coming.”
Just ahead of us, a diamond dog walked into the intersection in front of us, surveying the area. I quickly turned off my flashlight and signalled the group to find cover. We sat quietly using a support beam as makeshift cover. As he was about to leave, the dog took a quick sniff of the air and stopped. He sniffed again before turning around. He walked into the corridor we were currently occupying and started glancing around.. Before he could turn our way, however, he suddenly found himself with a throwing knife in his chest. His limp form crumpled to the ground, the only sound was a thump and a slight gurgling.
We made sure there was no one else coming, then stepped out from behind the support beam. “Good work, Bowie.” I said to Sergeant Razor, calling him by his nickname. He nodded before grabbing his knife and cleaning it off.
“Alright guys, we’re getting close now. Soon we’ll be at th-” I was interrupted by a loud shout behind us. I quickly turned and drew my pistol before training it on the speaker. A Diamond Dog was rushing toward us, he had a sword, and a small pouch on his belt. The Diamond Dog was about to shout again before a loud bang rang out and he fell to the floor with a neat hole in his forehead.
“Damn! That is freaking loud in tunnels.” Slipstream shouted, rubbing her ear.
“Let’s get back to Bravo and Charlie, everyone in this compound probably heard that. You guys go first, I’ll cover you.” I said to the rest of Alpha. They all nodded before running back towards the mouth of the cave.
I turned around and saw more various creatures running towards me, most armed with swords, but some had a bow. I started shooting, each shot taking another enemy down.
All the diamond dogs seemed to have a mysterious pouch on their belts, and when one reached into his pouch, I quickly found out why. He pulled out a red stick, and with his lighter in hand, he lit the fuse and flung it towards me. I quickly shot him, but it was too late, the object was already airborne. I turned and ran as fast as I could, but it wasn’t fast enough. The blast threw me forward, knocking me off my feet. Thankfully, that was when the rest of the squad showed up.
There was a lot of shouting and cursing as the two factions fought against each other, with the Equestrians winning.
“Sir! Are you alright?” Sergeant Gamma asked me. He quickly helped me to my feet and handed me my gun.
“I’m fine, dammit! Just get back over there and fight!” I shouted angrily. I wasn’t mad at the young doctor, he was just the unlucky recipient of my anger towards everything else.
“How the hell did they get freaking DYNAMITE?!” I shouted at the air as I started shooting.
We finally reached the center compound of the camp after taking out what had to have been at least thirty enemies. I sat in the back while Slipstream tended my wounds.
“The intel said this was a small camp, but the hallway of corpses back there says otherwise. There’s just way too many for us to take down.” I said.
“We can’t retreat now, they’ll most likely launch whatever attack they have planned early, so we can’t stop them.” Slipstream said with a shrug.
“This is suicide if we continue!” I gestured to the rest of the group. They all looked tired and carried various injuries as they made sure the room we were in was secure.
“Well what do you suggest?” Slipstream said, tying off the last of my bandages.
“I don’t know.” I said, standing up. I looked over as Razor ran up to me.
“Sir! You may want to come see this.” He said nervously. I quickly looked over him and saw that the battle had stopped for now. I looked at him again before nodding and following him.
“We found this crate here in the center of the room and cracked it open. This is what we found.” He said, gesturing inside the box. My jaw dropped slightly as I looked into the crate.
“Holy shit…”
“What was in the box?” Celestia asked attentively, sipping on her tea.
“It was a bomb” Jackson said. “A very large, powerful bomb capable of leveling Manehatten. The crate hadn’t been opened yet, and it looked brand new. From what we could deduce from the various plans we found on the walls, and from some, uh, cooperative enemies, we think it was meant to be held there for two years. Then, it was to be planted in Ponyville’s city hall for the Summer Sun Celebration.”
“Why would they do that?” Celestia asked.
“They’d done their homework. They knew that the Celebration would be held in Ponyville that year. We believe it was an assassination attempt. In a small town like Ponyville, no one would expect it.”
“That’s horrible” Celestia gasped. “But wait, is that all that happened in the caves?”
He nodded.
“Then where were you for the last month?” Celestia asked angrily.
“Hold on now, let me explain. We knew there had to be someone who could make explosives in Equestria, or at least in one of the surrounding countries. They had dynamite, the bomb, and countless other explosives in that cave. So the question was, where did they get it from? That’s where I was. I spent the last month tracking down their supplier and eradicating him.”
“Why you? Why not send a whole squad?” Celestia asked, confused.
“One man would attract a lot less attention. As for why I went, well, I was the least known, therefore the least missed.”
“I missed you! I could have helped you!” Celestia said, crying.
Jackson took a deep breath. “What I did out there wasn’t morally right nor very legal. Equestria would have been sent to war, had the crown been involved. I had to disappear.” He said with a low voice.
“How did you manage the corpse, then?”
“One of the unicorns in my squad knew transformation spells. We made a diamond dog corpse look like me. Then we added some spare clothing they nabbed from the barracks, and we were done.”
“So, you found the supplier?”
“Yup” he said, taking a drink of his coffee. “He was hiding out in a cave near Appleoosa. He and all his buddies are gone now, along with all of his ‘products’.”
“Well I’m glad you’re back.” She said with a nuzzle.
The sun pierced through the curtains, landing on Jackson’s face and waking him. He rolled over and slowly opened his eyes, noticing the empty spot on the bed next to him. He smiled before getting up and rubbing his eyes. He grabbed his shirt from it’s place on the dresser and started buttoning it up as he walked over to the balcony. Sliding open the door, he smiled again as he saw the white mare of his dreams staring over the countryside.
“Mornin’” He said with his low baritone.
“Good morning.” Celestia said, turning around and smiling. They shared a kiss before they turned to gaze out over the countryside.
“Yeah.” He answered as his smile dropped from his face. He turned around to lean against the railing. “I think I’m going to retire.”
Raising an eyebrow, Celestia turned to Jackson. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I...” He stopped to gather his thoughts. “When I got out of the military back on Earth, it was hard for me to adjust by myself. I had to go from this life of killing and violence to a life of normalcy. I tried everything I could to live life normally. I tried getting back into music like I was in middle school, I tried getting a job. But nothing seemed to work.”
“Then I came here and met you. It took me a while, but soon I realized what I needed to adjust to civilian life. I needed someone to help me. So Celestia, will you be that person to help me?”
She smiled warmly before bringing him into a hug. “Of course.”
“Your majesty?” A voice said through the door, followed shortly by a knock. The two’s eyes shot to the door. Jackson waved his hand at Celestia as he ran over to grab his shoes and coat.
“Uh, just a moment!” Celestia shouted through the door. She shooed him into the bathroom to hide while Celestia dealt with the guard. Once Jackson was out of sight, she walked over to the door and opened it. “Yes?”
“Your majesty, Twilight Sparkle is here to see you.” The guard said.
“Ah, yes of course, I’ll be right-” She paused for a second before smiling. “Actually, could you send her up here?”
“Of course your majesty.” The guard said with a bow before leaving. Once the guard was a fair distance away, Celestia turned towards the bathroom.
“Jackson!” She shouted as she flung the door open.
“God-” The man shouted as the princess ran in. “Why are you shouting?! You scared the crap out of me!”
“Sorry,” She said sheepishly. “Twilight’s on her way up!”
“Really?” He nodded. “Well great, I suppose you want me to leave then?”
“Of course not.” She frowned. “She’s was just as torn up by you leaving as I was. I want you to stay.”
Jackson grinned. “Okay.”
“Princess!” Twilight shouted as she hugged her mentor.
“Hello, Twilight.” Celestia said with a laugh. Twilight broke the hug giving her a weird look.
“Are you okay, princess? No offense, but you were pretty depressed yesterday. Did you find something in the Colonel's package?” The princess laughed again.
“No even better, I have something to show you.” She stepped aside so Twilight could see through the doorway to Celestia’s bathroom. Twilight gasped at what she saw.
“Hello, Twilight.” The man rumbled out with his baritone voice. “I’m sorry for not checking in but, I was slightly occupied for a while.”
The young unicorn stared in shock for a second before running to hug the man. She started crying as the man held her. “How? I t-thought you were…dead… We saw a corpse! You were dead! How did you… Why would you leave us like that?”
“Shh. I know, Twilight.” He said in an attempt to comfort the mare, “I’m sorry, I promise I will never do that to you again.”
After a long while of comforting and explanation, the young mare started asking the man questions.
“How did you fake your death?”
“One of my Squad members performed a transformation spell on a diamond dog corpse.”
Twilight frowned slightly. “Where did they learn to do that?”
Jackson furrowed his brow in thought. “I believe she went to school for it before she joined the military. Comes in handy for surveillance and faking deaths.”
“How often do you have to fake deaths?” Celestia asked from her spot on the bed. Jackson looked over at her before sitting up in his chair.
“Not too often. Just, you know, sometimes when you need to do… things…”
“What does that even mean?” Celestia asked, her brow furrowed.
“So! Any other questions, Twilight?” Jackson said, turning back to Twilight. He noticed Celestia giving him a glare in his peripherals
“Uh, just one. What are you going to do now?”
Jackson smiled. “Retirement.”
Twilight’s jaw fell. “You? Really? Why?”
Jackson turned to Celestia and sighed. “I have more important things to do, now.” He turned back. “Mainly though, it’s because I’ve spent most of my adult life as a soldier. I think I’ve had enough for now.”
Jackson laughed in response. “Let’s go get some breakfast.”
“Celestia” Jackson said, setting his fork down. The princess in question looked up. “I want to come out of hiding.”
The princess choked on her food in surprise. Once she had cleared her throat she spoke.
“Are you sure? They could react poorly.” Celestia said worriedly.
“It’s been three years Celestia, I need to do it eventually. I figure now is the best time, since I’m starting to turn my life around.”
“I agree with the princess, Jackson, I’m not sure they can handle it yet.” Twilight chipped in.
Jackson rolled his eyes.”They’re going to have to deal with it eventually. I’m not spending the rest of my life in this damn castle. As lavish as it is, it gets old real fast.”
Celestia nodded hesitantly. “Alright, I trust you. We’ll do it this afternoon.”
“Good” Jackson said with his mouth full. He swallowed before continuing. “In any case, I would like to be able to go out and do things that aren’t battles for a change.”
Twilight looked up at Jackson. “What do you want to do in the city?”
He just shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I’d like to go see some of the sights.” He sighed. “I’m just tired of being stuck in this castle everyday.”
Celestia smiled. “Hopefully, after today you won’t have that problem.”
“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.”
“God damnit, this is why I hate the press.” Jackson cursed as he hurried down to the halls of the palace. The guards had kept the press and citizens at bay, but it was apparently still extremely rowdy. They were on there way down to see what was going on, and to hopefully control the crowd.
“You knew this was going to happen. It was a part of revealing yourself that you talked about.” Celestia spoke from next to him.
“Doesn’t mean I have to like it!” Jackson shouted back. The group hurried down the hall, Slipstream and Twilight struggling to keep pace with the tall beings in front of them. At last they reached the doors to the main hall of the palace and stopped before the doors. Jackson and Celestia looked at each other with the same message in mind.
“Soooo… Who goes first?” Jackson finally said.
“You could go first, since that’s what they’re here to see.” Celestia responded.
“Yeah, but you’re their ruler.”
“But that doesn’t mean I-”
“How about you go at the same time.” A slightly annoyed Twilight cut in. The two looked at each other and Jackson shrugged.
“Alright.” He grabbed the handles of the door and pushed outward, opening up into the loud rumble of dozens of voices crammed into a small space. The hall was filled from end to end, with more trying to get in. The guards were doing there best to keep order. There was a few feet of space on a raised portion of the hall, the staircase leading up to it packed with press and guards.
“Holy crap... “ Jackson mumbled to himself.
“There he is!” One of the press shouted. If it was loud in the hall before, it was even louder now. Everyone starting shouting, trying to get their question answered and their voice heard. The guards attempted to retain the fraction of order that they had before. Seeing as that was not working, Jackson stepped forward and took a deep breath.
“QUIET.” He shouted. The whole room stopped their shouting and endless camera flashes and became quiet. The whole room was a ghostly silence, a stark contrast to a few moments ago.
“Thank you.” Jackson said as he straightened his tie. He motioned for Celestia to come forward and take over.
“Hello, citizens of Equestria. We understand that you’re concerned and want to know more, and we will answer your questions in due time. But please, for right now be patient. We cannot answer and questions today. So please, if you would please come back next week, we have a press conference with all of you. It will be here in this hall and we will answer most all of your questions.” Celestia said before turning back to the group. As soon as the last word came out of her mouth, the shouting and questions started again. This time, however, it seemed to be even more intense than before. Finally, the doors closed and the sound became a dull roar in the distance. Once the doors had closed, the all began walking towards their destination. Jackson let out a sigh of relief.
“Well, that went better than expected.”
“Right... “ Slipstream agreed skeptically, if not in an exasperated tone. Jackson rolled his eyes.
“By comparison to what would have happened in my world, it was better.”
“That’s the case with a lot of things.” Slipstream said sarcastically.
“Oh shutup.” Jackson shot back. Slipstream smirked back at him. Jackson just shook his head in annoyance.
“Well now what. We’ve delayed the press, now what?” He said, tiredly.
“We make a better plan than your normal idea of just ‘Winging it’.” Celestia said. Jackson made an offended look.
“Hey now, that plan has almost always worked for me.” Jackson shot back.
“Almost being a key word.” Celestia said with a smirk. Jackson, wisely, stayed quiet, as he had no response. “In any case, we still do need a proper plan.”
“We could do small press releases and conferences.” Twilight interjected. “Release small amounts of information at a time, do our best to control what gets out. All the guards and soldiers have sworn not to speak of you, so we shouldn’t have to worry about them. The guards can try to control the Paparazzi best they can, and once the big Press Conference happens, they’ll be more controlled.”
Everyone glanced at each other, thinking.
“That could very well work…” Jackson said with a nod.
“I agree, though how would we get the small information out?” Slipstream asked.
“We could just schedule small interviews with trustworthy newspapers and magazines.” Jackson said.
“Trustworthy papers?” Slipstream questioned.
“You know… The ones who won’t twist my words and manipulate me. Like Fancy Pants’ magazine.” Jackson explained. The others made small expressions of understanding. “That’s another reason why I hate the press.”
As they neared Celestia’s quarters, the guards at the door stood at attention, the one on the left moving to open the door. Jackson nodded to the guards as he walked past and they fell back into parade rest. They walked off to corner of the room with couches and chairs for Celestia’s private meetings. Celestia and Jackson took the couch and Slipstream and Twilight took chairs.
“Do we have anyway of contacting Fancy Pants for a surprise offer?” Jackson asked. Celestia nodded before levitating a pen and parchment over. She wrote a letter, then rolled it and sealed it. She then called one of the guards in.
“Yes, your majesty?” A guard asked. Celestia floated over the parchment, which he accepted with care.
“Please take this down to the couriers and tell them it is addressed to Fancy Pants. Oh, and tell them to deliver it with haste, if possible.” Celestia said. The guard bowed before straightening up.
“Yes, your majesty.” He turned and made his way out of the room. As the door closed behind him, Celestia turned and looked over the others in the room.
Jackson looked around the room as Fancy Pants’ crew got setup. Fancy pants and another unicorn sat next to me. Fancy Pants seemed to empty-handed, while the other one had a notepad and pen.
“So, what is this uniform you’re wearing?” Fancy Pants asked. The pony next to him seemed to copy down the question. Jackson looked down at the black and blue uniform he’d seen a million times in his life.
“It’s my uniform for the United States Marine Corps.” He stated. He looked back up. “The division of my home country’s military I was a part of.”
Fancy Pants nodded. “What is the name of that rank on your shoulder?” He gestured to the emblem pinned to his shoulder.
“Colonel. An O-6 Level Rank.” He recited as he had many times before. Fancy Pants then gestured to his chest.
“I see you have many ribbons and medals on your uniform. How did you get them?” Fancy Pants asked.
“Various ways. A couple came from combat and others not. I’ll tell you some other day.” Jackson said. He looked around again. There was a photographer setting up a white backdrop behind him and another setting up a camera pointed at him. A sound crew set up a microphone system in front of him to record for Fancy’s radio show.
“Very well. I believe we can get started now, can we?” He said looking around at all the crews. The photographer flipped on two very bright lights pointed at Jackson and then nodded. The rest followed suit. He turned to Jackson and nodded before beginning. He turned the microphone near him to point at his face and began.
“So, Jackson. You’ve been in Equestria for awhile now, is that correct?” Fancy asked. Jackson nodded.
“I’ve been here for about three years now.”
“How did you get here, if don’t mind me asking.” Jackson turned solemn as he thought back.
“Ready!” A commanding voice ordered. “Aim... Fire!” Three simultaneous shots rang throughout the field, bouncing of the marble stones.
“Ready! Aim… Fire!” Three more shots rang out. The four marines stood at attention around the casket as the shots filled the air.
“Ready! Aim… Fire!” The final shots rang out through the field as the smoke blew in the wind. “Present arms!”
The three marines held their rifles vertically above them. A trumpeter marched forward and began to play his solemn song.
Jackson held his head high at his spot to the side of the casket. His black and red uniform crisp with starch, he stood guard at the final resting place of his best friend. As the song ended the trumpeter brought his trumpet down and marched back to his position behind the casket.
“Order arms!” The guns of the marines in line shifted as the officer barked orders. “Port arms! Right face!” The three marines rotated on their heels to their right. “Forward march!” They marched forward, the officer falling in step beside them.
“We are solemnly gathered here today to mourn the loss of a brother…”
“Jackson, I just… I wanted to say… thank you.” A grey-haired women said. The dried tears on her face broke Jackson’s heart. “You helped him in his times of need and was there for him… when…” She began to cry again. “When we weren’t able to be.”
Tears blurred Jackson’s vision. He hugged the woman in front of him.
“I’m sorry.” He said. “I couldn’t save him. I couldn’t save him. I couldn’t-”
The sobs took over his body as he hugged the mother of the dead man he just lowered into the ground. She comforted the ten year marine as he cried into her shoulder.
“Colonel Douglas, I know you two were close. And I know that you did everything to help him. But towards the end, he told me give you this.” The Major General handed Jackson an elaborate wooden box with his last name engraved on top. “He said inside is all the things he wants you to have of his. I believe it’s his uniform and some other personal belongings.”
“Thank you, sir.” Jackson said. He stood at attention with the box in his hands. The General placed a hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eye.
"He was a good man. Many of our officers and enlisted idolized him. He will live on in the minds of our fellow corpsmen." The General saw the slight shaking in Jackson's hands. He looked back at Jackson and nodded as he removed his hand from his shoulder. "I hope to see you again someday, Douglas. Hopefully under better circumstances."
Jackson nodded as he turned and walked out of the General's office.
The door swung open as Jackson set the box down. He sat down on the couch and began to sob. No tears came out, there were none left. After ten minutes he began to pull himself together.
It's been almost a year, Jack. You can't do this anymore. No more crying. He wouldn’t want you to cry.
Jackson looked up to the picture on wall. It was him and his best friend, Zachary Akins, just after they returned from their first tour of duty. Zach loved the formal uniforms and always looked for an excuse to wear his. He’d convinced Jackson to go to a Jazz concert after they’d signed for a second tour of duty. They both wore their blues and Zach’s mom took a picture of them in full dress. Jackson closed his eyes and looked away from the picture. He stood from the couch and grabbed the box to put in his room.
As he was walking, he fell to his knee as a piercing pain erupted in his chest. The rest of his body felt the pain, as if his blood cells were changed to razors. He held in his screams as the pain worsened. As the burning crescendoed into a cry of pain erupting from his mouth, it rapidly faded away.
He looked up, sweat dripping down his face as he looked around. He jumped to his feet as he looked around in a panicked state as realized his surroundings were not the same as they were. His heart rate skyrocketed as his training came back. He rapidly looked around and assessed his surroundings.
He seemed to be in a study with lots of very old looking books. There were tall, elegant windows over looking a beautiful valley and small portion of a skyline. There were elegant couches and rugs all over the small room. Lastly, there was also a pair of very suprised magenta eyes looking at him.
“Gah!” Jackson jumped back as he saw another creature in the room. It was a horse. A large, white horse with a very long, slightly opaque, multi-colored mane. Jackson stared at it in wonder before it stood and began slowly trotting over.
“Easy there, girl.” He said, holding a hand up. The creature’s eyes lit up as he spoke.
“What the fuck... “ Jackson muttered.
“I assumed you were intelligent from the nature of your clothing. It looked military, if I’m not mistaken?” The creature asked. From its voice, Jackson guessed it was female. He nodded, still not quite believing reality as he stared ahead. The creature smiled as she saw his weariness.
“What is your name?” She asked. Jackson stared a minute in bewilderment before answering.
“Jackson…” he said. She nodded. The aura of calm she seemed to emanate calmed down the anxious marine. He stood a little straighter as he began to calm down. “My name is Colonel Richard Jackson Douglas of the United States Marine Corps.” He said officially. She laughed a bit at his formality. She composed herself before introducing herself.
“I am Princess Celestia, Ruler of Equestria.” She said, standing tall like him. His eyes widened at the implications. He quickly snapped a crisp salute to the royalty in an attempt to show respect to the leader of a country. She laughed again at his formality. She waved at him, telling him to relax. He did so, but still conducted with in an awkward sense of formality. She rolled her eyes.
“Look, I understand I am royalty, but I do not wish for you to be formal. I simply want you to act as a friend.” She explained. Jackson seemed to reluctantly relax at her statement. It all felt… wrong. She nodded at his change in demeanor. An awkward silence hung for a moment.
“So, you’re maj-” She held up a hoof. “Right, sorry, Celestia.” He amended. “Where am I? You said ‘Ruler of Equestria’ a minute ago. Where is Equestria, exactly?”
She explained to him the location of Equestria, and when he didn’t know what she was talking about, they both explained their worlds. After much discussion, they decided he was not on the same planet anymore. He hung his head in sadness, sitting down on one of the couched.
“Damnit... “ he muttered. He took off his hat and ran a hand over his newly-buzzed hair. “Well, now what the fuck do I do?”
“You can stay in the castle until we figure out what is going on.” Celestia offered. Jackson looked up with a skeptical look.
“I don’t mean to offend your people, but if they are anything like mine, they will not take kindly to an alien creature living in their ruler’s home.”
“Well then we won’t tell them. Only the ponies who need to know will know.” She explained.
“Well, I don’t seem to have any other option. So, if you wouldn’t mind, I would like to take you up on that offer.” Jackson said with a defeated smile. Celestia just beamed.
“And that's an overly detailed explanation of how my few belongings and I got here.” Jackson said with a laugh. Fancy pants only smiled in return.
“It was an amazing story. And while I know it was many years ago, I’m very sorry for your loss.”
Jackson waved it off. “It’s fine. I’ve mostly gotten over it anyway.”
“I do have a few questions, though, that I would like to ask about your story.” Fancy proposed. Jackson gestured for him to go on. “What is the ‘gun’ that you mentioned? I assume it is some kind of weapon.”
Jackson grew apprehensive about answering that question.
“W-Well, it’s a weapon. Let’s just leave it at that.” He said cryptically. Fancy didn’t seem to mind, as he just moved on to his next question.
“Why did you act confused at the princess’s ability to speak?”
“Well back on my home planet, humans are the only sentient species. We aren’t like Equestria where there’s ponies, griffons, minotaurs, and so on. So when I see a creature that, where I’m from, is only capable of various noises that do not resemble speech suddenly start talking to me normally, I got a bit confused.”
Fancy nodded. “So onto our next set of questions, I think everyone is wondering the answer to this one: Why did you stay in hiding for so many years?”
“Well, I think it was a mix between me not wanting to incite panic in the populous, and the fact that I was fighting a lot of unknown wars for the people of Equestria. If they populous had known of me, it would have made fighting for them a lot harder. They’d want to do interviews, press conferences, and all that media stuff. I just wouldn’t have been able to do both. Mainly, though, I think it was me just not ready for everyone to know of me. I wasn’t really ready to face that kind of attention.”
Fancy looked over to his companion, making sure she was keeping up. When he confirmed she was, he continued. The rest of the interview consisted of the usual questions like, “What do you like most about Equestria?” or “What do you plan to do next?”. At the end of it all, everyone was noticeably tired. Jackson tried his best to yawn quietly and discreetly, but didn’t make it all the time.
Thankfully, it ended after many questions covering a wide range of topics.
“Well, that’s it. Thank you very much Colonel for letting us interview you before anyone else. We’ll send you the very first copy of the interview once we get it.” Fancy Pants stood and Jackson followed suite. They shook hooves/hands before Jackson departed to Celestia’s chambers.
“How the hell do you do that all the time?” Jackson asked as he opened the door. Celestia was sitting by the window reading as the sun set when Jackson walked in. She had her glasses on and her mane tied back with a yellow ribbon. She just smiled knowingly.
“Years of practice. You’ll get it eventually.” She said. Jackson sighed.
“I don’t want to ever do that again.” He said.
“Was it bad?” Celestia asked.
“Well, no, not really. It went great. It was just tiring. You really have to think about what you say.” Celestia laughed at his response.
“Maybe you should do that more outside of interviews.” She joked. He chuckled in spite of himself. “Oh by the way, that composer, Vito Philharmonica, sent over a recording of that song you and him worked on last year. It was played by our Armed Forces Band.”
She floated over a 45 LP disc to Jackson, who excitedly took it in his hands.
“Awesome!” He ran over to the record player and set it to 45 RPM before setting the record on it and dropping the needle. He began to change along as the music played. Celestia just smiled at him as the two watched sunset together. In just a week, both of their lives had changed wildly. Almost too much to handle. But the two had each other to lean on, and would be able to make it through anything.
The man stood at the foot of her bed. His grin was relaxed and casual. His clothes were worn, dusty, and faded. His boots were rough, mud stained, and riddled with creases on the toe. His grey pants were bloused over his boots, with mud and dust spots up and down the legs. They were held up by brown leather suspenders with a dark grey metal rectangle under a flap on a holster. The were strapped to a brown leather belt holding pouches with metallic squares sticking out the sides of the flaps and a grey tie draped through the belt. His once white pressed shirt was now a faded tan, with tattered seams around the buttons. A roughly-sewn stitch held together a tear in the right side of the shirt. A matching grey jacket was strewn over the ragged shirt, no better for wear than the rest of his articles of clothing. Patches were sewn on the elbows of the jacket, providing reinforcement. With the rough scratches on them, it was evident that they served their intended purpose well. A tan overcoat was thrown over the jacket, with the bottoms of the long coat a shade darker and lined with small tears and stitches. He smiled and held his arms out to his sides.
Celestia stood up and walked over to him. She looked him up and down. He followed her with his eyes. She walked around him, looking at everything he had on him. His grin faded, and he started turning his head.
“Don’t move.” She quipped at him. He turned back forward, leaving his arms up. She kept circling him. She stopped in front of him. He grinned again, albeit more strained than before. She raised a hoof. He looked at it, and the grin became more strained again. She prodded him in the chest, and he staggered back. He forced a chuckle.
“Hah… Is uh… Is everything alright?” He said. Her horn lit up, and he felt her magic all over. He jumped to the side, and she made towards him.
“What are you?” She started towards him. “Why are you here?”
“Celestia, listen. There’s a very real and very- Woah!” She leaped forward, pinning him to the wall with her magic. “Celestia, please.”
“What are you?!” She yelled.
“It’s me Jack, I swear!”
“He’d dead!” Her horn glowed brighter. “Now who are you?”
“I’m Jackson!”
“I saw his body! He’s dead!” A ball of magic formed in front of the man’s face. “What are you? I will not ask again!”
“It was a cadaver!”
The glowing stopped. The man opened his eyes, looking back at a still very angry princess.
“Explain.” She ordered. He quickly nodded.
“It was a cadaver. From the last mission we did.” He swallowed nervously. “We took a corpse and disguised it to look like myself.”
“How?”
“A specialist. There was a specialist in our platoon that was able to disguise a Diamond Dog corpse as myself.”
“...What was this specialist's name?” She asked. He was breathing heavily, and his neck was straining from pressing against the wall, trying to get as far as possible from her horn as he could. His hands glowed, pinning them to his sides.
“First Sergeant Evening Shroud!” He shouted. The room fell silent. The glow of the matriarch’s horn reflected off the walls of the castle. The yellow light caught the gold trimmings and filled the room with a deep yellow hue. Hoofsteps were echoing down the hall. Muffled voices were audible outside. A knock cut through the silence louder than a gunshot.
“Your Majesty? Did someone call for me?” A voice came through the door. Jackson’s eyes shot to the door. Celestia’s did not.
“One moment please, Lieutenant.” She called back as if nothing was wrong.
“Yes, ma’am.” The voice returned.
“Lieutenant…?” Jackson trailed off. Celestia’s magic enveloped his body and carried him over to a nearby chair. He jerked back as he was thrown into the chair. Her magic remained on his wrists and ankles, securing him in place. He did not struggle, knowing all too well that it was fruitless. She’d shown that to him already.
Celestia walked over to the door, her magic still aglow, and open it.
“Please, Lieutenant, come in.” She stepped aside, an orange unicorn followed. Her red mane was pulled back in a bun and barely noticeable underneath the black beret she was wearing. The beret bore the royal family’s coat of arms on the front. Her navy blue jacket fit well over the white shirt and black tie underneath. The front left side of the jacket was lined with a few medals. The left side of her jacket had just her nametag that read “Evening Shroud”. On the lapels of her coat were pins of two crossed short swords. On the shoulders were epaulettes with a silver rectangle pinned to the edges. The officer saw Jackson and stopped dead in her tracks.
“Your majesty?” She turned to the princess. Celestia took a deep breath.
“Lieutenant, can you tell me what happened on the day of December 14th, 999?”
“Y-Yes, ma’am.” She took a few deep breaths. “Where do you want me to start?”
“From the moment your assignment started to the moment it ended. I want to know everything, with no errors or gaps in the story. Do you understand?”
“Yes, your majesty.” She swallowed. “Well, we first did a briefing in front of the carriages...”
-- December 14th, 999. 8:47 AM --
“Alright, we’ll move in through the front entrance here. Intel suggests that a guard is out there at all times, with shifts lasting roughly 4 hours. Sergeant Sky reports that the last guard change happened at 7:32 this morning. That means the current guard should be over halfway into his shift. Intel suggests that at this point, the guards tend to be more lax, with some even sleeping for brief periods.” A pony in the back raised their hoof. “Yes?”
“Sir, will we be taking the guard as prisoner?” The young voice called. Jackson nodded.
“Our current ROE is minimal casualties. We don’t get much intel on these diamond dogs, and we’d like to change that.” The private nodded. “Alright. Continuing on here, we don’t know too much about the interior of the base. It seems that so far, there should be minimal contact down the main corridor for the first 30 meters or so. From there, things get foggy as to what we can expect. This mission will rely heavily on snap decisions and isolated squad orders, that’s why we’re taking a smaller force. Any more questions?”
Nothing.
“Good. Let’s be loaded up and ready to go by 8:55. You have six minutes. Let’s get moving. Dismissed.”
The crowd saluted and wandered off into various parts of the tarmac. Jackson looked down at his watch, and nodded before wandering off on his own.
“We didn’t really see the commander until a little after 8:56. Operations control wasn’t really too happy about that, but he said something to one of the logistics officers and they seemed to wave it off.” She looked him up and down. “And it was odd that he came in still in his civies, which was out of character for his normal field gear. I had assumed he had gone to change into BDU, but when he didn’t, I didn’t say anything. I’m sure he had his reasons. He was carrying his duffel bag with him, so there was that. I thought he might’ve changed in his ca-”
“Lieutenant,” Celestia interrupted. “Please, continue with the important parts.”
“Right, of course.” She nodded. “Anyway, we were in the air with little incident and when we landed, he started to round up the squads.”
“Alright, Lieutenant Winds, Sergeant Shroud, over here.” Jackson called out. The two came over to him. He was sitting on the edge of the carriage tying his boots, slacks bloused over the top. “I want your squads geared up and ready to move out in five. Our objective is about six clicks out. We’ll hump it through the woods until about 500 meters back. From there we’ll send forward scouts to check out the entrance and report back. Lieutenant Winds, get two volunteers and strip them of any unneeded gear before sending them up. We want them to be fast and quiet. I’ll have my men follow up shortly behind. I want Winds on my left and Shroud on my right. Strict silence the whole way. Any questions?”
Shroud and Winds both rose their hooves. Jackson nodded to Lieutenant Winds.
“How far do you want everyone spaced?”
“Squads 100 meters, individual men 10 meters.” He stood up and threw his overcoat and jacket into the carriage, revealing an M1911A1 in its leather holster.”
“Are you gonna use that thing?” Sergeant Shroud asked.
“If the need arises. Using it would be counterproductive to our objective and it’s loud as shit.”
“Yes, sir.” Sergeant Shroud nodded. Jackson nodded and clipped a bastard sword to his belt.
“I want wide spacing. I don’t want to see three guys get wasted because they were getting cozy.”
“Yes sir.”
“Alright. Brief your squads, sound off when you’re ready to go.”
“Sir, the scouts’ report is coming up.” Lieutenant Winds called. Jackson looked up from his map, seeing a pegasus running towards him. He jumped into the dip in the ground, using his wings to silence his fall as he landed beside Jackson.
“Sir.” The pegasus called. “There’s two guards, both talking to each other. The tunnel is somewhat lit, but it’s sloped towards the back, so we can’t see that far back.”
“The guards are talking?”
“Yessir, they’ve been doing it for awhile and are rather deaf to their jobs.”
“Good. We’ll use that.” Jackson nodded. “How far back does the main tunnel go?”
“Roughly 30 meters.”
“Alright. Good work. Head back up and wait for the rest of the group.”
The pegasus saluted and ran back to the front. Jackson waved to the squad leaders, gaining their attention. He raised his index finger and swept it out in front of him, indicated that Squad 1 was to curve around to the side. Still holding one, now on both hands, he spread his arms out, indicating that he wanted them in wide spacing as they moved. He moved his arms down, indicating he wants them to lay low, and he held his finger to his mouth, indicating strict silence. He repeated this hand motion to third squad, receiving nods from both squad leaders. He waved forward, and the squads began to move. He spoke to the ponies around him.
“Wide spacing, move straight ahead. Make an arc with the other squads. We’re going silent as of now. Nod if you understand.” Six heads bobbed. “Get going.”
The force moved forward, a wide circling arc slowly engulfing the camp in front of them. Jackson kept his head on a swivel, keep contact with his team and scanning for sentries in the woods. He made sure to make eye contact with each squad leader every 30 seconds. Once they approached the camp, he raised a fist, and the group stopped. He pointed to himself and waved forward, indicating that he would move forward on his own. He moved forward, crouched with his hand on his sword. As he neared the treeline, sunlight bathed the clearing in a bright glow, letting him see everything with ease.
The Diamond Dogs may be many things, but camouflage masters was not one of them.
The front of the cave was poorly concealed by milled lumber arranged in a grid with small branches thrown over the top. Not inherently terrible, but one would get better results by using more than 2 branches nailed to the boards. Jackson shook his head and laughed internally. He spotted the two guards conversing underneath the coverings. He nodded to himself and slipped back into the shadows of the forest.
He made contact with his squad and waved down the other squad leaders. He waved and the unit moved forward. When they approached the treeline just before the clearing, he halted the group.
“I'm going over to Lieutenant Winds. Hold here. Take charge of the squad.” He whispered to a sergeant in his squad. The pony nodded and Jackson slinked off to his left.
A member of Winds’s squad noticed the man approaching from the side and waved down the Lieutenant. The officers nodded to each other as the commander approached.
“I want you to take your squad in and get those two guards as prisoners. Restrain them and post some guards to hold them outside the cave while we clear it inside.”
“Yes sir.” Winds turned to the rest of his squad and relayed the command through hoof motions. Jackson nodded to the rest of the squad and backed away as they moved toward their objective.
The commander watched as the squad approached the distracted guards. The eight ponies approached, four moved in and to take the guards and the other four swung around to cover the cave entrance. Jackson waved down the other two squads and held his hand up in a fist, telling them to hold.
The squad pulled the guards down and gagged them. Before the dogs even knew what had happened, they'd been bound and thrown to the ground.
Jackson smiled to himself and waved the other two squads in. Lieutenant Winds met the commander as he approached.
“Cave entrance clear.”
“Good. Get your boys ready to go and we'll move in.”
“Yes sir. May we interrogate the prisoners before going in?”
“We don't have enough time. Guard change is supposed to happen soon and we can't risk getting caught. Just get your men prepped to breach.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Sergeant Shroud!” Jackson called. The unicorn ran up.
“Yes sir?”
“Get your scouts geared back up. We’re breaching as soon as everyone is set.”
“Got it. Yes sir.”
“From there, once we got ready, Lieutenant Winds left four of his squad members with the prisoners and we moved in.”
“And so far you’d had your eyes on the Commander the whole operation?”
“No, I’d focused on my squad for a good portion of the forest. He’d been with his squad, so someone had been with him for the whole time. The only time no one could account for his whereabouts was from after briefing to before takeoff.”
“I see.” Celestia looked to Jackson. His eyes were closed and his head was tilted back against the top of the chair. She kicked him awake, and he jumped in his seat. She gave him an annoyed glared, and he shook his head and looked out the window instead.
“May I ask what is going on, your majesty?”
“Yes, but not at this moment. Please, continue.”
“Well, I guess from there we just went into the cave. There wasn’t anyone in the hallways until we came across what I think was barracks.”
Shouting erupted as a wandering Diamond Dog spotted the unit moving down the hallway. He turned around and started yelling down the hall, but was quickly silenced by a knife appearing in his back. He hell forward, still.
“Damn good hits, private.” Jackson said to the pony next to him. The soldier nodded gratefully to the officer.
“Thank you sir.” He walked over and pulled the throwing knife out of the body. Sergeant shroud approached the commander.
“Sir, the whole compound is on alert now.”
“Yeah. I’d imagine so. Tell your men we’re going hard and loud. No use sneaking around anymore.”
“Yes sir.”
“Contact! Infantry twelve o’clock!” A voice erupted from somewhere behind the two.
Jackson snapped his head around. Further down the hall, about twenty feet ahead, was a diamond dog. He pulled a red stick off of his bandolier and flicked a lighter. He lit the fuse and raised his arm back to throw. Jackson pulled his pistol from the holster and fired off three shots in rapid succession.
The diamond dog fell back, but the red stick flew forward a few feet and landed between Jackson and the dog. The commander turned and ran, his sergeant right next to him. The blast followed behind and threw them to the ground. Dirt and rocks flew around, but no one was any worse for wear.
“Where the FUCK did they get dynamite from?” He yelled.
“Is everyone alright?” Sergeant Shroud called out. Various responses of yes echoed back. “And I thought your gun was loud.”
Jackson wearily pulled himself to his feet, the ringing in his ears disorienting him. He stumbled by the crater and came upon the Diamond Dog’s body. He’d been thrown into an awkward position, but intact otherwise. The commander pulled a couple of the red sticks off the dog’s bandolier and inspected them.
“These were made a by a professional.” Jackson said. “Or at least the closest thing to it in Equestria.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Look at them.” Jackson handed them to Sergeant Shroud. “The edges are perfectly glued. Perfectly consistent. There’s no variation in the construction.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means,” The commander was cut off by more shouting.
“It means I’ll have to get back to you on that one.” Jackson holstered his pistol and pulled his sword from the scabbard. “Free to engage! Go!”
“We finished rounding up prisoners and clearing out the base. We hadn’t encounter any more advanced tech.”
“Not yet, at least.” Jackson interjected. Celestia shot him a glare. He rolled his eyes and looked out the window, waving for the Lieutenant to continue as best he could with his wrist restrained.
“...Right. Anyway, yeah. We hadn’t encountered anything yet. When we got into the main atrium, we’d found some interesting things.”
“Sir. You may be interested in this.” Sergeant Shroud said. Jackson nodded followed her.
“Alright. What is it?”
“We found these crates. There’s two identical to this one. We think it may be from their explosives manufacturer.”
“Alright. Open it. Gently.”
Two privates came up, holding crowbars. They wedged them underneath the lid and pushed. With a creak and a pop, the nails came loose from the wood. The two threw the crowbars aside and gently lifted the lid, and Jackson peered in.
“It was a huge frickin’ bomb.” Jackson said. Celestia glared at him. “How long are we going to do this for?”
“What was in the crate, Lieutenant?” Celestia asked, eyes still on Jackson. The man rolled his eyes dramatically.
“It was a bomb, your majesty.” Shroud said. “And yes, it was a rather large bomb.”
“Staff Sergeant Forest then found the plans on the table that outlined an attack on Ponyville that would’ve taken place during the Summer Sun Festival. The three bombs would be placed in strategic locations to kill you, your sister if she did indeed return, and as many civilians as possible.”
“I don’t remember asking you for your input, sir.” Celestia shot back. Jackson groaned.
“Sergeant?”
“Lieutenant, and yes. It was Staff Sergeant Forest who found those exact plans.”
“And then what did I say?”
“Well the commander gathered the high ranking members of the unit.”
“Alright. I think it’s obvious at this point that we’re not dealing with amateurs at this point. We need to start interrogating everyone in this camp and find where this bomb maker is. So pair up or go solo, I don’t care, but you need to get some of these guys and start grilling them. Light a fire underneath them, threaten to lock them away forever, tell them the extent of their punishments for this crime, I don’t care. Just get them talking. Got it?”
“Yes sir.”
“Get going. We’re on the clock. Shroud!”
“Yes sir?”
“Get your scouts from earlier. Send them to the convoy and get that garrison unit here ASAP. They also need to tell mission command that we’ll be staying for longer than planned.”
“Yes sir.” She saluted. Jackson walked off and grabbed an important looking diamond dog by the collar they wore around their neck. He dragged the dog behind him, the dog writhing around violently as he choked for air. The commander didn’t drag him far, just into the other room. He dropped him to the ground and put his sword to the dog’s neck.
“I want you to take a good look at the situation you and your men are in right now. Then I want you to ask yourself if this is what you all want to be in for the rest of your short lives. If the answer is no, you will answer my questions clearly and quickly and you will not lie. Nod if you understand.”
The dog nodded slowly.
“Good.” Jackson sheathed his sword and walked in front of the dog. “Now. State your name.”
“We’ve got him!” Jackson yelled. He walked into the atrium, grin on his face. The high ranking members from before came over to him. “Some high-horse pony that thinks he can destroy Equestria.”
“That’s good news. Where is he?” Lieutenant Winds asked.
“Yakistani mountains.” Jackson said. The officers stared in disbelief.
“Yakistan?” Sergeant Shroud asked.
“Yes.”
“Outside of Equestria, Yakistan?”
“Yes.”
“Outside of our jurisdiction, Yakistan?”
“Yes.” Jackson nodded. “I didn’t say it was the best scenario, but we do know where he is.”
“We’ll never be able to get permission for a mission like that.”
“I know. That’s why I have a plan.” He turned to the orange mare next to him. “Can you disguise a corpse?”
Her face contorted into a look of confusion and minor disgust.
“I suppose I could, yeah. Why do you ask?”
“I need to die.” Jackson said. All the ponies surrounding him took a step back, confusion and surprise mixing all at once. Jackson looked around, more confused. “Probably should’ve worded that better.”
“What are you talking about?” Shroud asked. “You want us to kill you?”
“No, that’s not what,” He sighed. The commander kneeled down to the orange mare and whispered. “Eve, I need to die so that I can go after the bomb maker myself.”
“Why?”
“Because if I’m dead no one will think anything is wrong when I’m gone for an extended period of time trying to hunt down this guy.”
“Why not just inform the department and send a squad after him?”
“Just think about it. An Equestrian special forces military operation illegally operating in another nation’s borders. That department can’t know that. Because there’s a chance that someone will let it slip, and that could spark a war.”
“But you’re the commander in chief of the department. You can just inform a special council or something.”
“What do you think I’m doing?”
“Sir, I don’t count.”
“Well then I’d best tell the rest of the officers and NCOs behind me.”
“Sir…”
“Can you do it, Eve? That’s all I need to know.”
The orange mare hesitated, but eventually nodded. Jackson clapped her on the shoulder.
“Alright.” He stood back up and addressed the rest of the group.
“First Sergeant Evening Shroud will disguise a diamond dog corpse to look like myself. Upon returning to base, the fake corpse will be dressed in my BDUs and I’ll be officially marked as dead. I’ll then go solo after the bomb maker in the mountains to limit any risk of political backlash. Worse case scenario, I’m a meddling alien who’s imprisoned for life.”
“When will you return, sir?” Lieutenant Winds asked. Jackson shrugged.
“Don’t know. Depends on how long it takes. If three months goes by and you still haven’t heard from me, make the call that I’m not pretending anymore. At that point, you can do the will reading or whatever you want to do. Any questions?”
A few ponies raised their hooves.
“None? Good. Return to your squads and prep them for the return trip. First Sergeant, come with me.”
“First Sergeant Evening Shroud then took a corpse and used her magic to disguise it as myself and it was sent back in a body bag. I went to Yakistan, found the bomb maker and took care of him. As it turns out, though, there was a little more to it than just him.”
“How so?” Lieutenant Shroud asked. Celestia glanced at her, and the orange mare looked down. “Sorry.”
“He had associates.” Jackson said, trying to take the attention off of the Lieutenant. “They were then promptly taken care of.”
Celestia was quiet, and wasn’t glaring at anyone this time. Jackson smiled a little at that. She stood and walked over to the otherside of the room.
“That’ll be all for now, Lieutenant.” She called. The Lieutenant and the Commander made eye contact. He nodded and she left.
“Good to see you, sir.” She whispered to him as she left.
“You too.” He whispered back.
The opened and closed the door gently, hardly making a sound.
“You’re too hard on her.” He said at last.
“You lied to me.” She shot back.
Jackson went quiet. He sighed soft and leaned his head back. The silence of the room sat heavy, like a weight on his whole body.
“I’m sorry.” He whispered.
The glow on his wrists faded away, but he didn’t move.
“No lover has ever been able to hurt me more than my past has.” Celestia said. “You’re a man of many firsts, Commander Douglas.”
He didn’t speak.
“I suppose you’ll be reporting to duty tomorrow morning, Commander?”
“Yes Ma’am.”
“Don’t be late.” Celestia walked out of her chambers. “Have a nice day, Commander.”
The commander looked up from his paperwork. Lieutenant Evening Shroud was standing in the doorway of his office. Jackson set down his pen.
“Lieutenant.” He greeted.
Shroud looked the man over. His tattered and stained suit from the day before was gone. In its place was a pristinely pressed, clean, navy-blue uniform. On the left side of his chest was his nametag, “Douglas”. On the right, his ribbons were neatly arranged in a grid formation. His black shirt and white tie contrasted well with each other. On the table next to him was a white and black service cap with a gold band.
“You clean up nice.”
“Thank you.” The commander sat-up, grinned and straightened his tie proudly and theatrically. She smiled at his antics. He sat back in his chair normally. “What can I do for you?”
“The princess has requested to see you.”
Jackson’s grin dropped.
“Me?”
“Yes, you.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive, sir.”
“Right.” Jackson sighed. He stood and grabbed his cap. “Lead the way.”
The Lieutenant stepped into the hallway, and the commander followed. He stopped for a moment to lock the door, and then gestured for her to lead. They walked down the hall, the orange unicorn in front. The commander followed her through a series of twists and turns through the castle. There was a lot of guards lining the hallway, as they always do. But the further they went towards their destination, the more confused he was.
“What are Princess Cadence’s guards doing with Celestia?” He asked.
The lieutenant ignored him. Knowing he wouldn’t get anything from her, he shook his head and kept his mouth shut.
The two eventually found themselves outside the ornate doors of the royal chambers. But not Celestia’s. The door to this one bore the crest of Princess Cadence. Jack looked down to his side at the Lieutenant. She kept her eyes forward. The two royal guards on either side of the doors saluted. The one on the left of Jack walked up to the door and knocked.
“Your majesty. Commander Douglas is here.” He called through the doors.
“Send him in.” A much younger than Celestia voice called back. The guards pulled the doors open, and ushered the two in. Commander Douglas went in first, and Lieutenant Shroud followed.
In the center of the room, a set of chairs and couches were arranged around the fireplace. A fire was burning, which threw orange light around the room, providing a soft, warm glow. On one of the couches sat Princess Cadence, sipping tea.
“Thank you, lieutenant. That’ll be all for now.” Cadence said. Lieutenant shroud bowed and left, doors closing behind her. Jackson was left standing alone at the front of the room.
“Have a seat, Jack.” Cadence said.
He took a seat on the couch opposite her.
“Would you like some tea?” Cadence asked.
“No thanks, I’m fine.” He said. He took stock of the situation and figured he was about to be questioned. He sat back on the couch, waiting for the interrogation to start. The two were locked in a bizzare couch standoff akin to the Cold War. No one moved or said a word, not wanting to incite the show that followed. Jackson sighed and caved.
“What am I doing here, Cadence?” Jackson asked. Cadence slowly lowered her tea.
“Why do you think you’re here?” Cadence asked. Jackson laughed and shook his head.
“You can’t use my own tactics against me.” He said. She raised an eyebrow and smirked, not saying anything. Jackson soffed and shook his head. “Alright, fine. I think I’m here because you haven’t seen me in four months and you miss me.”
Cadence stared back at him, grinning smugly.
“No.” She said simply. “You and I both know that that’s why you’re not here.”
“Well then why am I here?”
Cadence’s smile faded away.
“Maybe the part where you broke my aunt’s heart.” She said.
Jackson nodded slowly.
“Yeah, that was gonna be my second guess.” Jackson looked Cadence in the eye. “Cadence, you know that that was never my intention.”
“You thought faking your death and then coming back after four months and acting like nothing was wrong, wasn’t going to go poorly?” Cadence shouted. “I mean come on, Jack, I thought you were a tactician or something.”
“Okay okay okay, just let me say something, first. Okay?”
Cadence leaned back. Jackson nodded.
“You need to understand the circumstances, which is precisely we did when we planned the whole thing.”
“Who’s we?”
“Me and the then First Sergeant Shroud, but is now First Lieutenant Shroud.”
“First Sergeant, come with me.”
Jackson turned and left the group quickly.
“S-Sir, I can’t just do that.” Shroud hurried to keep up with the tall man’s pace. “It wouldn’t be right. What is the princess gonna say?”
“Hopefully, she’ll be saying ‘I can’t believe he’s dead.’”
“Are you serious?! You’re actually going to do this? To her?” Shroud yelled. Jackson stopped and turned to her, kneeling.
“Eve. Let’s look over the alternatives.”
“Alright. Let’s. Number one, we tell the princess and get proper clearance and permission for the operation,”
“Caught in a bureaucratic red tape nightmare of filing the reports. Getting clearing from not only the princess and her military advisors, but Yakistan’s government and royal family as well as the entire rest of the international community. It takes at least two months to just clear the Equestrian military advisors, and by that time the information that this band of diamond dogs got snuffed made it up to him and by the time we finally get all the red tape sliced, he’s already cleared house, wiped his tracks, and made it to some other remote part of the world. We lose him forever.”
“O-Oh.” Evening Shroud said. “You really thought that ahead.”
“Yeah, I’ve done this before.”
“Right. N-Number two. You...You…” Shroud stuttered. Jackson shook his head.
“Alright, fine. I’ll do your job for you.” Jackson raised an eyebrow and spread his arms. Shroud sighed and nodded. “Option two, we only let our country know, keep the whole operation under the highest top secret classifications physically possible, and do everything with the red tape of Equestria. Cutting the tape takes just the two or three months to clear military advisors. As I said before, the bomb maker makes his great escape.”
“Okay, well what if we ensure that nothing gets up to the bomb maker?”
“Well to even do that we’d have to divert resources from the overall investigation to finding other clans and clearing them out to snuff them. Slows the investigation by us losing some of our intel officers to them finding those camps.” Jackson stood back up and walked towards the entrance to the cave. Shroud followed, trying to keep pace again. “Now let’s say we get all the way up there, and we execute this operation. Inevitably something will go wrong, someone will leave something somewhere, someone will find it, and Equestria will be left to pick up the pieces for the international community and they’ll be asking for Celestia’s head for illegally executing an operation on foreign soil.”
“You are looking too far into this!” Shroud shouted.
“No!” Jackson yelled. He stopped and turned around. “No I am not! The lives of hundreds of people rely on this! Equestrian lives! One of which is the goddamn princess. So you say that I’m overthinking this and that this is all excessive, but I see it as saving Equestria’s mostly flawless reputation. I’m not fuckin’ around with that sort of thing.”
Shroud reeled back from the sudden aggression, and stared at her commander. He straightened himself, and sighed.
“Look, this is my choice for this. I’m expendable.”
“No, you’re not.” Shroud interrupted.
“Yes, Shroud, yes. I am expendable. You wanna know why? Because no one in the whole world knows that I even exist! No one cries when I’m dead!”
“Bullshit! You know that’s not true!”
“I’m out of options! I’m out of time! So are you doing this or not?” Jackson stared at Shroud. When she didn’t respond, he threw his arms out to the side. Her mouth opened and closed, no words coming out. Finally, she sighed and dropped her head.
“Alright.” She reluctantly whispered. Jackson shook his head slowly.
“Look, I’m sorry, Eve. Really, I am. But come on, we gotta do this. And I need you to help me.”
“Let’s just get it over with.”
“And then after that, I got a body roughly the same height and build from the body line-up outside the cave. She worked her magic… literally, I suppose.” Jackson shook his head, and leaned back. “Then the rest of story is history.”
Cadence watched the man across from her, face betraying no emotion.
She’s gonna make a damn fine politician someday. Jackson thought. Cadence nodded slowly.
“You say that the rest is history.” Cadence gave a fake, strained grinned. “What is the rest of the story.”
Jackson gave a genuine grin.
“Some other time, Cadence.” He said. Cadence’s fake grin dropped.
“So you did it for Equestria?” Cadence asked. Jackson nodded. “You did it for Celestia?”
Jackson nodded again, still not speaking.
“You’re an idiot.” She said with finality.
“I prefer the term ‘Savant’.” Jackson said.
“All of the other plans were thrown out only because you made up excuses for the, as you call it, “Red Tape” that would prevent you from doing your job.”
Jackson raised an eyebrow.
“And are you trying to say that all of that wouldn’t have happened? That we’d have been able to just call it in and head out?”
Cadence shook her head.
“No. You wouldn’t have.” She said. “Jack, I just want you to understand something. You’re not this unknown man of mystery that won’t be missed if he dies. You’re are… or was, almost in a relationship with a royal family member. You have a family here, whether you understand that or not.”
Jackson nodded. He laughed softly and shook his head, looking around the room. He fixed his eyes on some object far on the other side of the room.
“You know, Cadence. When I woke up in Equestria, I had no idea where I was.” Jackson smiled weakly. “I was in my dress blues and lost as hell. Then this big white horse came up and started talking to me, and I thought I was drugged out. But then I realized that no, I was not dreaming.”
Jackson rubbed his face with his hands.
“Eventually I come to terms with what I had, and arguably prosper.” His eyes met Cadence’s. “But I missed my family.”
Cadence met his gaze. Jackson’s smile turned warm.
“You all are my family, and I love and value all of you in your own ways. But this mission was bigger than myself, or all of you. I needed to go. I had to do this. And there was too many things going on. I panicked. In hindsight, yes. I made some bad choices, but in the end I succeeded. In any case, it happened. And I can’t undo that. So I’m here to pick up the pieces and fix my mistakes.” Jackson shrugged. “I would've done the same to my family back home. The world is so much bigger than me. It will live on without me. But it can't live on with psychopaths like that out there.”
Cadence said nothing. Jackson shook his head, smile falling. His gaze fell on the fire burning in the fireplace.
“Can I ask about your family?” She asked. Jackson looked back up, surprised.
“Uh, yeah. I suppose so.” Jack set his hat down on the couch next to him. "Anything in particular?"
"I just want to hear about them. You never talk about them anymore."
“Well, I spent a lot of time with my niece Jillian and my nephew Scott.” Jack shrugged. “Tried to be a good uncle and all that. I took them to the places around town that me and my siblings went to when we were kids. The whole nine yards.”
Jackson pulled his wallet out of his pocket. Equestria didn’t have paper currency, but he kept it on him from force of habit. He pulled a couple pictures out of the billfold and handed them to Cadence.
“I’m sure you remember them.”
Cadence nodded. Jackson smiled at the pictures.
“I guess it was I just missed having kids around me. So you and Twilight were kind of the ones who filled that hole.” Jackson stared off into the ground, his normally strong stature fading. “I had kids in my life for the first time since my sister moved to California. I always thought Joe was gonna have kids, and that I could be the cool uncle for them. I guess that kind of died with him.”
Jackson’s open hand started fiddling with the safety strap on his holster. Cadence became worried.
“Are you okay, Jackson?” She asked. Cadence looked down at his other hand. It was shaking, his wallet bouncing up in down with the rhythm.
“Joe would’ve been a great father. He treated the younger enlisted like his boys. They followed him until the end.”
“Jackson?” Cadence’s worry grew as he became less responsive. Jackson’s stare grew further. The shaking of his hands grew more violent. She reached out to him, and touched his hand. He ripped his hand back.
“Get the fuck off him!” He screamed, seemingly somewhere else in his mind.
Cadence reeled back, scared. The man stopped in his tracks and stared out the window. He pulled out his pistol and ran across the room, toward some unknown objective. Then, just as quickly as he started, he froze. He looked around the room, like he just realized he was there. He slowly turned around to face Cadence. She was terrified of him. He looked down at the pistol in his hand, and then back to her. His heart dropped, and he holstered his pistol and quickly stormed out of the room.
“Jackson, wait!” Cadence called. He didn’t acknowledge her, and the door slammed shut behind him.
“Wait, Commander!” Shroud jumped to her hooves from where she sat by the door. “What happened?”
“Return to your post, Lieutenant.” Jackson said over his shoulder, storming down the hall as fast as he could.
Shroud watched as her commander all but ran down the hall. His hands were clenched in fists. She turned around to the doors to the princess’s chambers. The two guards posted on either side looked at her, and shrugged.
The doors to the chamber was slightly ajar, the force of him slamming the door causing it to swing back open. The lieutenant peered through the crack, and she saw the princess inside, her back to the door. The lieutenant slowly walked through the doors.
“Your majesty?” The lieutenant called. The princess turned around, obviously distressed.
“H-Hello, Lieutenant.” Cadence said shakily. “I’m… I’m fine.”
“What happened, your majesty?”
Cadence shook her head.
“I don’t know. I asked him about his family back home, and he seemed to be fine. But then out of nowhere his hands started shaking and he seemed to come out of himself and just...” Cadence looked the lieutenant in the eyes. “I’ve never seen him do that before.”
Evening Shroud shook her head.
“I haven’t either.” She over at the couch. On the floor in front of it was the commander’s hat on the floor.
She walked over and grabbed the hat. She looked at the princess.
“Are you going to be alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just... make sure he’s alright for me, please?”
The lieutenant nodded.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Commander, sir?” Shroud knocked on the door. “You left your cover on the floor in the princess’s chambers.”
Shroud crept through the doors of the man’s chambers. A fire was burning in the fireplace. An arm hung off the edge of the chair.
“Sir?”
She came around the chair and saw the man in slumped against the back. His jacket was thrown on the coffee table. His other hand was clutching his pistol.
“Oh no.” She whispered. “Oh no no no no.”
She hurried over to his side, looking him over. The man snored, causing the unicorn to jump back in surprise. She looked at the man, and laughed softly, relieved. Her horn lit up, and she pulled the pistol from the man’s grip. The man didn’t stur, and she set it down on the far end of the room on his desk. She smiled at him as she left the room.
“Goodnight, Jack.”
“Good night, Jack.”
“Joey, you know that doesn’t work the same way as good morning, right?”
“Says you.”
Jack laughed and slapped Joey on the back.
“Come on. We’ve gotta get to the convoy.”
“Alright, alright.” Joey laughed.
The two men walked side by side down the side of the building. The portable lights scattered around the FOB lighting up their path. Both men were wearing tan digital camo fatigues with a dark solid tan plate carrier over it. The bottom of their pants were bloused over their dusty combat boots that matched the sandy ground. Atop their heads were matching helmets with goggles and an earpiece leading down to their short range radios. On Jack’s jacket, there was a captain’s rank symbol in black, and Joe’s was a first lieutenant symbol in black. They both carried a M4A1 with various attachments on them.
“Alright. Second platoon’s HQ truck is over there. Stay safe, Joe.”
“Thanks ma!” Joey yelled, acting like a child. Quite a few laughs came from the enlisted men in the vehicles already. Jack laughed and threw a pebble at one of the trucks.
“Alright, shut it.” He called to the men.
“Yes sir.” They chorused back, still laughing to themselves.
Jack shook his head and walked up to his humvee at the front of the convoy. As he walked up to the door, he swung his M4 off his shoulder and wrapped the sling around the stock.
“RPG! RPG!” A man screamed. Jack snapped his head around just in time to see a rocket slam into the roof of a humvee. The blast shook the car, and killed everyone inside. Gunfire erupted and lit up the sitting convoy.
“Go go go! Start moving!” Jack called to the front car. The front car sped off, two more and a truck right behind it. The fifth vehicle started to pull out, but another rocket blast hit it and blew it up. The rest of the convoy behind it was blocked. Jack cussed and dove behind a stuck humvee as bullets started cracking around him.
He peered out from behind the humvee and started firing at the assailants coming towards the base. He noticed one group of people on the other side of the convoy pulling back a wounded man. He turned around to some of the other men around him.
“Cover them!” He called. The men nodded and unloaded on the insurgents. Jack watched as the men started pulling bodies and wounded men back. A couple more men ran out to help with the efforts. Jack noticed one of them was a lieutenant.
“Lieutenant, get your wounded and get the fuck back here!” He called.
“That’s the fuckin’ plan, Jack.” A familiar voice called back. Jack stuck his head back out and looked at the Lieutenant. It was Joe. Jack nodded to himself, and kept up with the covering fire.
An insurgent sprinted through the fire and men, seemingly not caring if he lived or died. Jack set his sights on the man and pulled the trigger.
*Click.*
“Son of a bitch!” Jack called. He quickly pulled the mag out.
“Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!” Shouting came from where the men were pulling wounded out. Jack slammed the magazine back in place and stood up, ready to fire. He stopped as he saw Joey tackle the suicide bomber. Jack sprinted towards the bomber.
“Get the fuck off him!” Jack screamed.
“Captain!” A man from behind him called.
The bomber’s explosive vest detonated. Jack was thrown back from the blast and landed on his back. The world swayed and shook, Jack’s vision cloudy and dark. He was wavering from consciousness and could only faintly hear voices and shouting.
“Captain’s down! I repeat, captain is down.”
“FOB Kilo is under attack! Golf Company has suffered numerous casualties. Two officers down. Lieutenant Carter is confirmed dead, Captain Douglas is injured. Requesting immediate support!”
“Come on, sir. Get up. Get up! We’ve gotta go! Get up! Sir! Sir!”
A voice shook Jackson awake. The bright light of morning blinded him. He looked around at his surroundings.
“How did I get in my bed?”
“You must’ve moved yourself in the middle of the night.” The voice said back. Jackson squinted and looked at the voice talking to him.
“Are you stalking me, Eve?” Jackson said wearily. This warranted him a pillow to the face. “My question still stands.”
“Get up. You have an appointment in twenty minutes." Shroud called as she walked out of the room. Jackson sat up, and attempted to remove his wrinkled shirt that he’d slept in. Suddenly he stopped, and he stared at the open door.
“Appointment with who?”
“Doctor Cerebellum?” Jackson read aloud.
“The department’s chief psychologist.” Shroud said. Jackson looked down at her.
“Yeah, I know. I hired her.” Jackson shook his head. “Why am I here?”
“That’s out of my paygrade, sir.”
Jackson rolled his eyes.
“Look, if it’s about yesterday, I told you I’m fine.”
“That’s not my call, commander.” Shroud said. She took off down the hall, calling over her shoulder. “Good luck!”
Jackson shook his head, cursing under his breath. The door to the officer swung open, and a blue unicorn greeted him.
“Commander Douglas. Welcome.” The doctor gestured for Jackson to enter. Jackson shook his head and took a seat in the office.
He looked around the office after he sat down. It was furnished liberally, giving it a very lived-in homely feel. He was sitting on a couch, and the doctor took her seat on a chair across from him, with a coffee table between them. He leaned back and put one leg over the other.
“Commander Douglas, can I call you Jackson?” She asked. Jackson shrugged.
“Sure. Can I call you Cera?”
“If that would make you more comfortable.” The doctor smiled. Jackson rolled his eyes. She was just like the therapists back home. Carefully wording everything so that it’s all about you and what makes you feel better.
“Alright. So why am I here?” Jackson asked.
“Why do you think you’re here?” The therapist asked. Jackson deadpanned to the doctor.
“This is gonna be a really long and painful session, isn’t it?”
“What would make it less painful?”
Jackson gave a sigh of defeat.
“Nothing, it’s just me being difficult.”
“Why?”
“Bad experience with therapists in the past.”
“May I ask what that experience was?”
Jackson laughed sarcastically.
“Pretty similar situation to this one. After an assignment gone wrong, I was in the hospital with fragmentation all over my chest. After that, before they were able to deploy me again, I was sent for psychological evaluation. The doctor couldn’t care less, and just wanted to get through it quickly so he could get through his next fifty or so patients he had to see that day. Basically asked me protocol questions, said I wasn’t able to go back yet and I convinced him otherwise.”
“And you think that this will be the same?”
“I hope not.”
“So let me help you. Why do you think you’re here?” She asked again. Jackson sighed.
“I think it is due to some of my recent episodes that may have happened in front of princess Cadence and my subordinate.”
“Have you had these episodes in the pase?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know what it is causing them?”
“I’m fairly sure it’s what we called PTSD back home.”
“And what is PTSD?”
“Post traumatic stress disorder. Typically something you get after traumatic events, like the name implies.”
“And what do you think your traumatic event is?”
Jackson hesitated.
“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, Jackson.” The doctor said. Jackson shook his head.
“No, it’s fine. It’s just…” Jackson took a deep breath. “It’s just not easy to talk about.”
“Take all the time you need.”
Jackson steeled himself for an inevitably painful tale.
“My buddy, Joe, was one of my lieutenants. He wasn’t a model officer, but no one is. He was always screwing around with the enlisted men, getting close to them and all that.”
“What did you think of that?”
“I thought it was great. The men knew and trusted him on a level that I couldn’t ever get to. It never harmed his ability to command, really. If anything it helped him. They knew he cared about them, and that he wouldn’t carelessly risk their lives. But I think it was this connection in the end that killed him.”
“How so?”
“We were supposed to go on a night convoy to take some supplies to another FOB. We were getting ready to leave when a group of insurgents attacked the convoy. They took out a Humvee, and wounded a lot of men while they tried to get out of their vehicles. There was a squad or two that got hit real bad on the other side. Joey and a few other guys tried to pull them back to safety, but a suicide bomber came up and tried to kill them.”
Jackson paused, taking a few deep breaths.
“I’m sorry, this part is… uh… It’s not great.”
“You’re doing great, Jackson. If you’d like to stop, we can stop there.”
“No.” Jackson his head. "I'm fine."
“Joe tackled the bomber, taking most of the blast with his body. The rest of it shook a few guys up, but nothing serious."
Jackson shook his head.
“I tried to stop him. I tried to get him off the bomber, but I was too late. I was too close to the blast when it went off.” Jackson absentmindedly rubbed his chest. “I got a couple dozen shards of shrapnel or something in my chest. Some other bits and pieces hit me in the head, and I got thrown back about four feet. The other men pulled me back, but I passed out real quick after that.”
The psychiatrist had stopped writing, and set down her pen. The unicorn only nodded slowly as he spoke. Jackson rubbed his face.
“Everything from then on is just what I was told by others. They radioed in that we’d gotten hit hard, and the rest of the FOB was on alert and brought us the support we’d needed. The insurgents were either dead or ran away at that point. All in all we had twelve total casualties. Three dead, nine wounded.”
“So you were hospitalized?”
Jack scoffed at the doctor.
“Took about three surgeries and then observation for about two weeks, then another week or two of clerical work while I recovered.” Jackson rubbed his chest again. “After all that, I was able to go on leave for a bit.”
“Did that help you?”
“I didn’t take it.”
“Why not?”
“I’d already missed his funeral.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” The doctor said.
“Yeah, well. I didn’t really get a choice. They sent me home anyway.”
“And what did you do?”
“I went home and visited my family and his.”
“How did that make you feel?”
“It made me feel the same way that question makes me feel. Angry.”
“Why?”
“Because I watched my best friend die, and I couldn’t save him all because I didn’t fucking count my god damn shots!” Jackson yelled. He paused and realized that in his anger, he had stood up and started walking. He sat back down, trying to calm himself down.
“Why do you blame yourself for his death?”
“Because I would’ve been able to kill the bomber long before he made it anywhere near him. He wouldn’t have had to do what he did.” Jackson shook his head. “All because I didn’t count my god damn shots.”
“Well how many other people could have shot him?”
“I don’t know, I was a bit occupied.”
“Well just guess the number.” The doctor asked. Jackson thought for a moment and shrugged.
“Five.”
“So there was at least five other opportunities to disable the man, and you blame yourself for the error of many?”
“It’s not like that. They were taking out others, and this one was my target. I blame myself because I was irresponsible. You have to count your shots so shit like this doesn't happen. I did it for years, every time, and the one time I didn’t, it cost me the life of my best friend.”
“Why do you think you didn’t count your shots?”
“I got too comfortable, and I should never have. Convoys are infamously dangerous. I fucked up real bad. And I will never forgive myself.”
Jackson stared off at a wall, quietly shaking his head. The doctor noticed he was crying, something very out of character for the man. The doctor set down her notes.
“Jackson, do you remember what you asked me when you first came in?”
Jackson nodded, not looking from the window. He wiped his eyes, trying to regain his composure.
“I asked you why I was here.”
“And what did you think the reason was?”
Jackson thought for a moment before shrugging.
“I figured I'd fucked up enough that people finally thought I snapped. I faked my death to go and have my little four month trip to go kill ponies making bombs. Then I go and have a breakdown in front of one of the princesses.” Jackson scoffed. "I would've thought I was fuckin' nuts. I guess someone else did, too. And I guess some people in high places figured I might not be fit for duty anymore."
The doctor nodded.
“Well you were wrong.” The doctor smiled. Jackson was confused.
“What?”
“No one is questioning your ability to command. Your recent episodes are a part of why you’re here, though. But it wasn’t to see if you were fit for duty. It was to make sure you’re okay.”
Jackson furrowed his brow, and stared at the ground. He shook his head.
“Wait, are you telling me this isn’t a psych evaluation?”
“Well, I suppose it is. But not in the way you’re probably thinking.”
“Well then who ordered it?”
“I’m under orders not to tell you.”
Jackson stared.
“Cadence or Celestia?”
“I never said it was a princess.”
“There’s no way it’s not a princess! They’re the only ones above me!”
The doctor shrugged. Jackson groaned and fell back into the couch. The doctor wrote out a note and floated it over to Jackson. Jackson grabbed it out of the air.
“What’s this?”
“Your next appointment.”
“...Joy.”
“Shroud!” Jackson yelled. He ran into the department barracks where the officers stayed. The ponies in the room stared at him. His eyes scanned over the group. “Where’s Lieutenant Shroud?”
“I don’t know sir.” One of the lieutenants said. That was a mistake. Jackson came up to him.
“Well when was the last time you saw her?”
“She was leaving this morning, I don’t know where she went, sir.”
“God dammit, does anyone know where shroud is?” Jackson screamed.
“I’m right here.” A voice calmy said from across the room.
Jackson turned around. Shroud was sitting at her desk in one of the glass rooms on the far wall, looking very confused. Jackson nodded, trying to regain his composure and hurried over to her. He shut the door and closed the blinds as he walked in.
“I wanna know everything you know about why I was in a therapist session for the last thirty fuckin’ minutes!”
“Sir, I think you need to calm down.”
“I’m completely calm!” Jackson screamed. He pulled himself back. Slowly, he peered through the blinds into the room outside. Ponies everywhere were staring at the glass room. Jackson flung the door open.
“Get back to work!” He ordered. Ponies scattered to look busy, and Jackson shut the door. Much calmer this time. He took a seat across from Shroud, and took a deep, calming breath. “What do you know about why I’m having weekly therapist sessions?”
“Look,” Shroud started, trying to keep him calm. “All I know, is that I got orders this morning to escort you every week to Doctor Cerebellum’s office at the same time on the same day.”
“Orders from who?”
“I don’t know, a guard came and gave me the papers.”
“Who’s crest was on his armor?”
“There wasn’t one.”
Jackson leaned forward.
“Do you have the papers?”
“Yes, but I don’t think you’re gonna get what you want from them.”
“Just let me see them.”
Shroud shrugged and pulled open her top desk drawer. After digging through it for a moment, she raised up a plain looking manilla folder. She floated it over to Jackson, who grabbed it before it even crossed her desk. He flipped it open and frantically looked over it’s contents. His heart dropped as he saw only one paper.
MS. LIEUTENANT EVENING SHROUD DEPARTMENT OF ARMS RACE PREVENTION MILITARY OPERATIONS CENTER OF CANTERLOT LION COMPANY, 1ST BATT., 1ST I.R., 1ST I.D., DARP
THE LIEUTENANT EVENING SHROUD IS TO REPORT TO THE QUARTERS OF THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF D.A.R.P., GENERAL RICHARD JACKSON DOUGLAS, EVERY THURSDAY AT 0900 HOURS AND ESCORT HIM TO THE OFFICER OF D.A.R.P.’S CHIEF PSYCHOLOGICAL OFFICER, DOCTOR CEREBELLUM. UPON REACHING THE APPOINTMENT, THE LIEUTENANT IS TO BE DISMISSED.
THESE ACTIONS WILL REPEAT EVERY WEEK UNTIL OTHERWISE NOTED.
BRIGADIER GENERAL LONGBRANCH HER MAJESTY’S ROYAL COMMAND AND OPERATIONS CENTER
At the bottom of the letter was a very formal signature below General Longbranch’s name.
“Brigadier General Longbranch?” Jackson said aloud. He dropped the file into his lap as he looked up at Lieutenant Shroud. “Since when was he a Brigadier General?”
“I told you you weren’t gonna get much.” Shroud shrugged. She took the folder back. “You can try to ask him, but you’re not gonna get much from him either.”
Jackson shook his head and stood.
“Well thanks for your help, I guess.”
“You’re welcome?” Shroud shrugged. “Anyway, you’ve got a few invoices on your desk.”
“Alright, I’ll get to it.”
Jackson left and shut the door, sighing to himself. Ponies watched him with sideways glances as he walked through the officer’s barracks. He shook his head and ignored them. He pushed through the doors on the far end and into the administration building. After a few twists and turns through the hallways, he reached his office and closed the door. He slumped into his chair, staring at the pile of paperwork on his des, lost in thought.
The first thing Jackson saw when he opened his eyes was a purple carpet, and a fire roaring in an ornate fireplace. The problem for him was, his face was mashed into said purple carpet. He groaned as he rolled himself over onto his back. Everything hurt, for some reason. He looked down at himself.
Why am I in dress blues?
He was wearing black glossy dress shoes, with matching black socks. His pants were a dark blue with a red stripe running up the side. He had a black tunic with gold buttons and a black glossy belt around his stomach with a strap going over his shoulder. His left chest had a grid of medals and his epaulettes had two silver bars, signifying a captain. His black and white flat top hat was on the floor a few feet away from him.
“Are you alright?” A gentle voice called. The woman sounded comforting and motherly. Jackson rolled over to greet them.
“Yeah I think I’m…” Jackson’s eyes met the violet eyes of a strange looking white horse wearing gold jewelry. “...On drugs.”
“I’m sorry?” The white horse said, the same gentle voice from before coming from it.
“What the fuck.” Jackson whispered. “What the hell happened?”
His mind was racing, recounting everything he could remember. His memory of the last couple weeks was foggy. He remembered having guests over, or maybe just one. The last thing he remembered was going to a member of Lion Company’s wedding in dress blues, at request of the groom. Other than that, it was foggy. He decided to amuse his hallucinations, having no other choice.
“Where am I?” He asked, looking around. Jackson swore he saw the horse look worried for him.
“You’re in Canterlot Castle.”
“Canterlot?” Jackson scoffed. “I’m hallucinating some kind of Monty Python-esque horse parody of King Arthur.”
“I’m afraid I don’t follow.” The horse’s face was definitely showing worry now. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
“Never better!” Jackson yelled, jumping up onto his feet.
A sudden wave of nausea hit Jackson, and he stumbled towards a chair. He fell forward, hitting his stomach on the chair. Hard. He groaned in pain as he braced himself against the chair.
“Oh my goodness, are you okay?” The horse asked, coming towards him. Jackson waved frantically, gritting his teeth. The horse stopped in its tracks, staring worriedly at the man.
“I didn’t think you felt pain during a drug trip.” Jackson laughed painfully. “I suppose that shows you how much I know about drugs.”
“I don’t think you’re on drugs, sir.”
“And how would you know, Ms. Horse?” Jackson laughed.
The horse’s horn started to glow in a golden aura. Jackson’s jovial mood faltered. This drug trip was getting a little too weird for him. He felt tingly all over, but it ceased once the horse’s horn stopped glowing.
“What did you just do to me?” Jackson asked.
“You have a broken rib, but there are no drugs in your system.” The horse said.
“What the hell?” Jackson tried to push himself up, but it seems the horse was right. His side had a burning sharp pain, and he doubled over and cried out in pain, grabbing the chair again. “Son of bitch!”
“Let me help you.” The horse said.
Jackson stared at her. He was terrified. Not only did he just break a rib, but everything else already hurt and he was on some kind of bizarre drug trip, and there seemed to be no way out of it. While he was weighing his options, his hand slipped and he fell to the floor. He screamed as the pain exploded all over his side. The white horse very quickly rushed to his side, calling for help.
Not long after, an army of much smaller looking white horses in ornate armor came over and stared at him in awe, as if he was the odd thing here. The same tingly feeling from before returned, and he felt himself float off the floor.
“This part of the drug trip seems much more familiar to me.”
He looked over to his side, wincing as he did.
“Hey, can someone grab my cover?” He said, pointed over at his hat. He quickly dropped his arm back to his side, groaning. “Why does everything hurt?”
A guard walked over and picked up his hat with his magic. Jackson waved the guard over, and the guard placed it on his chest. They started walking, with Jackson floating on his back headfirst down the hall.
“Thanks, bud.” Jackson waved a hand up in the air. “What’s y’all’s names?”
The guards looked very confused at the man’s question, and they looked to their princess for what to do. The princess seemed to be more occupied with the man’s well being. The eldest guard shrugged.
“Private First Class Winds.” The guard on Jackson’s left said.
“Private Evening Shroud.” The other guard said.
“Winds and Eve. Nice to meet you.” Jackson waved. He pointed to the white horse over his shoulder. “Who’s she?”
“That’s the princess.” Evening Shroud said. “Princess Celestia.”
“Ah. Cool.”
The entered a set of doors, and Jackson felt himself being set down on a bed. Celestia came over and stood by Jackson’s side.
“We’re going to have someone look over you. Is that okay?” Celestia asked. Jackson nodded.
“Sure. Just leave what I’ve got in place. Unless it isn’t supposed to be there.” Jackson started breathing really heaving. “This hurts really bad.”
“It’s okay, just focus on me, alright?” Celestia said. Jackson nodded. “What’s your name?”
“Jack.”
“Where are you from?”
A doctor crashed through the doors, and ran to his side. Another two ponies came through the doors right after him with bags on their sides. Jackson tried to push it out of his head.
“Born and raised in Dallas, Texas.” Jackson winced as a doctor’s magic started undoing his clothes. “Moved to San Marcos after retiring from active service.”
“What did you serve in?”
A doctor lifted Jackson’s arm and started searching for a vein. Jackson shook his head, putting the pain out of his mind.
“United States Marine Corps.”
“What did you do?”
The doctor injected an IV needle into his arm, and hung the bag up on a bed post.
“Served in active combat in Afghanistan” Jackson’s mind started getting fuzzy, but the pain started to subside. “When I wake up from whatever drug trip Foreman managed to get me on, I owe you a drink. And you can hold... me... to that...”
The last thing he saw was the princess’s worried face as he lost consciousness.
“Jackson? Are you crying?” A voice called from the door.
“No, no I’m fine.” Jackson quickly wiped his eyes and shook his head. Jackson turned around to see the same worried face staring back at him.
“Celestia?”
“Are you alright, Jackson?”
Jackson nodded wearily.
“Yeah, I was just…” He stopped himself and threw up a fake smile. “I’m fine. What’s up?”
“I just wanted to finalize some plans with you before our meeting with Captain Shining Armor tomorrow.” She looked skeptical. “Are you sure you’re alright? I’ve never really seen you cry before.”
“I’m fine.” Jackson nodded. He gestured for her to come in. “Let’s look at those plans.”
They'd read over several dozen maps, briefings, and other documents outlining a security detail so intricate, it would make the Secret Service's head spin. The commander breezed through the plans, he'd wrote them after all. However, he failed to notice the princess's worried gaze hadn't left him.
“And then once we get to the festival itself, we’ll have department agents either undercover in the crowd or patrolling on the edges of the town. Then there will be a secondary force on a larger circle of the city in gear watching the woods line and the roads in and out of the city.”
“Jackson?” Celestia said softly.
“Now outer patrols will be all the basic gear; stuff like body armor, restraining devices, weapons and all that. I was thinking covert ops just have some kind of knife on them, maybe two, since they won’t need much because they’ll be surrounded by Royal Guards who can take care of the big stuff/”
“Jackson.” Celestia said, louder this time. Jackson looked up. Celestia stared, worriedly.
“Are you okay?” She asked again. Jackson shook his head, diving back into the papers on his desk.
“I’m just fine, thank you. And I especially don’t need weekly therapist sessions."
“Jackson,” Celestia sighed. “I didn’t even mention therapist sessions.”
Jackson shook his head and shuffled his stack of papers around. He was ignoring her. Celestia shook her head.
“Why do you still think that after all this time, I don't know when you're lying?” Jackson finally stopped, and looked up at Celestia. She gestured to him. “Look at you. You’re throwing yourself into paperwork, which I know you hate more than anything in the world, and you’re avoiding eye contact with me when you say you’re okay.” Celestia shook her head in exasperation. “I just want to make sure you’re not repressing things that you shouldn’t be.”
Jackson stared back. Nodding slowly, he set down the papers and leaned back.
“Do you know what the first thing you ever asked me was?”
Celestia shook her head.
“I don’t.” She said softly. Jackson gave a hollow grin.
"Bullshit."
Celestia frowned at his language.
"Jackson-"
“You asked me if I was alright.” Jackson deadpanned. She raised an eyebrow. He shrugged. “A strange looking guy like me just fell out of nowhere into your living room and the first thing you asked me was if I was alright. And do you know what I asked you?”
Celestia nodded.
“I do, but I can’t say that.” Celestia softly laughed to herself. Jackson’s smile was genuine, but only for a moment.
“Do you remember what the last thing you said to me was?” Jackson asked. Celestia didn’t move. “Do you?”
Celestia stared at the floor, not speaking. Jackson leaned forward onto his desk.
“‘Don’t be late. Have a nice day, commander.’”
Celestia looked up, angry.
“You confessed your love to me. Saying how you never wanted to screw it up. How it hurt you so much just to think of the possibility of hurting me.” Celestia scoffed. “Then you fake your own death, hide away for four months, and then come back and act like nothing happened. Now you're saying I wasn't supposed to be mad?”
“I was protecting you!” Jackson yelled.
“That’s a lie and you know it!” Celestia shouted back. "You just wanted to run off and play hero! Throw it in the government's face that you were able to dodge their procedures so you could do what you wanted do."
“Oh come on, you expect me to believe you would’ve let me willingly go and kill a pony hiding away in some god awful remote country by myself?”
“Of course I wouldn’t have! And Yakistan is not a ‘god awful remote country’.”
“Oh yes it is, don’t be all diplomatic with me. It's cold, it's wet, and they don't even have hot springs like the fun cold places do.” Jackson gestured wildly in indignation. “In any case, that’s the point. You wouldn’t have. You would’ve made us go through all the legal loopholes, or whatever else was required, while a psychopathic son of bitch runs off with his supply of explosives just waiting to be sold to the next half-ass organized group of fucktards that get their rocks off by blowing up innocent people.”
“Don’t you use that kind of language with me, and no I would’ve made you take someone with you!”
“And why the hell should I believe that?!”
“Because I loved you, dammit!”
The room fell dead silent. Jackson stared at the now flustered wreck of a princess sitting across from him. He stood silently, and opened the door. The clanking and crashing of armor resounded as the two posted guards went back to either side of the door.
“You’re dismissed.” Jackson said quietly.
“Sir, it’s by the princess’s order that we must sta-”
“Get the fuck out!”
“Yessir!”
The two guards quickly nodded and made their way down the hall.”
Jackson shook his head and closed the door, retaking his seat.
“You don’t need to be so hard on them.”
“I got him.” Jackson said softly, staring at the gun on his desk. A hollow laugh followed. “That seems to be the part that everyone likes to skip over.”
He looked up to see a much calmer princess staring back at him. She shook her head.
“I never forgot that part, Jackson.”
Jackson nodded slowly, looking back down at a picture on his desk. It had creases, showing it had been folded several times, and frayed edges that showed signs of being handled a lot.
It was a picture of two young looking highschool graduates in their cap and gown. The one on the left had shortly cut brown hair stick out from his cap, and a young looking, clean shaven face. In his hands, he had a diploma in sleek black leather holder that said his name was Richard Jackson Douglas. The one on the right had similarly cut black hair sticking out, and a similarly young shaven face. One striking difference was a scar on the side of his jaw that went up into his hair. His diploma named him Joseph Paul Carter. Both class of 1995.
Celestia watched Jackson stare at the picture on his desk, and looked back to him.
“I can’t imagine that your recent episodes are at all related to the ones you used to have, are they?” She asked.
Jackson nodded again.
“All it would’ve taken was one shot.” Jackson said softly.
“Jack, you can’t keep blaming yourself.” Celestia said.
“Can’t I?”
“No, you can’t.”
Jackson stared in silence at the picture.
“I’m sorry.” He looked up at the princess. “For everything. I don’t imagine it means much at this point, but I don’t know what to do.”
Celestia nodded.
“I understand why you did what you did, Jackson. Even if I despise how you did it.” Celestia smiled. “But I know your heart was in the right place. Even if I think you're an idiot, I forgive you.”
Jackson smiled back.
“But don’t do it again.” Celestia pointed a hoof at him sternly.
Jackson laughed and nodded.
“I think I can manage that.”
Jackson stood and walked around the desk to the princess and hugged her. Celestia smiled softly and leaned into his embrace, closing her eyes. The two sighed, enjoying the moment. Jackson pulled out of the hug, and sat back down in his chair, grinning. He furrowed his brow, and looked up at Celestia.
The man in question looked up from the book he was reading. Celestia was calling to him from the other room.
“I’m in the bedroom.” Jackson said, getting out of bed. “What is it you…”
Jackson’s sentence was cut off as he stared at the sight before him.
“What do you think?”
Celestia stood before Jackson, but not in the way she did normally. This time, she stood before him on two feet, with her arms held out by her side. She was a human woman. A woman with light, fair skin and her same long flowing multicolored hair. She was, thankfully for Jackson, wearing a long white gown that fit her figure well. A figure Jackson thought he could get used to. He stared silently, not knowing what to say. Finally, he pulled himself together.
“What?” Was all he could manage to say. Celestia’s smile could light the dark side of the moon.
“I’ve been working on this for awhile, and I've been keeping it for a special occasion. But I just couldn't wait, so I thought I’d give you an early birthday present.”
Jackson smiled big and wide. He ran over to the woman and picked her up, spinning her around. She giggled with joy at his reaction, and he set her down, but did not let her go. The two’s faces were only a few inches apart, and they were lost in each other’s eyes. The man bent down and kissed her tenderly. After what felt too little time for both, he pulled back.
“How did you do all this?” Jackson asked. “Was it hard?”
Celestia smiled.
“Well I did say I was working on this for awhile.” She shrugged casually but proudly. “It wasn’t hard to make the spell, but I had to learn how to be human first.”
“What does that even mean?”
“You humans walk so weirdly.” Celestia laughed. “I had to learn all that, plus how fingers work. Humans are just so… odd.”
Jackson smiled and nodded.
“And we’re damn proud of it.”
The two kissed again, longer this time. But once again, the two had to pull away. Celestia smiled and stared up at the man, something she was definitely not used to.
“Now what do you want to do?” She asked. Jackson grinned.
“I just want to enjoy it.” Jackson pulled her out into the center of the apartment. He held her close. “Do you think you know how to slow dance?”
“Do you?”
“Fair point.” Jackson smiled and reached over for a record player. He pulled a vinyl disc out of a stack of covers and set it on the turntable and set the needle down. Bursts of static came from the speakers before a soft, slow song came through. They started dancing not unlike two inexperienced high school students at their prom. It was awkward, shaky, and totally ungraceful. But it didn't matter to them. She set her head on his shoulder, smiling. The two stood, holding each other close for a long time. When the song faded off into its end, Jackson spoke while the next song started up.
“It’s so odd that I find humans more unfamiliar now than ponies.”
“Well I guess we can change that.” Celestia smiled. “I can do this whenever you want.”
Celestia didn’t see the pain on Jackson’s face as he remembered his home. The home he’d never see again. He pushed those thoughts away, and enjoyed his time with the woman he loved who had gone above and beyond just for him. He smiled and held her a little tighter.
“Thank you.” He whispered.
“You’re welcome.” She whispered back.
Evening Shroud pushed open Jackson’s door and entered his apartment (He hated calling it his “Chambers”). Same as every Thursday, he hadn’t woken yet. She went to his kitchen and started boiling his coffee, knowing he would stall by doing so. After that she got that going, she went over to his bedroom and knocked on the door before coming in.
“Come on, sir. Time to get up.”
A body rustled and sat up on the bed, and Shroud walked over and pulled the curtains open.
“Come on, sir. You’ve gotta do this.” She turned around to shake him awake. Her hoof shook the arm under covers firmly. Finally, the figure rolled over to face her, and Shroud yelped as she jumped back. “P-Princess?”
She spoke out of instinct, but the person before her only vaguely looked like the matriarch she knew. She was a human, like Jackson. Not only that, but she was wearing a baggy shirt that she’d seen Jackson wear before, along with some of his pajama pants. Jackson threw a pillow at Shroud’s face.
“Shut it.” He shouted, voice muffled by the blanket at his side. Celestia giggled lightheartedly, and shook Jackson awake.
“Jackson, you’ve gotta go to your appointment.”
“No I don’t.” Jackson mumbled into his pillow.
“Yes you do.” Celestia repeated. “Come on.”
“I already cancelled the appointment.”
Celestia’s playful nature grew more confused.
“What? When?”
“Last night while you were changing. I sent a letter with a guard to her.”
“Why?”
“I had more pressing matters to attend to.” Jackson mumbled, still not removing his face from the pillow. “I’ve had perfect attendance, one day won’t kill me.”
“What is going on right now?!” Shroud asked, still as confused as before. Even more so, after watching the couple be so casual about it.
“She loves me!” Jackson shouted blearily into his pillow.
“This was a special occasion for him." Celestia grinned at Shroud. "I do hope you can keep this between the three of us, Lieutenant?”
“Well... of course, ma’am. But,” Shroud shook her head. “I don’t even know what it is I’m keeping in between us.”
“She,” Jackson raised an arm and pointed to the princess. “Ain’t a pony.”
“I can see that. I’m asking why?”
“'Cause she loves me.”
“I made a spell,” Celestia explained. “It makes me human.”
Shroud’s eyebrows shot up.
“Is it an illusion or is it a complete transformation?”
Celestia placed a hand on Shroud’s head. The pony could feel her fingers and the palm of her hand, and they were definitely real.
“That’s amazing!” Shroud smiled. “I would love to find out how that all works.”
“I’d love to show you.” Celestia smiled.
A snore cut through their conversation. They looked over to see Jackson had fallen asleep again. Or was at least sarcastically pretending to. Shroud turned to Celestia.
“So why is this such a big deal, again?”
“Because I don’t exist.” Jackson shouted. Evidently, he had been faking.
“So?” Shroud shrugged. “The princess doing magic is nothing new.”
“Yes, but the press is going to find a way to twist that into insecurity or other things that would be detrimental to my image.”
“Well, that’s nothing new.”
Jackson raised a hand.
“Equestria’s gonna need to not have a princess that does that sorta thing here in a bit.”
“Honey... that was hardly even intelligable.”
Jackson mumbled incoherently into the pillow. Celestia swatted him with a pillow.
“Wait, why?” Shroud was even more confused than before she started asking questions.
Jackson sighed dramatically, resigning with the fact that he wasn’t going to sleep again. He swung his legs over the bed and switched to his formal-report mode as he explained.
“Due to possible shifts in the political climate of Equestria, they’re going to need a strong leader who doesn’t finagle with aliens or transform herself into one in an attempt to better their intimate relationship.” Jackson shouted as he walked to the bathroom. He dropped formal-report mode “Celestia’s gotta be a pony Franklin Delano Roosevelt.”
“Who’s Franklin Delano Roosevelt?”
Another dramatic sigh came from the bathroom.
“Ask me later!”
Shroud made very awkward eye contact with her princess. Celestia shook her head.
“You know the tales of Nightmare Moon?”
“Yeah?”
“They’re true. And this is the one thousandth year.”
Shroud stared back in disbelief.
“Are you serious?” Shroud asked. Celestia nodded. “So... your sister is real?”
“Yes. And if all goes to plan, she will be back on the throne by the end of the month.”
“You’re going to let Nightmare Moon become royalty?”
The door to the bathroom crashed open revealing a mostly naked Jackson, who's bleary eyes hinted he may not be as awake as they'd previously thought.
“Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the 32nd President of the United States from 1932 to 1945. His series of legislation called “The New Deal” allowed America to survive through “The Great Depression”, but America would ultimately be brought out of the depression officially due to wartime production during World War 2.” Jackson started grabbing pants and a shirt from the closet. “When he was Elected in 1932, America was in the worst of The Great Depression and America needed a strong leader. Problem was, he had polio. So he made an open deal with the press. They could come in and ask any questions. He was totally transparent for the most part. In return, the press would not take any pictures of him in a wheelchair. He hid his inability to walk so America had a strong leader both physically, and politically. He then proceeded to lead America successfully through most of the second world war. He served three full terms plus four months into his fourth one, which is when he died of polio. His lengthy tenure is the reason we have a bill that says you can only serve two terms.”
The pony and not-a-pony-anymore stared back at him. Jackson shut the closet and stared back.
“What?” He asked.
“Why do you know that?” Celestia asked.
“You had two World Wars?” Shroud asked.
“I majored in history in college. Why do you think I was an infantry officer and not a technician of some kind?” Jackson said to Celestia. He turned to Shroud. “And yes. Our world was not good at peace.”
“You can memorize all that, but you don’t know anything about the country you live in?”
“I enjoy my history. Yours is a bit… bland.”
“What’s bland about dragons?”
“I mean, fair." Jackson shrugged. "But it’s no World War 2.”
“That’s just terrifying, not fun.” Celestia shook her head. “In any case, you’re going to that session. Even more so, if you find World War 2 fun.”
“I didn’t say fun!” Jackson said. “I just said interesting.”
Celestia shook her head again, and with a flash she was back to being a pony. She floated over her jewelry. Jackson sighed.
“Fine.”
“...I brewed coffee?”
Jackson walked out of the door, hands raised in surrender. Celestia shook her head.
“He acted a bit… odd.” Shroud stated. Celestia nodded.
“It doesn’t even faze me anymore.”
Jackson crashed through the door to Evening Shroud’s office.
“I just don’t know who the hell would send me to a therapist, Shroud!”
“Good morning to you too, sir. Come on in.”
Jackson shut the door and sat down across from her.
“I just can’t think of a single person who I haven’t already talked to.”
“Well, maybe it was someone else who cares about your well being.”
“Well it isn’t Cadence, and Celestia is either the best liar in the world or she didn’t do it!”
“I don’t know what to tell you, sir.”
Jackson sighed in exasperation. He distracted himself by looking at the bland walls of Shroud’s office.
“You really need to spice it up in here a bit.”
Shroud looked around the place she called her workspace, and cringed.
“Yeah, it is a bit…”
“Soul sucking?”
“I was going to say generic, but I guess we can go with that.”
“I think you should just get some posters or pictures or something. Medals… awards maybe?”
“I don’t really have much.”
“Could get a wooden frame for that battlefield commision.”
“Yeah, I could.” Shroud shrugged. “In any case, I don’t understand why you’re still stressing over the whole therapist thing. It’s been months since you started seeing her.”
“Yeah but doesn’t it bother you that someone gave you orders, but you don’t even know who?”
“No, that’s just usually business as usual.”
“Really?” Jackson asked. Shroud nodded. “Huh. We should probably start documenting that.”
“Did you just come here to complain about your therapist and lecture me on office decor?”
“No.” Jackson sighed. He stared at the literally blank wall behind Shroud. “Yeah…”
Shroud threw her hooves up in exasperation.
“Don’t you have a department to run?”
“Why do you think you’re doing paperwork?”
Jackson ducked to avoid a flying pen.
“Go find something to do.” Shroud said. “I’ve gotta get these reports formalized.”
“Fine. I’ve gotta check on the joint training sessions, anway.” Jackson stood up and walked to the door. “But just… get something for the walls. It looks horrible.”
He closed the door before another pen managed to meet his face.
“Ugh, don’t even jokingly do that.” Celestia scoffed in disgust. Jackson laughed as he leaned on his elbows against the marble railings.
Before the two was a vast field for training exercises. Unlike the one for the Royal Guards in the front of the castle, which was made with tourists watching in mind, this one was made for privacy. On the far side of the field was a large building, the department’s enlisted barracks. On the side they were on was the connection to the castle. On the left and right sides of the field were raised walkways with high hedges on the outside, rising several meters above the edges. The field itself sloped down from the sides onto a flat grassy field covered in various uniformed ponies doing combat and drill maneuvers.
“How have they been doing?” Jackson asked.
“I’d say they’ve coming along quite nicely.” Celestia smiled. “Lots of talented young ponies out there.”
Jackson nodded.
“I think you’ll be in very good hands next week.”
“How have the preparations in Ponyville been going?”
“Lieutenant Shroud had written nothing but good news so far, and had even more to say when I spoke with her after she’d returned two days ago.” Jackson turned around and shrugged. “Evidently, Captain Winds has done a thorough sweep of the area every morning and evening since we’ve sent them down there. And these diamond dogs make those insurgents back home look like experts.”
Jackson pulled a folded stack of papers from his coat pocket.
“The first day, they found not one, but five teams of scouts from literally the same terrorist group.” Jackson laughed. “And they were barely a hundred meters apart.”
Celestia smiled at the man.
“You find the weirdest things funny sometimes.”
“Well I mean, come on! They’re literally sitting there essentially on top of each other chatting up a storm, fires lit and everything.” Jackson folded the papers and put them back in his pocket. “I swear to you, a five year old could conceal a rock concert better than that.”
“So everything is going well?”
“So far, yes.” Jackson paused for a moment. “How’s Twilight doing?”
“Still as asocial as ever.” Celestia sighed. “I don’t know what to do with her. I’m afraid if she stays this way for too long, she’ll lose all grasp on the world around her.”
“Or worse. She’ll start writing fanfictions and posting them online.”
Celestia deadpanned at the man.
“If I knew what that was, I’d probably find that funnier.”
“You would think it was absolutely hilarious” Jackson shrugged. “Well why don’t you make her go to Ponyville for the festival.”
“Why?”
“Well I’m sure she’s bound to meet someone there.” Jackson grinned. “Maybe a handsome serviceman who will sweep her off her feet.”
“Hooves.”
“Whatever.”
“I suppose I could.” Celestia pondered. “Ponyville is a rather friendly place.”
Jackson shrugged.
“Whatever you wanna do. She’s your student. Besides, worse that happens is she gets a funnel cake that’s a little too doughy and the whole event is ruined forever.”
Celestia laughed softly.
“Knowing my student, she’d find a spell in her book to cook it for her.” Celestia paused, deep in thought.
Jackson’s grin fell.
“Oh, I know that face. What are you thinking?”
“Jackson,” Celestia smiled. “Twilight could do it!”
“Do what?”
“Help Luna!”
“Who’s Luna?”
Celestia stared back, her smile gone.
“You don’t know who Luna is?”
“...No?” Jackson strained an innocent smile.
“My sister….” Celestia said, trying to jog his memory. Jackson’s smile grew more strained. “...Are you serious?”
“I’m a very flawed man.” Jackson waved her to continue. “Just give me a crash course on it.”
“Luna was my sister, she became Nightmare Moon, she became imprisoned in the moon for a thousand years.” Celestia stared back. “Are you serious?"
Jackson's strained grin grew bigger.
"That was a thousand years ago, which is why the year is currently 1000 AN." Celestia deadpanned. "Did you never bother to ask what AN stood for?”
“Look, I didn’t even know what AD stood for backhome. I only guessed what CE and BCE stood for and happened to be right.”
"...You were a history major."
"I focused on the bit from 1776 to modern times."
"Stop making pop human culture references you know I don't get!"
"I majored in United States History! We only became a country in 1776, and it was a joke because of course I know plenty before then." Jackson sighed. "Back on topic, what can Twilight do with what now?"
“My sister, Princess Luna, is going to come back. I believe Twilight can figure out how to use magic to purify her. To save her.”
Jackson nodded, everything she said flying over his head.
“Alright. I take it this will be in Ponyville aswell?"
Celestia nodded.
"Alright," Jackson said. "I’ll have another detail setup to watch her too.”
“You have to be covert about it. She can’t know.”
“...Okay.” Jackson clapped his hands, and stood up. “I’m just gonna trust that you know what you’re talking about and go along with it.”
“Jackson, I may finally have my sister back.” Celestia said, more serious than Jackson had seen her since their fight. “After so long, I may finally have her back.”
Jackson's eyes met hers as a tear fell from her eyes. He suddenly got very uncomfortable as she started openly crying. He reached out, hugging her. He was happy for her, really he was, and he was happy that her family would be reunited after a thousand years. Now, he just had to make sure it happened. And no one could know about it.
“Shroud!”
“I swear I heard a rumor once that you have other people in this department.”
“Shroud, I need you to help me on a special assignment.” Jackson shut the door and sat down.
“You were literally here an hour or two ago. What changed this time?”
“Twilight Sparkle is now a VIP, and I need an additional covert body guard detail on her.”
"Of course she is." Shroud sighed tiredly. “Alright, I can get some guards together to escort her. When does she meet up with them?”
“She doesn’t. She won’t know she’s being guarded.”
“...Are you serious?”
Jackson shrugged.
“Why would I not be?”
Shroud deadpanned.
“You know what? Sure. Why wouldn’t you be serious.” She closed the folder she was working on. “So why can’t she know she’s being guarded?”
“That’s classified.”
“...Don’t pull that on me.”
“Classified.”
“Why?”
“That’s also classified.” Jackson stood and walked out of the room. “Just make it happen!”
Shroud shook her head, pulling out a seperate folder from her desk.
“Two battalions, four companies, an entire staff, and he chooses the first lieutenant to do all of it.” She sighed. “This is way out of my paygrade.”
“Alright, everyone. Today is the day we’ve been working at for months." Shining Armor called. "We’ve planned for dozens of scenarios, and we have precautions implemented everywhere. But at the end of the day, it all comes down to you and your soldiers. We can plan, rehearse, and drill through a thousand different scenarios, but it all comes down to your ability to judge and decided on a minutes notice, as the department has shown us countless times. You’ll be responsible for the safety of her majesty herself. You need to be able to trust and depend on your fellow soldier, whether that be a DARP agent or a Royal Guard. Unity is everything. As the saying goes: United we stand, divided we fall. So let’s be united on this one. You all have your orders, so get back to your units and fall out.”
“Yes sir!” Dozens of voices roared back.
At the back of the room, a figure hidden from view by way of a spell nodded slowly. One by one, it watched every pony leave the room, taking note of each one’s face. When the last one had left, there was just it, and Shining Armor.
“Amazing job, Shining.” Jackson said, the spell falling from around him. “On the speech and on the invisible shield thing.”
“Thank you, sir.” Shining smiled shakily. “I haven’t been this nervous since I was back in school.”
“Well you killed it. Well done.” Jackson smiled. “So, you know everything you’ve gotta do?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then tell it back to me. I want to make sure you haven’t missed anything.”
“I’m going to stay here with Princess Cadence and keep her in the safe room with guards patrolling the castle, the walls, the city streets, and the skies to ensure the safety of Princess Cadence as the designated survivor.”
“And where will you be the whole time, never to leave?”
“Right by her side, sir.”
“Attaboy, there we go.” Jackson smiled wide and hit Shining Armor on the shoulder. Shining's smile relaxed.
“Thank you, sir. I’m going to go check up on the last minute preparations before I send them off.”
Jackson nodded, but stopped Shining as he left the room.
“Captain,” Jackson started. “Let me know if at any point this gets to be too much. I understand your sister is involved, but there’s no shame if it gets too much for one man.”
Shining nodded, grinning confidently.
“Don’t worry, sir. I’ve got this.”
Jackson nodded. Shining left the room, shutting the door behind him.
“I would’ve thought someone as experienced as him would’ve noticed me.”
Jackson turned around in time to watch a second figure appear from behind a spell.
“Told you he wouldn’t.” Jackson grinned to Celestia. “I told you, it’s like how those magicians do it back home. You only see what you expect to see. And boy did he not expect to see you.”
“It was probably also in part because I was right next to you. If he saw anything, he might’ve just thought it was you.” Celestia smiled back, in her human form. “And what are you going to be doing during all this, General?”
Jackson pulled her close.
“I’ll be doing something real special.” He grinned. “Absolutely nothing.”
Celestia’s excitement turned to confusion.
“What?” She stared back in disbelief. “You? Doing nothing?”
“Yeah, I know right?” Jackson laughed. “Boy was that unexpected.”
“Are you serious?”
“Of course not. But you bought it for a second.”
The man ducked as a hand swatted at him, laughing the whole time. He stood back up and kissed the woman.
“That was mean.” Celestia said, pulling away.
“I know.” He smiled. He pulled her by his side and started walking over to the window. “Anyway, I’ll be in Ponyville at a concealed base. We’ve repurposed that cave in the Whitetail Woods to serve as a temporary base for the event. I’ll be down there with runners coming in and out and giving updates as needed.”
“That sounds more like the Jackson I know.”
“Maybe someday I’ll actually be doing nothing for one of these things.”
“I doubt it.” The two shared one last kiss before she turned back into her pony self. “I’ll see you when we get back.”
“Alright, love you.”
“Love you too.”
He watched as she turned and left through the doors, leaving him alone in the room. He stared out the windows and sighed. He could just see the small, quaint little town of Ponyville doing in the valley. It seemed to him like everything he’d dreamed of having back home. A small town out in the middle of the country. None of the pollution you get in big cites, friendly people, and nothing but fields for miles. It was a shame he was confined to this castle.
His gaze shifted to the Whitetail Woods, where their FOB was set up. The edge of the forest reminded him so much of his property back home in Texas. Clear ground, yet backed up to a forest. It was the perfect spot for the quiet life he’d dreamed of living.
Then there was the town itself. Every time they’d sent ponies there for R&R, they’d come back raving about the place. The good food, the wonderful ponies, the carefree atmosphere of the place. He’d dreamed of a place like that back home, but here he was. Less than a hundred miles from his dream, but he could never live it.
“Maybe someday.” He whispered.
“Alright, so the commander has given us special tasking for Twilight Sparkle, the princess’s student. We’re to follow her, but not get near here. To accomplish this, we’re going to be in disguise for the entirety of the operation. Team one, Winter Skies and Blitz will be going undercover as weather ponies Whitewash and Sassaflash. Team Two, Golden Eyes and Time Flash, you’ll be undercover as…” Shroud reread the page. “Ditzy Doo and Time Turner.”
“What?” Golden Eyes asked. “Who thought of that?”
“They basically just changed the second half of my name.”
“We were pressed for time, alright?” Shroud shook her head. “Anyway, moving on. Silvermane and Rapid Flash will be Moon Ace and Swift Bolt.” She looked up. “Any questions?”
“Are we allowed to change our names?”
“No.”
Time Flash, now Time Turner, sighed.
“Fine.”
“Alright. We’re under orders to stay a fair distance from Twilight, but not let her know we’re guarding her. It doesn’t matter if she sees you or interacts with you, just don’t let her know you’re an agent. Alright?”
A chorus of replies came back.
“Alright, good. Any other questions?”
“Who thought of the names?” Golden Eyes asked.
“Yeah, they sound like they were made by someone who has no idea about anything of pony culture.” Time Turner laughed. Everyone laughed too, except for Lieutenant Shroud, who suddenly became very interested in the clipboard floating in front of her. Time stopped laughing. “No. No, please don’t tell me.”
Shroud sighed.
“I needed help and he didn’t really have anything going on. To be fair, those were the best in a list of many terrible ones.”
“He doesn’t know anything about pony culture!”
“Just suck it up. These are only temporary, anyway.” Shroud said. “Moving on, I’ll be at the command center with Captain Winds and Commander Douglas. If you see anything, report in with the nearest runner. You should remember who they are from training.”
“But why Turner? What does that even mean?”
“Drop it!”
“I swear to god, I could not figure out what to call that guy. Turner is a human last name, I justed figured, ‘Well Time Turner is just like someone who turns the time.’”
“Really?” Shroud asked. “He was really ticked off about that.”
“He’ll get over it. At least I made an effort for their names.”
“Ditzy Doo sounds like Goldeneyes to you?”
“Okay, well that was apparently what they called her as a cadet.”
“They called her Golden Eyes.” Shroud deadpanned. “Because that’s her name.”
“Remind me to kick Red’s ass after this.”
“Also not his name.”
“Would you look at that, I’ve gotta get to work. Winds!” Jackson shouted across their makeshift base of operations. “Status update on Angel One.”
“Angel One is still in Stronghold with Cupid One. Angel’s departure time is still green, Shield is confirmed in Stronghold with Cupid.”
“Have Angel Two secured a route for Angel One?”
“Yes, and they’ve kept the media at bay as requested.”
“Fantastic.” Jackson sighed in relief. “If anything changes, let me know immediately. Who’s my guy on Merlin One?”
“I am sir.” A pony near winds spoke up.
“Give me an update.”
“She’s landed and made contact with several individuals.”
“Who was it?”
“Most notable was a stop into Apple Orchards, but our field reports indicate nothing of importance, other than, quote from the field report itself: ‘An Inconceivable amount apple related food products.’” The sergeant rattled off. “Other than that, it was just a local weather pony, seamstress, random pegasus, and a baker.”
“Any reason to suspect any of them?”
“No, according to local records they all hold clean records. Nothing of note for any of them, other than the baker has a history of being rather 'eccentric' at times.”
“Well eccentric isn’t fair reason to arrest someone, so I think we’re good. Let me know if anything changes.”
“Sir,” Winds interrupted. “Angel One has left and is nearing touchdown in town.”
“Short flight, I suppose. Alright, let me know-”
“Hold on, Angel One has just landed outside of town.” Winds interrupted.
Jackson’s brow furrowed, confusion mounting.
“Where?”
“Sir, a member of Angel Two is rapidly approaching.” The sergeant joined.
"I've got the same confirmed over here. Angel Two-One has abandoned his post and is making his way here."
Jackson stood up, pistol in hand as he neared the entrance. He pushed past several posted guards and patrols that were in place to prevent anyone from walking in on their base. He shielded his eyes has he came out into the bright sun. A white pony in royal guard armor was right outside the base, landing roughly and running the rest of the way to Jackson.
“What the hell are you doing?” Jackson yelled to him.
“The princess is missing!” The white pony shouted. The guards all tensed up, and Jackson’s confusion grew larger, with some turning into worry.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
"We were bringing her in, just as rehearsed. But then out of nowhere we look over, and she’s just gone, sir. We didn’t hear anything, we don’t know what happened!” The guard crashed through his words, the rest of his apologies gushing out incoherently.
“Where’s your partner?” Jackson asked.
“I’m right here, sir.”
Jackson looked up to see another pony in identical guard armor pulling a carriage behind him by himself. Admittedly, the carriage was in fact as empty as the guard had said it was. The commander nodded.
“You two, inside with me.” Jackson turned to go in, but stopped. “Leave the carriage outside, thank you.”
The guard nodded, unhooking himself. Jackson shook his head. He pointed to the new guard.
“You tell me what happened. You,” He pointed to the one he’d already spoken to. “Don’t say anything until I ask. I want to make sure your stories are consistent. Walk and talk, let’s move!”
“Commander sir, any word on the princess?” Winds shouted. Jackson shook his head as he walked back into the atrium.
“Nothing. The guards' stories check out.” He shook his head. “Does anyone know what the hell is going on right now?”
“Sir, the mayor is starting the ceremony now.”
Jackson threw his arms up in exasperation.
“Of course she is!” Jackson cussed under his breath. “The hell does she think she’s doing. She doesn’t have a damn princess.”
“Actually, sir…” Shroud interjected. “She does…”
“...What the hell are you talking about?”
“These pictures just came in from a runner with an instant print camera.”
The commander grabbed the letters from the lieutenant’s magic, and scanned the stack quickly. Very quickly, his confusion was cleared. But in its place, fear mounted.
“Oh no.” He muttered. “What the hell have you gotten yourself into, Sunny?”
“The Everfree forest!” The six mares chorused.
Jackson stared through the bushes at the six ponies as they went into the forest. Twilight was the last one to go in, with the pink one bouncing off after a rant about candy apples or something. Jackson suspected she was the eccentric baker, but filed that under ‘Things to Deal with Later Never”.
“Sir, did you really think it was necessary to leave camp by yourself?” Shroud’s voice crackled into his ear.
“Which one of us was trained by the US Marine Corps in camouflage?”
“Which one of us has a cutie mark in disguises?”
“Which one of us gives a damn about cutie marks?” Jackson whispered into his earpiece. “I’m following Merlin and company into the woods.”
“While we’re here, what’s with the weird codenames. Can’t we just say their actual names?”
“If you’d like to rattle of Princess Celestia and Princess Cadence or Twilight Sparkle a dozen times, feel free. Angel and Cupid do just fine for me.”
“To each their own.”
“Hold on.” Jackson whispered. “What the hell is that?”
“What is it?”
Jackson stared at the creature before him. It looks to be a wolf made of wood. It’s glowing eyes creeped him out, but it seemed almost harmless to him.
“It’s a… wooden wolf. I guess?”
“A timberwolf?”
Jackson froze in his tracks, face meeting palm very slowly.
“Are you still there, sir?”
“God dammit. God fucking…” Jackson shook his head. “I hate this world sometimes.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Nothing. It’s not important. Are these things aggressive?”
“Yes, they’re usually quite aggressive when you’re on their territory.”
“Of course they are. How do I kill the wooden wolves?”
“Typically, you don’t. Not without burning them.”
“What I wouldn’t do for a flamethrower.” Jackson muttered.
“A what?”
“Why don’t these damn things have a push to talk button.” Jackson hit the primitive radio on his side. “Nothing! Just the crazy human muttering. Alright, I’ll let you know what happens. Jackson out for the moment.”
He pulled the earpiece off his head, and hung it around his neck. He pulled his knife out of its sheath on his belt, and grabbed his chrome zippo lighter in his pocket. Another handy little gadget from his home world. He gave it a test flick, and to the relief of the man, a flame danced joyously on the wick. With a nod of self reassurance, he flicked it shut. He didn’t want to waste fuel, especially at a time like this.
He slowly crept forward to the wolf, knife in his right hand, lighter on the left. The wolf seemed to be growling at nothing, its back to him as he approached. When the man was just a few feet behind the wolf, he lept forward onto its back.
The wolf yipped in surprise, thrashing around as it tried to rid itself of the creature on its back. Jackson slammed into it’s back, groaning in pain after the impact. He hit harder than he thought he would, forgetting that a wooden wolf would not have the same give as a flesh and blood wolf. He gripped on as tight as he could, trying to orient himself. He dropped his knife at some point, leaving only his lighter. The wood of the beast’s body seemed dry enough, but he’d see shortly if it would catch fire.
“Quit thrashing, you wooden bastard.” Jackson grunted.
He managed to flick the lighter, and attempted to hold it close to the wolf. The wolf saw the fire, and its thrashing became more frantic. A particularly rough buck managed to throw Jackson off, and he rolled roughly across the path. Groaning, the man sat up in time to see the wolf bound off into the woods, whimpering as it ran. He cussed under his breath.
“I suppose that works.” He muttered.
The sound of voices grew from down the path, and Jackson rolled into the bushes behind him.
“I swear I heard something!”
“Rainbow, there ain’t nothing here. You’re just being paranoid!”
“Maybe she did hear something, but it dissapeared!”
“Pinkie does have a point.”
Just keep moving, just keeping moving, just keeping moving. Jackson kept thinking.
“What’s this over here, darlings?”
Jackson cursed himself mentally as the white unicorn floated his knife off the ground.
“I think that’s a royal guard’s knife.” Twilight said. “I’ve seen dozens of guards carry them around the castle back in Canterlot.”
“What’s a DARP?” The blue pegasus asked, reading the stamped lettering on the hilt.
“It’s a military group. I’m not sure what they do, but I know they’re important.” Twilight took the knife from the white unicorn. “Whoever this belongs to takes good care of their equipment.”
“If the owner of that ain’t here,” The orange earth pony started. “Then where are they?”
“...I think we better tread carefully, darlings.”
“Can we take it?”
“No, Rainbow, it ain’t yours.”
“Well they dropped it, so obviously they don’t want it.”
“Do y’know how to use it?”
“No, but-”
“Then we ain’t gonna take it. We don’t need you cuttin’ yourself on it.”
“Ugh, fine.”
Jackson felt every part of his body relax as he watched the six leave. He counted to a hundred and twenty before finally leaving the bushes and picking up his knife.
“And that, Shroud, is why we wear these uniforms.”
“Doesn’t mean I have to like the way they look.”
“You’ll like the way they save your life.”
Jackson slipped the knife into the sheath on his belt, snapping shut the retention strap.
“It was six mares with no military training, you were fine.”
“But did they see me?” There was no response. “Exactly. Now, I’m gonna follow them and make sure nothing happens. I have a feeling if anyone knows where Celestia is, it’ll be them.”
“A fucking serpent, a god damn lion bat lizard thing, and a who the hell knows what else is in this god forsaken wasteland you all call a forest.”
“There’s a reason no one really lives here.”
“You don’t say?!” Jackson shouted as he threw a vine off his body. “It’s not a good sign that the most normal thing you’ve seen all day was an illusion of a color swapped knockoff of a pony version of the Blue Angels.”
“What are the Blue Angels?”
“Think Wonderbolts, but with humans flying thirty million dollar planes instead. With occasionally a massive transport plane joining in on the fun.”
“Uh, alright. Just forget I asked.”
Jackson held his response as he neared some decrepit ruins.
“Is this a castle?”
“If you’re talking about what I think you are, that would be the Castle of the Two Sisters. It was the original Royal Castle from before the Nightmare Moon incident, if the legends are true.”
“I’d wager a guess that yes, those legends are true. If nothing else, because why the hell else would this castle be here.” Jackson paused, pulling the earpiece out and listening. He put the earpiece back in. “I think those six girls are also here.”
“Good job following, I guess.”
Jackson looked around, spotting a window not too far away. Nearing it, he realized it was a lot higher up than he thought it was. He cussed under his breath, and backed up. Getting a running start, he jumped up, grabbing the bottom of the ledge. He pulled himself inside, letting himself fall to the ground, breathing heavy.
“I need to go back to bootcamp.” He sighed, pushing himself onto his feet.
“General Desk Jockey.” Shroud snarked.
Jackson ignored his lieutenant, and peered through the doorway. The room he was in seemed to be at the end of a long hallway. He crept out into the hall, relaxing as he saw it was empty. He headed deeper into the castle, taking care to not make too much noise.
“Come on, Twilight. Isn’t this what you’ve been waiting for?” A southern drawl echoed through the halls.
Jackson ducked behind a pillar, just as a blue mist flew past. Shouting erupted from down the hall, and he watched as five ponies galloped out of the back of the building. He sprinted to the doorway, watching the five run towards the glowing building.
“Come on, girls. You can do this.” He whispered as he followed after.
He took a side path, avoiding the six of them. He came to another window, this one with a pile of rocks underneath. He clambered up, holding short just below the window.
“Shroud, I need you to send a detachment of guards to the twin sister pony royal whatever castle.” He whispered.
No response.
“Shroud?” He repeated. He cussed as static nearly blew out his eardrum, ripping the earpiece out. “Going solo, then.”
He pulled himself up a little higher, looking through the window. The five mares were in a semicircle behind Twilight as she gave a dramatic speech.
“I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you. To see you. How much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside me. When I realized you were all,” She turned to face Nightmare Moon. “My friends.”
A glowing stone sphere floated down, casting a blinding white light around the room.
“You see, Nightmare Moon. When those elements are ignited by the… the spark, that resides in the heart of us all, It creates the sixth element. The element of… magic!”
The stone shards floating around the girls suddenly shifted colors, the white of the stone being replaced by various colors of the rainbow as they turned gemlike. The shards met around each of their necks and with a flash, they turned into golden necklaces with the gems in the shape of their cutie marks.
“What the hell…” Jackson muttered, astonished by the sight before him.
They all floated into a circle, and in a series of moments, what Jackson could only describe as a massive rainbow wave crashed down onto Nightmare Moon. Her screams of denial were drowned out by the intensity of the magic around her. In a flash of glory, all went quiet.
Once Jackson managed to regain his hearing and vision, he found himself staring at the most glorious sunrise he’d seen in his life. Golden rays of light streamed down, directly into the window where he had been previously standing.
“Indeed you are.” A familiar voice resonated from within.
“Celestia?” He whispered.
“Princess Celestia!” Twilight gasped.
Jackson clambered up the outcropping, peering into the window once again.
“Now if only another will aswell…”
He watched as the white princess peered down at the smaller blue princess.
“Princess Luna,” She spoke softly. Luna gasped awake. “It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this. Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister.”
“Sister?” The six echoed.
“Will you accept my friendship?”
Everyone watched with bated breaths as they awaited the younger sibling’s response. Everyone was leaning in, with the pink one falling over.
“I’m so sorry!” Luna embraced her sister. “I’ve missed you so much, big sister.”
“I’ve missed you too.” Celestia returned the embrace.
Jackson smiled wide, climbing down from the rocks. The whole way back to the camp, his smile never faltered. The woman he loved had been reunited with her sister, and everything seemed okay for now.
“Can anyone hear me?”
“Solid copy, Shroud.” Jackson laughed. “Got a bit out of range there.”
“What happened? Where have you been?”
“Princess Celestia is safe, as is the six girls.” Jackson said. “Oh and Princess Luna is safe too.”
“...It worked?”
“Like a coked up german.”
“Right…” He heard an odd mix of relief, confusion, and exasperation in her voice. “Are you heading back now?”
“Yeah, I’m coming.” Jackson said as he walked past the treeline. He stared off at the small town, entranced by the open grassy fields that surrounded the small village. “How much do you think a couple dozen acres goes for around here?”
“What? Are you shopping for real estate?”
“I might be. Don’t avoid the question. How much, do you think?”
Jackson returned to camp after the eight mares safely made it to town. The townspeople cheered as their solar princess was returned. And after an initial hesitation and an assurance from Celestia, they embraced their new lunar diarch with open arms. Luna seemed pleasantly surprised by their reactions, and smiled quietly as she watched the joyous festival.
Much to the guards’ delight, the rest of the event went smoothly. So smoothly that Jackson felt that it would never end. He was bored out of his mind, but there was nothing he could do about it. It’s not like he could just magic up some drunks to deal with, even if he wanted to.
Eventually, the end did come. And as they packed up all of their gear, Jackson found himself standing at the edge of the woods again, staring at the countryside. The soft rolling hills of the valley grew lush green grass, broken only by the clean gravel paths that crossed the land. He stared off at the farmhouse in the distance, closing his eyes as his imagination ran wild.
The early morning sun warmed his face as Jackson left the small ranch house on the property. It was a bit chilly, with a slight breeze, but paired well with the soft touch of sun on the horizon. He took a deep breath, taking in the clean country air. The morning was still, not even the morning birds had sung their first song. Inside there was a light rustling of someone else starting their day. He smiled, and went in to greet them.
“Good morning, swee-”
His smile dropped, replaced by pure dread. That wasn’t Celestia he was seeing. In her place, was a man in desert attire and a Soviet era AK-47 in his hands. Strapped around his torso was a belt with several bricks of explosives. He turned and raised his hand, thumb on the detonator.
“Allahu Ackbar!”
Jackson jerked back to reality with a gasp. His head snapped around before he remembered where he was.
You’re not there anymore. You’re okay. He reassured himself.
He shook his head tiredly, staring at the ground. He kicked a broken stick on the ground and turned around to return to where base camp was being packed up.
“You’re hurting… aren’t you?”
He froze and looked up.
“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to watch.” Evening Shroud was standing there in her field gear. “It’s just… I saw you standing here and I was gonna ask you about… well why you were staring off into nothing. A-And then…” She sputtered as she tried to figure out what to say.
“It’s alright.” Jackson sighed. “It’s not your fault.”
The mare shuffled uncomfortably.
“If I may ask, sir.” She met his eyes, worry poorly hid behind her own. “What is it that bothers you?”
Jackson tilted his head casually.
“I never told you?”
She shook her head.
Jackson shrugged and sat down by the tree he’d been leaning on.
“It’s kind of a hard story to tell to someone who’s never seen war from my world.”
“I know some of what happened, if that helps.”
“Not the parts I didn’t want you to know.” Jackson shook his head. “Did I tell you about my friend Joseph?”
She shook her head.
“Right.” He nodded. “First Lieutenant Joseph Paul Carter, US Marine Corps.” He leaned back against the trunk. “My best friend since high school. We did ROTC in college together, and enlisted in the Marines together. We managed to get the same unit to command. And although we’d been taught the same things for years, we were still very different commanders. He was the common man’s officer. He knew every man’s name, his lovers name, and their kids’ names, if they had any. He knew these men. And they knew him. They respected him as a man who respected them and their lives.”
“And what about you?” She asked.
“I was a by the books commander. I could tell you about a dozen different tactics off the top of my head. Name, who invented it, and when. Like that.” He snapped his fingers. “But it always took me a second to get their names. The two of us together, we formed a good team. I knew tactics, and he knew the men. They trusted me because they trusted him. And we had a fantastic unit because of it.
“But then came the night convoy.” Jackson shook his head. “It should’ve been easy. Start driving, and dammit don’t you stop for anything. If anyone gets too close, fire some warning shots to get them off of you, and escalate if they’re not backing off.” He paused, swallowing to clear the lump in his throat. “We didn’t even leave the damn FOB. Who the hell knows how many insurgents are at the top of the hill, screaming and shouting some bullshit, who cares what. We took cover and started shooting back.
“We had wounded in the open. We need to get them back so they could be treated. And Joey,” Jackson shook his head, an empty laugh slipping out. “The bastard couldn’t stand to see his men left over there, so he and half a dozen others run out there to drag them back. We start giving covering fire to try and keep them safe. While we’re doing this, I see this son of a bitch start runni-” It took all his willpower not to break down there. “Start running up towards us. Screaming their fuckin’... ‘Allahu Ackbar’ like a sick motherfucker. He was a suicide bomber.”
The mare gasped in shock.
“Yeah. Some sick bastard so wrapped up in his beliefs, he’s gonna blow himself up to kill the other guy.” Jackson wiped the tears from the side of his face. “I tried to shoot him. I didn’t have any ammo in my mag. So I reloaded as fast as I could, but when I came up it was too late.” He gave a shuddering sigh as he steeled himself for what came next. “Joe tackled him. He took the brunt of the blast, only minor shrapnel grazing a few others. There wasn’t much left of him after that.”
Jackson glanced over to his side. The orange mare stared back, appalled by the mere thought of someone doing that. He dropped his gaze back to the ground.
“I got to go home and give his parents a folded flag from an empty casket.” He shook his head. “I got to tell them that their son died a hero. Which, for once, wasn’t some bullshit the brass made up to make the parents feel proud of their son.
“I got sent to a psychological analysis to see if I was still fit to fight after taking my leave of absence early. I know enough about how those work that I was able to bullshit my way through it with a passing grade. I got sent back overseas to finish out my tour. They sent some greenhorn second lieutenant to replace him, but the unit wasn’t the same after that. He was what held us together.
“I got offered a promotion and transfer, but I didn’t want it. I finished my tour, and I went home. I remembered something from a book I’d read about some soldiers fighting in the second world war. Major Richard Winters said after D-Day, ‘I would live this war one day at a time, and I promised myself that if I survived, I would find a small farm somewhere in the Pennsylvania countryside and spend the remainder of my life in quiet and peace.’” Jackson smiled sadly. “I wasn’t about to go to Pennsylvania, but I decided a small ranch in Texas would do fine for me.”
“Did you ever get your wish?”
Jackson nodded.
“Eventually. Took me some time to find available property and to get the money together. I’d saved almost all the money I made from my time in the corps, so I was able to buy myself a few acres in Lockhart. Moved in and lived there for a few years on my own. Living one day at a time.” Jackson’s smile warmed somewhat. “That’s where I was living before I came here.”
“Do you think it’s still there?”
Jackson shrugged.
“Who knows. Could be owned by some apartment complex now. Maybe my parents took it when I disappeared. That’s what I’m hoping, at least.”
Jackson’s gaze fell once again on the serene valley before him. Shroud followed his eyes to the Farmhouse of Sweet Apple Acres. Her eyes widened in realization.
“You don’t want to be here, do you?”
Jackson snapped his head to his side.
“What?” He asked. She pointed to where he was staring.
“You want to be back on your farm. Living the quiet life you always wanted.”
Jackson slowly follow her hoof, and sighed.
“Yeah. I guess I do sometimes. But that doesn’t mean I don’t believe in the validity of my duties here.” He shrugged. “I’ve found my calling here, and I hold myself to the same standard I did back home. If I can keep your people at peace, then maybe I can keep myself at peace.”
Shroud shook her head.
“You’ve done so much for us already. No one is going to blame you if you don’t want to continue.”
“I’ll blame myself if anything happens.”
Shroud shrugged.
“So will all of us. You taught us to be like that.” She smiled. “Just… at least take some time off every so often. You work too much.”
Jackson laughed softly.
“Yeah, I guess I do.” He turned and smiled at his lieutenant. “Thanks, Eve.”
“You’re welcome.” She smiled. Sighing, she leaned back against the tree and stared at the valley.
“As far as retirement destinations go,” She started. “I think you’ve got a good place in mind already.”
Jackson leaned back on the tree with her, nodding to himself.
“I suppose I do.”
“Good evening, your majesties.”
“Good evening, Captain.” Celestia smiled softly at Shining Armor. “I take it you’ve kept our niece safe during our absence?”
“Of course, ma’am.” Shining smiled. “Safe and secure.”
Celestia nodded.
“Thank you, captain. You’re free to go about your regular duties. We’ll be visiting princess Cadence in her chambers.”
“Of course, ma’am.” He bowed as the two royals continued down the hallway.
Once they’d rounded the corner, he let out a sigh of relief.
“You owe me a drink.”
The air next to Shining Armor shimmered and waved as Jackson appeared, standing in its place.
“After a performance like that, how could I not?”
“Don’t you have a lieutenant or something that does this for a living?”
“No she’s a lieutenant for a living.” Jackson grinned. “Besides, you won the drink.”
“Well first you’d have to actually come to the bar and buy it.”
“I will one of these days.”
“Nope.” Shining stood in front of Jackson. “We’re going tonight.”
“What?” Jackson said indignantly.
“You heard me.”
“But… I’m busy.”
“No you’re not.” Shining’s horn started to glow. “Come on, let’s go.”
“Oh you’re a bastard, you know that?”
Jackson’s protests were lost as Shining herded him down the hall to the guards’ bar. He stumbled through the doors of the saloon, cussing to himself. Several of the Royal Guards tensed slightly at the sight of their captain and the alien general.
“General!” A familiar voice called.
Jackson looked up to see Captain Winds and Lieutenant Shroud sitting at a table on the far side of the room with a couple other members of Lion Company. Shroud was waving him over towards their table.
“Dammit.” Winds cussed to himself as he slid a few bits over to Shroud. “Glad to see you finally made it to the bar, sir.”
“Well if I’m gonna be here, you’re not gonna call me ‘general’ or ‘sir’ or whatever. Ruins the mood.” Jackson sat down. “Haven’t drank in a bar in a long time.”
One of the Sergeants slid a mug of beer across the table from the bar.
“Hope we can change that, sir.” The sergeant grinned.
Jackson picked up the mug and inspected it. He usually didn’t drink beer, but he didn’t want to seem pretentious.
“Fuck it.”
Everyone cheered as Jackson tilted the beer back, falling back to his early days in the corps. When the last drop fell into his mouth, he slammed the mug back down on the table.
“Can I get another one over here?” He called to the sergeant at the bar, grinning.
Celestia smiled to Luna from her place at the table.
“He’s a general in charge of a new division of the military. They’re a special group dedicated to locating weaponry that could lead to global warfare.” Celestia sipped her tea. “He earned his position and rank quickly due to his… experience in the matter. He’s well aware of what can happen if a global arms race were to come to our world. It’s been his job to prevent that for a couple years now.”
“He sounds like a good stallion.” Luna said. “When may we be able to meet him?”
“I believe you could right now.” Celestia smiled. “I’m sure he’s just in his office somewhere. I will warn you, though, he’s not a pony.”
“Ah. That is no problem for us. We like to consider ourselves to be… progressive.” Luna smiled.
“Well then let’s go find him.”
The three mares stood and shuffled out of the room. Upon leaving, Celestia was stopped by one of the guards.
“Ma’am. General Douglas is not in his office.”
“What?” Celestia was confused. “Where is he?”
“He’s at the guard saloon, ma’am.”
“He is?” Celestia was pleasantly surprised. She’d expected him to be overworking himself in his office, as he usually did after a mission. “Well then. I suppose we’ll be taking a different route, then.”
What the three princesses saw, was definitely not what any of them were expecting.
“Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!” Was being choroused from inside the doors of the saloon as they approached. Cadence pushed open the doors, and thankfully no one seemed to notice.
What the princess did notice, however, was the man that had just been praised holding himself upside down on a keg of beer drinking directly from the tap while the rest of the patrons cheered him on. Two earth ponies held his legs up while a unicorn held the tap in his mouth. He spat the tap out and the earth ponies let him down as he threw his arms up in victory.
“What in the name of Equestria…” Celestia mumbled.
In a stark contrast to the man’s normal starched attire, his jacket was strewn over the back of a chair, with his hat dangling off the side. His tie was off and thrown onto the table, presumably so it wouldn’t get in the way while upside down. He walked over to the corner of the bar where a guitar was sitting on the wall, and grabbed it.
“Oh dear.” Cadence mumbled. “Can he even play the guitar?”
Jackson jumped up onto the table of one of the booths and picked up the guitar.
He started strumming wildly, doing some kind of ridiculous dance number and swing his arm wildly. Cadence had thought he’d gone mad, shouting something about the King or something like that. He jumped, and nearly lost his balance as he dropped the guitar. He laughed loudly as he righted himself, and looked around the room.
“Hey! Celestia! What are you doing here?” He called.
All the celebrations then promptly ceased.
And they all turned and stared at the three princesses standing there in the doorway.
“Um. Hello.” Cadence said meekly.
Jackson jumped off the table, his dress shoes making a satisfying thud on the floor. He sauntered over, stumbling slightly along the way. He stood in front of the three princesses, his face completely neutral. He stared at the three of them, and slowly his eyes fell on Luna. He grinned and tipped his head.
“Your majesty.”
“Hello…” Luna greeted awkwardly. “We are Princess of the Night, Luna of Equestria.”
He nodded, and kneeled shakily.
“And I am General of DARP, Richard Jackson Douglas of Texas.”
“Pleased to meet you… General Douglas.” Luna was uncertain of the man’s title, given his intoxicated state. He did look odd, as they said, not unlike a minotaur. The big difference was his legs, and he had clothing all over his body.
As intoxicated he was, though, he managed a salute from his kneeled position. He tried to stand, but stumbled and crashed into a table nearby.
“Oh!” Luna exclaimed as the man landed roughly onto the table, knocking over a few empty mugs.
Her worry turned to confusion as instead of any sounds of pain, she just heard giggling coming from the man laying face down on the floor. The giggling turned into full blown laughter, which quickly spread to the other soldiers in the bar. Celestia walked over, bending down beside him.
“Jackson, honey. Are you alright?” She asked softly.
Jackson managed to suppress his laughter for a moment to look up at her. And then promptly started laughing even harder than before. Celestia, confused and embarrassed for him, promptly stood and decided that he’d had enough to drink.
“Alright, General. I think it’s time for you to call it a night.”
“Aye aye, princess.” He mumbled with a thumbs up.
He managed to pull himself to his feet, and stumbled his way over to his coat and hat, which he slipped on before grabbing his tie and waving it.
“Princess says I’m done. Night!” He yelled, despite the fact everyone could hear him normally.
“Night, Jacky!” Shroud called from her table.
“Goodnight, Douglas!” Shining followed.
Jackson waved to them as he spun theatrically on his heels and pointed to the door like a general instructing his men to charge.
“Let’s go, Rose!”
Celestia shook her head, decided it’d be more work to get a straight answer out of him at this point than she really wanted to invest. He sauntered down the hall, whistling something unfamiliar to her. She sighed and mumbled to herself.
“I don’t understand you sometimes, Jackson.”
If he heard, he didn’t say anything. He just started to sing.
“Atop, her head, she wore a yellow ribbon. She wore it in the springtime in the early month of May!”
If they all learned one thing that night, it’s that Jackson was not destined for the choir.
“Okay, let’s just get you into bed.” Celestia said softly to Jackson as she led him to bed. It seems he’d started to sober up, hinted by the fact he’d stopped singing.
“You’re too nice to me, you know that?” He smiled as he leaned against her.
“I’m starting to learn this, yes.” She mumbled. Jackson laughed.
“Ah,” He sighed. “I love you, my little rose.”
“Where’s that come from?” Celestia asked.
“You’re my yellow rose of Texas.” He giggled. “It’s a song from back home.”
“You’ve sang a lot of those tonight.”
“Maybe I’m just a musician. I’m the next James Taylor.” He slipped off his jacket, and threw it and his hat onto a chair by his bed as he crawled into bed. “Hey honey?”
“Yeah?”
“Could you stay here tonight?”
Celestia was surprised. He’d never asked her to stay before. She’d decided it was probably the beer talking, and decided to humor him.
“I suppose I can.” She smiled. “Which one of me?”
“'Don't matter. I'm asking you to stay, doesn't matter how you do it.” He grinned. She shook her head as her horn glowed and with a flash, a pale woman replaced the white unicorn that had been standing there before. She grabbed some clothes from his dresser nearby, slipping them on before climbing into bed next to him.
“How’s this?”
“That’s perfect.” He sighed softly. “I love you, Celestia.”
“RPG! RPG!” A man screamed. Jack snapped his head around just in time to see a rocket slam into the roof of a humvee. The blast shook the car, and killed everyone inside. Gunfire erupted and lit up the sitting convoy.
“Go go go! Start moving!” Jack called to the front car. The front car sped off, two more and a truck right behind it. The fifth vehicle started to pull out, but another rocket blast hit it and blew it up. The rest of the convoy behind it was blocked. Jack cussed and dove behind a stuck humvee as bullets started cracking around him.
He peered out from behind the humvee and started firing at the assailants coming towards the base. He noticed one group of people on the other side of the convoy pulling back a wounded man. He turned around to some of the other men around him.
“Cover them!” He called. The men nodded and unloaded on the insurgents. Jack watched as the men started pulling bodies and wounded men back. A couple more men ran out to help with the efforts. Jack noticed one of them was a lieutenant.
“Lieutenant, get your wounded and get the fuck back here!” He called.
“That’s the fuckin’ plan, Jack.” A familiar voice called back. Jack stuck his head back out and looked at the Lieutenant. It was Joe. Jack nodded to himself, and kept up with the covering fire.
An insurgent sprinted through the fire and men, seemingly not caring if he lived or died. Jack set his sights on the man and pulled the trigger.
*Click.*
“Son of a bitch!” Jack called. He quickly pulled the mag out.
“Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!” Shouting came from where the men were pulling wounded out. Jack slammed the magazine back in place and stood up, ready to fire. He stopped as he saw Joey tackle the suicide bomber. Jack sprinted towards the bomber.
“Get the fuck off him!” Jack screamed.
The resulting blast threw the captain onto his back. He laid still, not moving. He felt every part of his body cry out in pain, the years old memory still fresh. He felt the marine next to him trying to get him up and out of fire, but he didn’t try to help him. He just laid there, giving into the cold grip overcoming him.
“General?” A voice called out.
Jackson opened his eyes. The battle was frozen around him, bullets suspended in mid air. The pain in his body was gone, and he sat up.
“Is this your home world?” The voice called again.
Jackson looked around, spotting the lunar princess standing by a humvee with frozen marines crouched behind. Jackson stood up.
“How are you here?” He asked. The princess looked around grimly as she walked forward.
“The night is our domain. All parts of it. Including the realm of dreams. Admittedly, we did not expect to be able to traverse dreams so soon after our return.”
“So... you can see my dreams?”
“Yes.” Luna stopped in front of him. “Though we have only seen this dream of yours so far, the emotions with it are quite strong. It seems thou hast had this dream many times.”
Jackson grimly surveyed the scene around him.
“I suppose so.”
“Is this a nightmare? Or a memory?”
Jackson stared at the smoldering crater where Joe had been only moments ago. Luna followed his eyes, and her heart fell.
“A memory.” Jackson said softly. He walked across the field, looking at every man on the ground’s face. “This was my company.”
“Was your country at war?”
Jackson shrugged.
“Depends on who you ask. Legally, we were in a ‘conflict’ not a war, since there was never a declaration of war.” Jackson stopped suddenly. “Didn’t change the facts.”
Staring down at a body, felt a small form brush up against his side. He glanced at Luna before letting his gaze fall back on the body. It was horribly mangled and missing many parts. He could feel Luna squirming as she saw the body.
“Your people are quite… proficient at war.”
“...Yeah.” Jackson felt his chest tighten as stared at the body of Private First Class Zachary Ross. A sweet kid from a dirt poor family. Enlisted just to help pay for college. Jackson pushed those thoughts aside. “Too good if you ask me.”
He looked up, spotting the frozen RPG-bearing insurgent on the ridge. He raised the rifle slung over his body and emptied the mag into the man. Luna jumped as the weapon roared its merciless staccato. The rounds tore holes through the insurgents body, but he didn’t flinch. Jackson dropped the rifle at the click of an empty mag.
“That is quite a loud weapon.” Luna said, inching back forward towards Jackson.
“Yeah. Sorry.” Jackson shook his head. He unslung the weapon and threw it to the ground. “I don’t know why I even bother.” He turned and looked to Luna. “So this is a dream?”
“Yes.” Luna nodded.
“More like a nightmare to me.”
He shook his head and turned around. He watched the world fade away from the battlefield, and reappear with him standing on a gravel driveway. The green grass of a ranch in Texas sprouted up around a small single story farmhouse. His fatigues faded away and was replaced with a jacket, button down and jeans. He looked himself over, and looked at the princess by his side.
“Did you do that?” Jackson asked.
“We cannot do anything to your dreams. You are in control.” Luna said. “This is your dream, and it is whatever you make it to be, good or bad.”
“...Good to know.”
Jackson moved forward to the door of the home. He pushed it open, and stood in the doorway as his eyes fell over the room. To his right was a small circular rack with an umbrella and a cane in it. Beyond that was an older looking and cozy looking living room set around a flat screen TV on the wall. Various paintings depicting various things were hung around the room. On the far right wall, above a fireplace, was a small case with various medals and ribbons hung with some patches inside. As he walked to it, he reached out and touched the wood of the case.
Luna came up behind him and looked over the case behind him. Below the case, on the mantel, was a picture of a young man in uniform in front of a mottled blue background with a bright and proud looking flag stood to the side. Luna glanced to Jackson, and made the connection. It was a very young looking Jackson in a black uniform with a crisp white cap on top. The pin on his shoulders was a yellow rectangle, and his chest was missing many of the ribbons that Luna saw in the case.
“I was so proud of that picture.” Jackson said softly, smiling fondly at it. Luna looked up at him and smiled back.
“It is a good portrait to be proud of.” She nodded. “Was this after your training?”
“Yeah.” Jackson nodded. “I’d just commissioned for my first tour in 1999. I figured I’d serve my fives years, pay my dues, and go off to civilian life.”
“Something tells us that is not what happened.”
“Yeah. I ended up serving ten years.”
“What changed?”
“9/11.” Jackson said simply. “A terrorist attack on American soil.”
The TV behind them flashed on, displaying a grainy news report. A suited man behind a desk spoke somberly.
“It is confirmed the second tower has been hit by a second plane, and has collapsed. There is no current death toll, but it is projected to be hundreds, if not thousands.” The reported paused, seemingly trying to collect himself. “One plane has hit the pentagon, and one has crashed in a field in Virginia. FAA has grounded all flights indefinitely at this time.” The TV flashed off.
“Total death toll of that day would be around three thousand. Civilians, not soldiers. There’d be hundreds of first responders killed. Firefighters running into collapsing buildings and dragging people out, EMT and Police killed by falling debris.” Jackson shook his head. “The world stopped. For the first time in decades, no planes flew. No kids played outside, and Americans was scared to leave their homes. And in the middle of all that, I knew I couldn’t abandon my country in its time of need. I’d serve all that I could.
“But then my best friend was killed, and I was nearly killed with him.” Jackson shrugged. “I’d started to lose faith in what we were doing. Eight years later and we’d made no real progress. I stayed because part of me still believed this was my duty. But when Joe died, that part died with him. I wanted out. So I left next chance I got. Turned down my promotion offer and just went home.”
Jackson sighed and slumped onto the couch.
“I left my world in 2011. Even then, ten years later, we still hadn’t gotten him. We were still killing people, taking and losing land, but we weren’t any closer than we were the day the bastard murdered thousands of innocent Americans.” Jackson shrugged. “That was three years ago. And it kills me everyday with just the thought that he might be out there living it up in freedom after all he did.”
Luna sat next to Jackson on the couch.
“Thou has a heavy load to bear. But you needn’t carry it alone.”
“I suppose not.”
The world faded again to the apartment Jackson called home in the Castle. Luna and him were sat on the couch in the living room. Jackson stared across the room at himself. Standing in the middle of room was him in his pajamas embraced and talking excitedly to a human Celestia. Jackson’s face burned red.
“I uh… I didn’t mean to do that.” Jackson stuttered. “We were just… uh…”
Luna smiled fondly.
“Thou needn’t worry. It brings us joy to see our sister so happy.”
Jackson nodded gratefully as his face started to return to its normal color. He silently turned back and watched past himself hide his tears of joy that Celestia hadn’t seen at the time.
“Thank you.” He whispered.
“Thank you. For keep our sister’s spirits after all this time.”
Jackson shook his head, giving Luna his attention.
“I uh… I’m sorry for earlier. I’m not good at introductions.” Jackson chuckled. "Especially not when I'm drunk."
“Nor are we.” Luna admitted. “But it is in the past. We understand thy hesitations of meeting us, especially in light of the seen before us.”
Jackson nodded, smiling as if he’d thought of something funny.
“If I may ask you something,” Jackson hesitated, and Luna nodded for him to continue. “Why do you talk like that?”
“Ah, yes. We are from a different era. One in which royals were expected to speak this way.” Luna smiled. “Your method of speech is unfamiliar and highly informal. But… relaxing, given the atmosphere.”
Jackson laughed.
“Well I thought I might have some leeway given you’re in my head right now. Speaking of which, aren’t you supposed to be sleeping or something?”
“We sleep in the day. We could be called nocturnal, we believe the term goes.”
He nodded.
“Okay.” His gaze fell back on himself embracing Celestia, and he smiled. “Well I don’t want to be greedy. I imagine you have others to help from nightmares. Hopefully none as grim as me.”
“We- um, I don’t imagine it will.” Luna said. Jackson grinned.
“Good start.”
“We thank thee.” Luna stood. “We bid thee farewell for the night, general. We hope to see you in the morning.”
Jackson nodded.
“Goodnight, Luna.”
With a flash, Luna disappeared from Jackson’s dream, leaving the living room a little bit emptier. Jackson didn’t mind anymore. The world around him shifted back into his home on Earth. He just flipped on the TV and enjoyed the peace and quiet of the familiar place.
“Agh… son of a bitch. Why did you let me do that?”
“What was I supposed to do?” Celestia said as she poured Jackson a cup of coffee. “You were already intoxicated when I got there.”
“How bad was it?”
“You were upside down on a keg of beer drinking from the tap.”
Jackson groaned.
“Have I ever told you how thankful I am you people don’t have the internet?”
“No. But we still have cameras.” Celestia grinned. “Fortunately, no one had one. But if it makes you feel any better, you also tried to play guitar.”
“Why on earth would that make me feel better?”
“Because that was before you started singing.”
“Oh Jesus Christ.” Jackson hung his head in his hands. “I’m gonna have to ask you to just stop talking about it at this point. If I hear any more, I’m just gonna resign right here and now.”
“Well we wouldn’t want that.” Celestia said as she sat opposite of Jackson, still in her human form. She grinned mischievously. “What’s a Yellow Rose of Texas?”
Jackson raised his head, confusion across his face. He closed his eyes as he groaned in realization.
“Please tell me I didn’t.”
“You did.”
“Jesus Christ.” He fell against the back of his chair. He waved his arm. “It’s an old as hell song from the Texas Revolution or the Civil War, one of the two. Originally performed as part of an… admittedly extremely racist sideshow performance in black face. With the modern revised lyrics, I thought it was a sweet song about a girl. I always called you that in my head, cause sun and gold and yellow, all that stuff.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe I actually did that.”
“You didn’t sing, to be fair. You just called me Rose more than once.” Celestia smiled. “Also called yourself the next James Taylor.”
Celestia had never seen the man cringe so much. He cussed under his breath and tried to shake the thoughts out of his head.
“When I drink, I turn into this bumbling incoherent idiot. I hate it. Which is why I don’t drink. Because drunk me sings and does kegstands.” Jackson sipped his coffee, trying to wash the thoughts out of his head with caffeine. “At least I went with James Taylor.”
“Was he a singer?”
“Yeah. A great folk singer from the ‘70s. Made a lot of good songs, including the one ‘Carolina on My Mind’ which was the song for the 82nd Airborne in the army, which a few college friends of mine were in.”
Celestia stared at the man across from here, smiling sweetly. Jackson shook his head, trying to clear the thoughts out of his head. He finally shrugged and picked up his fork, poking at the eggs on the plate in front of him. It took him awhile to notice Celestia staring at him.
“What?” He asked, staring innocently.
“You’re just… such a teacher.”
“...What?”
“You just can’t leave something at a simple answer. You explain everything.”
“I do?” Celestia nodded. Jackson deadpanned at the table. “Huh.”
“It’s cute.” Celestia laughed. “It’s also very interesting. I love hearing things about your world. You don’t talk about it too much.”
“Yeah, well it’s a hard topic sometimes.” Jackson shrugged a growing feeling of homesickness. “But sometimes it’s also really therapeutic.”
“Do you think about it often?”
Jackson thought for a moment. He nodded slowly.
“Yeah, I do.” He said softly, staring off into the distance.
Celestia recognized the look of longing for something unattainable. Even after seeing it hundreds of times over her lifetime, it still struck a string of sympathy from her.
“I’m so sorry, Jackson. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be in your situation.”
“It’s fine really.” Jackson smiled. “You already do so much to help me.”
Celestia smiled.
“I’m glad something so simple could help you.” She giggled. “Maybe one day we can get more ponies to join in on the human fun.”
Jackson laughed.
“That’d be an interesting sight.” He shook his head. “Just seeing Lieutenant Shroud stumbling around. Or even Twilight just trying to study herself.” His eyes lit up as he remembered. “Speaking of which, how did she like Ponyville?”
“She loved it. In fact, she’s decided to stay and take over as the new librarian.”
“Not surprising on the librarian part. I take it she meet some people?”
“She did. She made quite a few new friends.” Celestia grinned knowingly. “What did you think of them?”
Jackson grinned.
“How did you know?”
“I saw you hanging outside the window, Jackson.”
“Well, shoo me, I was worried. I’d heard about those woods, and I wasn’t sure it was the safest bet to let them go into the woods unattended.”
“Well they turned out fine. You don’t need to worry so much.”
“Need I remind you of the endless hours of pacing you did while thinking of what would happen if you sent Twilight to Ponyville?”
“I’m her mentor, it’s my job to worry for her.”
“And I’m the guy in charge of her safety. It is literally my job to worry for her.”
Celestia laughed and shook her head. Jackson joined her. It wasn’t often the two got to just sit and talk like this. Usually they were too busy for each other. He just stared at the woman in front of him, smiling. And she smiled back.
“I love you.” The two said in unison.
“What do you mean ‘permanent reassignment’?”
“I mean, you two are being stationed in Ponyville as sleeper agents. You’ll report back if anything happens, but other than that you carry on life as civilians.”
“Lieutenant, with all due respect, I have to ask that you reconsider this.”
“My decision is final. Golden Eyes, Time Flash, you two are being permanently reassigned to Ponyville.” Shroud’s tone left no room for argument. “And lighten up. It’s the easiest assignment you’ll ever get. ‘Sit around and do whatever you want but report in when weird stuff happens’. There are ponies that would kill for a position like that.”
“But ‘Time Turner’?!”
“Let. It. Go!” Shroud yelled. “Dismissed!”
The two ponies left the now frustrated lieutenant’s office with reluctant salutes. They excused themselves as they passed Jackson standing outside her office, giving quick salutes before hurrying through the building.
“What were those two grumpy about?” Jackson asked, taking a seat as he came in.
“They’re whining about getting the sleeper job.”
“What?” Jackson scoffed. “Should make them run PT with lead armor for that kind of attitude."
"You worry me sometimes.” Shroud sat back down. “So. Not that I don’t appreciate the distraction, but what are you doing here?”
“Just stopping by.” Jackson shrugged. “Like to check in.”
“I haven’t seen you check in with any other officers ever.”
“Well you must’ve been busy.”
“Uhuh.” Shroud deadpanned. “Well if you’re gonna take up a seat, can you help me with paperwork?”
“That’s no way to talk to a superior.”
“With the amount of stuff you make me do outside of my regular duties, I should have some leeway.”
“...Fair enough. What do you need help with?”
“Inventory.” Shroud sighed. “Going over the paperwork that the other companies’s quartermasters submitted. Making sure their documentation matches ours.”
“Alright, let me take a look.” Jackson reached over and took a few bounded stacks of papers. “Let’s see…”
Jackson thumbed through the pages, watching the page numbers tick up well into triple digits.
“Jesus Christ that’s a lot of paper…” He divided each of the stacks by company, and held the master document in his hands.
“Oh that’s just one company. I’ve got the rest here.”
“Why did I volunteer for this?”
“Because you owe me a lot of favors.”
Jackson grunted. Shroud grinned.
“Look at it this way, that’s one less than before.”
“How many do I have in the first place?”
“Two-hundred and thirty-five.”
“...You’ve kept track?”
“Yup.” Shroud floated up the stack in front of her, scanning the pages. “Now get busy.”
“Captain Richardson, I’ve told you, you don’t have to call me that. Celestia is just fine.”
“Right, of course. Sorry.” Jackson looked down at the ground. “You know… it’s one of those things. Back home, my country had no royalty. I’m just not quite used to that concept.”
“I understand, Captain. If it makes you feel better, you can call me by my title.” Celestia smiled. “I’ve noticed you’re dressed in your uniform again.”
“Well the fourth of July is a rather special day for my country.” Jackson smiled sadly. “It’s the anniversary of my country’s declaration of independence from the country that settled us. Independence Day. America’s birthday.”
“I see.” Celestia grinned. “How old is your country this year?”
“Well, assuming the year here is still the same as it was back on earth, it would be 235.”
“A rather young country, by Equestrian standards.” Celestia said. Jackson laughed.
“We were the runt of the global superpower family.” He shook his head proudly. “And we were the strongest.”
“I’m very happy for you. But I have a feeling you aren’t just here for celebrations.”
“You’re right, yeah. Um. I was going to ask if… well…” Jackson fiddled with the gold button on his uniform. “If it would be possible for a little bit of fireworks in a remote area of Equestria.”
Celestia furrowed her brow.
“I suppose so… why?”
“It’s how we celebrate the Fourth of July back home. Big fireworks display. Now, I’m not trying to do anything like how we do it at home. I just wanted to know if I could pop off one rocket.”
“I think I know someone you could talk to.” Celestia smiled. “I know a gentlecolt that makes fireworks. He’s done a few shows for New Years and special occasions. I can arrange you a trip to meet him later today.”
“I would appreciate it very much.” Jackson nodded.
“Come back in an hour and I’ll have everything ready for you.”
“Oh, uh… an hour? That’s rather quick turn around.”
“I have my ways, Captain. Now go on, then. I believe the chefs are still cooking something for Twilight. You should still be able to get something.”
Jackson nodded.
“Uh… right. See you, then.”
“Heya Twilight.” Jackson greeted as he sat down. “What’re you readin’?”
Twilight glanced up at Jackson. He grinned at her, and she immediately dropped her head back down into her book. He shook his head. A waiter unicorn slid plates in front of the two. Jackson nodded.
“Thank you.” He smiled.
“...Thanks.” Twilight muttered through her book.
The waiter bowed and trotted out of the room. Jackson poked at his pancakes.
“So. Twilight. You know what today is?”
Twilight looked up from her book again, holding her gaze with Jackson. She shook her head, confusion written all over her face. Jackson grinned.
“It’s July Fourth.”
Twilight rolled her eyes.
“Okay, that much was obvious.” Jackson laughed. “But in all seriousness, today is an important day in my culture. Do you want to hear about it?”
Twilight nodded excitedly and set down her book. Jackson raised an eyebrow.
“Oh so that peaks your attention enough for you to put down your book?”
“Well… I can’t pass up the opportunity to learn about a new world, can I?”
Jackson nodded.
“I suppose not.”
“What is today?” Twilight asked, levitating a quill and paper from her book bag. Jackson laughed.
“Always prepared. Alright, then. July fourth. Independence Day. The day my country declared independence from the country that settled us.”
“You’re country was… the United States of America, right?”
“Correct.”
“And which country was the one that settled you?”
“I believe they still went by Great Britain at that time, but nowadays they’re called the United Kingdom.” Jackson sat quietly as Twilight jotted down her notes.
“Okay, go on.”
Jackson shook his head, grinning to himself.
“When did this become an interrogation?”
Twilight blushed sheepishly.
“S-Sorry. I guess I got a little carried away. Um, can you keep going?”
Jackson nodded.
“Alright. Well. On July 4th, 1776, our founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence…”
“Your majesty?”
“Oh hello, captain. Did you enjoy your morning?”
“I did, though I have to admit that I don’t imagine I’ll ever be used to your Twilight’s questioning. It quickly went from me just trying to get her to talk, to her interrogating me about the American Revolution.”
“I apologize. She gets like that at times. She means well, but sometimes her endless pursuit of learning overtakes her common sense.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Jackson waved his hand. “She is a good listener when you ignore all of that other stuff. So, is there any news with the thing I asked you about?”
“Oh yes. I got in contact with a firework maker in Ponyville. His name is Rocket Star. His shop is on the edge of Ponyville. I’ve talked with him, and he’s agreed to help you for today. Don’t worry, I’ve made sure to tell him that you’re a little more… exotic than his usual customers. He’s also agreed to keep your visit strictly confidential. I’ll have guards on his property to make sure it stays that way.”
Jackson smiled wide.
“Thank you so much.”
“You’re very welcome, Captain.” Celestia smiled. “My guards will escort you to Rocket’s workshop.”
Two guards stepped towards Jackson, saluting the princess. Celestia waved for them to relax, and turned to Jackson.
“I’ll see you when you get back, captain. Have fun.”
“Thank you. I will.”
The knock on the wood door echoed off the building and into the empty fields around Rocket’s shop. Jackson glanced around, worried he’d be spotted by someone. He took a deep breath and glanced up, where one of Celestia’s guards circled the sky. He shook his head. He was being paranoid for nothing.
“Oh. You must be Captain Richardson.”
Jackson looked down to see a light grey pony with a faded red and white mane. He smiled kindly and extended his hoof in greeting.
“I’m Rocket Star. The princess told me you’d be coming here today.” Jackson shook his hoof. Rocket Star waved him in. “Come in, come in.”
Jackson stepped in, glancing around Rocket’s shop as the pony spoke.
“Her majesty told me to keep your visit here a secret, so I figured you wouldn’t want to wait around outside in broad daylight. So,” Rocket clapped his hooves together. “I hear you want to launch some rockets.”
“At least one, yeah.” Jackson nodded. “It’s my home country’s birthday, and back home we usually launch fireworks to celebrate.”
“Sounds like your people know how to celebrate.” Rocket grinned. “Sounds simple enough. We can make a couple of rockets for that, no problem. Any preference on the color?”
“The colors of our flag is red, white and blue, so that sort of thing.”
“Alright. Any preference on shape or effects?”
Jackson shook his head, grinning.
“Just make it go boom reeeaaaally big.”
Rocket smiled wide.
“Well let’s get going then.”
Jackson and Rocket stood at the edge of the fireworks testing field. Darkness had fallen, and the two were flanked by the ever vigilant royal guards. They’d turned their gaze from the treeline to the rocket sitting in the middle of the field. Jackson grinned at the two.
“Ready?” Rocket turned to Jackson. Jackson smiled and nodded.
“Let’s fuckin’ go.”
Rocket nodded, and his horn started to glow. A small flame appeared at the end of the long fuse running to the rocket. The fuse caught flame, sparks flying off as it ran down the length of the string. Jackson followed the flame as it ran across the ground, the light shining brightly in the darkness. The sparks disappeared into the rockets, and the fuel lit, launching the rocket high into the air.
BOOM
“Fuck yeah!” Jackson screamed.
BOOM BOOM BOOM
“...What?” Jackson muttered.
“I made a few more rockets.” Rocket shouted. “Consider it a gift.”
Jackson smiled wide as the sky was filled with red, white, and blue stars. Some crackled after the initial burst, some had smaller rockets shoot of in every direction. Jackson shook his head. “A few” was nothing. Rocket must have thrown in some of his premade ones, as the rockets started to deviate from the original trio of colors.
“This is amazing!” The guard on Jackson’s side said. He grinned down at her.
“What’s your name?” He asked.
“Private Evening Shroud, sir.” She shouted over the explosions.
“Happy fourth of July, Evening Shroud!” He yelled, turning back to the display.
Evening Shroud watched him. She could barely see the reflection of tears on his face. Before she could say anything, a completely white star went off, lighting up the countryside as bright as day. She could see the captain smiling through the tears in his eyes, holding a proud salute. Evening smiled, and turned back to the show.
“Happy fourth of July, captain.”
“Hello, captain. Did you enjoy your day?”
“Very much.” Jackson smiled. “Thank you, Celestia.”
“You’re very welcome, captain.”
“Jackson.” He corrected. Celestia smiled.
“Right. Sorry, Jackson.” Celestia gestured toward the door to the balcony. “I saw your little display.” She laughed. “A bit more than one rocket.”
Jackson scratched the back of his head uncomfortably.
“Yeah… Rocket threw in a bit more than I had originally planned. Sorry about that.”
“There’s no need to apologize. It was a wonderful sight for all of us. My subjects in Canterlot definitely enjoyed it, although they didn’t know what it was for.”
“It was for America.”
Celestia laughed.
“Yes, it was. I hope we did your country’s birthday justice.”
“More than enough. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Jackson.” Celestia stood from her throne. “I was just about to close court for the day and have dinner before retiring for the night. Would you care to join me?”
“Manticore Company, third battalion, Manehattan Regiment. All clear.”
“Hydra Company, second battalion, Trottingham Royal Regiment. All clear.”
“Jesus, Shroud, how many more of these are there?”
“Well thanks to your stellar help, not much more.”
The officer leaned back, sighing tiredly.
“How many is not much more?”
“As in that,” Shroud set down the spreadsheet in her hands, “Is the last one.”
Jackson sighed in relief.
“Oh thank god,” He groaned and stretched, popping a few joints in his back, “I didn’t think we even had that many units.”
“We don’t.”
The general paused, staring down his subordinate.
“...What?”
“That was all backlog from the last six months.”
“...What?”
“Yep.” Shroud shrugged, “Apparently no one was keeping track of it and it just kept getting shoved off onto someone else until it ended up at the bottom of the totem pole where it couldn’t go any lower,” She plastered on a fake ‘happy to help’ smile, “That’s where your’s truly comes in!”
“...Six fucking months?” He repeated, “How in God’s name has anyone actually been armed this whole time?” Jackson shook his head, “Wait hold on, Manehatten Regiment? Trottingham Regiment? These aren’t even our units! These are army!”
“Like I said,” The lieutenant glared at some unseen point, “It got shoved down the line,”
“...Oh fuck that noise.”
Shroud barely had time to cry out in alarm before the man bolted up and out the door.
“Where are you going?” Shroud called back.
“I can’t believe that fat slimy piece of shit shoved that bullshit onto my men!”
“Sir! You’re still in front of junior officers!” The lieutenant glanced at the faces of the stunned ponies in the officer lounge.
This caused the officer to finally stop and look at the people around him. Not that it mattered to him, apparently.
“What the fuck are you staring at? Do your jobs! I heard we’ve got plenty of fuckin’ quartermaster forms to deal with!”
The officers jumped to their hooves, saluting in the process. Jackson ignored them, and continued his angered march.
“That’s not exactly what I had in mind, but…” The orange mare shook her head. “General Douglas, can you just tell me what you’re doing?”
Her calls fell on deaf ears as he exited the officer’s lounge and thundered down the hallways. The human’s longer legs propelled him much quicker than hers, forcing her to increase her pace to keep up with him. Ponies left and right stopped and saluted the man as he passed, and he gave a barely noticeable wave as he passed. Several of the younger enlisted looked up to the junior officer in confusion, and Shroud shrugged as she had no response.
Eventually, the paintings on the walls transitioned from large-scale battles to portraits of well decorated and highly respected military leaders. The lieutenant recognized where they were; this was the Armed Forces Joint-Command wing of the base.
“Hey! You there! Major!” Jackson pointed to a passing pony. The unicorn saluted.
“General Dou-”
“Yeah yeah yeah, at ease or whatever, do you know where General Steep Mountain is?”
“He’s in a meeting with the oth-”
“Thank you, dismissed.”
The man didn't wait to hear the rest and resumed storming off.
The now thoroughly confused major stared as the senior officer ran past. His eyes met Shrouds and, she shrugged to him. She was doing that a lot lately.
The general walked right past a pair of guards that were occupied checking another officer’s badge, causing the orange mare to frown.
A security checkpoint? She thought. Wait… Oh no.
“General Douglas, wai-”
She couldn’t even finish her thought as the man all but kicked down a large set of ornately carved wooden doors. With a bang, the doors hit the walls.
“Monty!” Jackson screamed.
“General Douglas?” A beige colored earth pony exclaimed. “What in Tartarus has gotten into you?”
“Why the hell are my officers doing inventory spreadsheets for your regiments? My department is not a bunch of desk jockeys for your lazy captains to shove paperwork on to!”
“Douglas, I hardly think this is the time for this!”
Jackson paused and looked around. The rest of the ponies present stared in mixed amounts of embarrassment and indignation. He frowned and looked up at the projector screen. There was a portrait of him next to several bullet points outlining his recent operation above a list of criminal charges. There was a pony standing next to the screen, the badge on his uniform dictated he was a from the Judicial Affairs Corps.
“...Is that me?”
“Douglas. You have to understand-”
“A fucking internal affairs investigation? What?”
“General Douglas!” Steep Mountain stood. “I will not ask you again! This is highly inappropriate! You cannot come barging in whenever it is convenient for you!” The general took a deep breath, smoothing his uniform. “But now that you are here, I suppose it's as good a time as any to tell you. Lieutenant?”
The junior officer next to Monty stood, clearing his throat.
“The Joint Forces Command has voted to conduct an internal investigation of General Richard Jackson Douglas of the Department of Arms Race Prevention following recent actions of his of which include false testimony, desertion, unsanctioned hostile actions in a foreign sovereign nation, and extrajudicial killing of a wanted individual.”
Jackson stared at his fellow general long and hard, his face setting into stoney acceptance.
“I see,” He nodded, “And is her majesty aware of this?”
“It's none of her concern.” A nearby general stated. His uniform labeled him as army.
“I believe she has a right to know what goes on in her military.”
“She's emotionally compromised.”
“Bullshit.”
“Jack!” Steep Mountain stood. “Hallway! Now!”
The human stared down the earth pony, both waiting for the other to make the first move. Jackson glanced over at the other ponies presents. Generals representing the army, navy, guardsman, and ariel combat units were all present as well as his second in command, Brigadier General Longbranch. He knew whatever this was, it was bigger than he could control. With a barely hidden curse under his breath, he turned and left the room, Monty and Shroud right behind him. The doors had barely shut completely before he began his tirade to his fellow general.
“What the fuck is all this?” He shouted, “An internal affairs investigation? Really?”
“Jack, you and I both know you cocked up,” Monty was barely hiding his contempt, “You heard the list of charges, and you know they can prove you did it. Why are you fighting this?”
“I’m not fighting because I think I didn’t do it, I’m fighting it because it’s bullshit that I’m being charged for anything. You know what these guys were gonna do, and you saw the equipment they were packing. How was I supposed to just let that go by?”
“We are not saying you should have let him go, we’re saying you should have done it through the correct channels.”
“Come on, Monty, you and I both know they would’ve ran the minute we started talking to the Yaks!”
“That doesn’t mean you can wage war on foreign soil without approval!” The earth pony yelled, “I mean, for goodness sake, Jack, this is a international cock up the likes of which we’ve never seen! And believe me when I say the Yaks know you were there and they will hold it over our heads!”
“Well what the fuck do I do now then?” Jackson sighed, running his hand through his hair, “God fucking dammit. I’m gonna lose everything, aren’t I?”
Monty softened, and nodded sadly.
“It’s a very real possibility.”
“Well,” The human shook his head, “Maybe it’s for the best. ‘Bout time I started thinking about retirement anyway.”
“Why did you do it, Jack?” Monty shook his head, “I know you hated the fellow, and believe me I think he’s a knobhead too. But you knew better than to run off after him.”
Jackson shook his head, sighing.
“I don’t know. I guess I got too big. ‘The untouchable human’ or whatever. Maybe this was all a mistake, getting involved in this department.”
“Jack,” Monty sighed, “I hope you understand my part in this is not by my own choosing.”
“No, I understand. Don’t worry,” The human nodded, “And no matter what happens, I don’t blame you for anything.”
The earth pony nodded in return.
“You know what happens next, don’t you?”
“You’re going to arrest me?”
“As soon as we get approval to conduct the investigation,” Monty nodded grimly, “And I hate to say it, but after your little tirade in there, it’s all but guaranteed.”
The human shook his head, staring off at some unseen point.
“I guess I have no choice.” He muttered, “I’ll be in my office, I guess. Waiting for my arrest.”
The earth pony stallion nodded.
“I suppose I should be heading back now.”
“Yeah.”
“Goodbye, Jack.”
“Bye, Monty.”
The earth pony nodded to him, and then Shroud, before leaving. The resounding bang of the doors closing was a stark punctuation to the end of the conversation. They let the silence hang for a long time, Jackson deep in thought and Shroud unsure of what to do next. Eventually, the general shook himself from his thoughts and wearily looked at his surroundings.
“Fucking hell.” he sighed, “Uh… I need a pen and paper.”
“...For what?” Shroud asked.
“I never got a chance to tell Monty to do his own fucking paperwork, and I kind of feel like it’s too late to go in there.”
The lieutenant grinned sadly, nodding.
“I think there’s a guard station down the hall. They’re bound to have something.”
The pair started off. The orange mare glanced up at the human every so often. His mind was somewhere else. Understandably, so. When they approached the guard post, the two guardsponies saluted him.
“At ease,” he ordered, “I need to write a note. Either of you have a pen and paper?”
The guardspony nearest the wall stepped over to a nearby lectern by a pair of chairs, and reached behind it. He pulled out a notepad and a pen, handing it to the general. The human took it, and jotted down a quick message before handing it back the guardspony.
“Deliver this to General Steep Mountain.” He ordered. The pony saluted and started off down the hall.
The pair then started down the hall again, making their way back towards the department’s wing of the building. The lieutenant, unsure what to do, followed the man as they passed the door to the junior officer lounge and entered the general’s office.
The general set his cap down on his desk with a sigh, the lieutenant standing across from him. Jackson turned around and leaned on the windowsill, staring out into the world in silence. Shroud took the time to look around his office. Framed around the room were various pictures taken by the signal corps or the man himself. On his desk sat a picture frame that was facing away from her, a small Equestrian flag and the department’s flag on a wood block, and a stack of paperwork that made her inventory spreadsheets look like a foal’s homework.
“Do you know what I did back home?”
Shroud looked up at the sudden question. The general was still staring out the window, but was obviously talking to her.
“I know you served in your own military, sir.”
“For ten years,” he nodded, “Did I tell you what I did when I got out?”
“No, sir.”
“A whole lot of fuckin’ nothin’.” A ghost of a smile graced his face before slipping, “But that wasn’t the plan for long, obviously. I was trying to get a job before I came here, but my degree made it difficult.”
“...Your degree?”
“What I studied in college.” he clarified.
“Oh. What did you study, sir?”
“History,” His smile returned, more genuine this time, “Military history and US history, specifically. I even got my teaching certificate with it.”
“...You were going to be a teacher?” Shroud grinned. “I can’t imagine being your student.”
“Oh ha ha, you’re funny.” The human shook his head, “I can’t help but imagine what my life would’ve been like if I had been a teacher instead of going into the Marines.”
“Do you think you would’ve ended up here?”
“I dunno. I don’t really even remember how I got here in the first place, honestly.”
“You don’t?” Shroud was surprised. The man just shook his head.
“Everything before waking up here is a bit fuzzy. Even for a few weeks back. Been that way since I got here.”
“Doesn’t that bother you?”
He nodded.
“A lot. But there’s not much I can do about that, can I?” He shrugged, “Maybe someday I will.”
The air fell silent after that, his gaze never leaving the window. Shroud sat down in one of the chairs in front of his desk. From here, she could see the picture on his desk more clearly. It was a younger version of the man in front of her standing next to a man she assumed to be Joe.
“What was he like?”
The question finally tore Jackson’s attention away from the window.
“Who?” Shroud pointed to the picture. “Oh. Joe.”
Jackson sighed and sat down in his chair, picking up the picture.
“Joe was an odd kinda guy. You could never really put a label on him. He was just a little bit of everything while also being a whole lot of nothing.” He shook his head, “That’s not a very good answer, is it?”
“It… kind of makes sense.” She nodded.
“I guess. It’s just… he was always great with people. No matter where he went or what he did, he could always talk with anyone about anything.” Jackson laughed as he remembered a story, “There was this one time, in 1998 when we were in college. We were juniors, so we were legally allowed to buy beer. Of course, we’d had it plenty of times before, but this time we actually went to a bar. On the way home, we were completely drunk.” he grinned, “Like, completely drunk. I’m talking just fucking brain-dead drunk,”
This made Shroud laugh.
“Something like the other night?”
“Oh even worse,” The general grinned, “And we were passing by this Dairy Queen- uh, a cheap restaurant back home. Anyway, we had to piss real bad. We tried to go in, but the place was closed. And we were so drunk it took us about ten minutes of pulling on the door to realize the lights were off and there was no one there. And after all that, Joe decided: ‘Well we’re still gonna piss here anyway, fuck y’all.’ and he just walked up to the side of the building, unzipped his pants, and pissed right there on the wall in the bushes.”
The two shared a laugh at that.
“So I finish my business and I clean myself up and walked off and start zoning out, staring at nothing. Then, out of nowhere, this cop car pulls up and the headlights go right on Joe.” He shook his head, smiling wide, “And what does the fucker do? He turns around, sees them, and fucking smiles at them. Like they walked up to him while he was mowing his lawn or something. And then he just shook it off, zipped himself up, and turned around and started talking to them.”
“I can’t imagine that went well,” Shroud shook her head.
“Oh, I thought it was all gonna go down in flames immediately. But then, for some reason that I still don’t know to this day, the cops just let us go with a warning! Just like that! Just because he talked to them for a few minutes! The son of a bitch just talked his way out of getting arrested for public urination!”
Their laughter filled the small office. It took a long time for them to calm down, but eventually their laughter died down to a few phantom giggles. The man shook his head as he rubbed his eyes.
“Anyway. That was a tangent and a half.” He said.
“It was a funny tangent, though.” Shroud nodded.
“Glad to hear it. Joe sure would’ve thought it was,” Jackson leaned back in his chair, shaking his head still. “I dunno. That story is stupid and just moronic, but it just sums up all of what Joe was. He could just talk to anyone about anything at any time, and people just liked him. People listened when he talked. And they cared about what he had to say. Right from the start. I had to earn a lot of that with people. A buddy of mine always said people listened to me ‘cause I had an air of authority. But people listened to Joe ‘cause he was just a genuinely cool guy. You just liked being around him.”
Shroud nodded.
“I understand what you’re talking about. There was a mare in basic that was like that. She was this pegasus from Manehattan that just had no filter. If she thought something, she would say it. But she would say it in a certain way that you didn’t feel too offended by anything she said. The Drill Sergeant liked her and made her squad leader for one of our tacticals, but busted her back down after that once he learned her brutal honesty didn’t stop with her fellow trainees.”
“She mouthed off her Drill Instructor?” He scoffed, “Big mistake there, I’m sure.”
“Oh not only that, but it was the senior drill sergeant.”
Jackson erupted in laughter.
“My god what an idiot,” he sighed, “What happened to her at the end of training?”
“I don’t know,” Shroud shrugged, “I think she was assigned to the Manehattan Regiment and got sent home.”
“I was always jealous of people like that. I always bottled up what I felt and only let it out to people I trusted, as long as they weren’t the people I had a problem with. Joe always managed to bring the truth out of me, no matter how pissed I was. Even if it was with him.” he shook his head, staring at some far off object, “He was just… He would’ve known what to do. With all,” he gestured vaguely, “this shit. Field commanding was always his strong suit. I’d just deal with the brass whenever they didn’t like what he was doing.”
“How often was that?”
“Every other week.” Jackson grinned, “But I’d do it every other hour if it meant he could be here today.”
“What do you think he’d do in your situation?”
The general shrugged.
“I don’t know. Maybe he’d have ordered the companies ba-”
A knock on the door interrupted him. The mood fell immediately. They both knew what that knock could mean.
“Jack?” A kind voice spoke through the door.
But they could also be wrong.
The man in question stood and opened the door, revealing a worried looking Celestia.
“Hey, sweetheart. Um… what’s up?” He tried and failed at being casual.
“Can I come in?”
“Sure. Shroud’s here, by the way.”
“Oh! Hello, Lieutenant,” Celestia greeted as she stepped in.
“Hello, your majesty.” Shroud scrambled to stand and bow.
“Oh, um… that won’t be necessary, Lieutenant.” The princess glanced up at Jackson. “ I’ve just got some… news.”
Jackson frowned as he shut the door.
“I take it it has something to do with my investigation?”
“They’ve told you?”
“Walked in on the other generals at a meeting. Monty explained it to me and Shroud here.”
She sighed and sat in a chair in front of Jackson’s desk.
“This’ll be a huge mess, won’t it?”
The man took his seat again, Shroud apprehensively sitting in the chair next to the princess.
“Most likely.” He nodded.
“The reporters will find out and then we’ll have the media all over the place.” Celestia shook her head. “We haven’t even revealed you’re commanding anything. Ponies barely even know you exist anymore.”
“It’s been years since the news did that story on me.” Jackson nodded. “Everyone’s pretty much forgotten about me since then.”
“They’ll remember you very soon, but not for the right reasons."
The man nodded again. The silence of the room was overpowering. It was eventually broken by a sudden, staccato knock on the door. A pit formed in the man’s stomach. He looked up and smiled sadly at his companions as he stood.
“Well,” He straightened his uniform, “Here we go.”
He swung the door open.
“General Douglas.”
Two uniform ponies stood outside the door, the armband on their sleeves depicted them as Military Police. Behind them stood a third uniformed pony, this one an officer. He was the one who spoke.
“You are to come with us.” The officer stated.
The general nodded gravely, already having accepted his fate. He straightened up, tucked his cap under his arm, and stepped out into the hallway. Shroud and Celestia watched from the doorway. The officer quickly bowed upon noticing the princess.
“Your majesty, I apologize. We did not realize you were here.”
“It’s alright, Captain. I understand you’re doing your job. Please, continue.”
“Thank you, your majesty.”
James smiled sadly at the princess. Her face was expressionless, but he could see small cracks in her facade. He nodded to her before turning around.
“I believe you know your rights, General.” The captain stated.
“I do.”
“If there’s anything you need to do before we leave, we have been instructed to let you do so.”
“Thank you, captain, but I’m fine.”
“Yes, sir. Sergeant?” The officer nodded to his subordinate, who nodded back before leading their little group down the hall.
Celestia watched, repressing her emotions for the time being. Once they’d turned the corner, she hung her head.
“Your majesty?”
She glanced over at the pair of solar guards next to her, her personal entourage.
“Are you alright, your majesty?”
“Ah, yes. Sorry, sergeant. I’m quite alright.” She nodded. “I think I’ll be going to visit my sister now. You two are dismissed.”
The guards glanced at each other, worried. Neither wanted to protest, though, so they bowed.
“Of course, your majesty.”
“Lieutenant Shroud?”
“Yes, Princess?”
“You may return to your duties.”
“Yes, your majesty.”
“Sister? Is something the matter?”
“Oh, Luna.” Celestia shook her head. “Jackson’s been arrested.”
“General Douglas?” The lunar princess tilted her head, “We do not understand. Did he commit a crime?”
Celestia laughed bitterly. She’d forgotten her sister didn’t know about his past.
“Well, Luna. He has, a bit.”
“...What has he done?”
“Well. There was this operation, not too long ago. He lead the ponies in the field, and they found some… insurgents, in the woods.”
“Insurgents? We do not follow.”
“Bandits. Criminals. Some very bad ponies, to put it simply.”
“Ah, yes. We understand now. Please, continue thy tale.”
“Well, these… bandits… made a very large explosive device. They were planning on using it to kill many innocents with it at the Summer Sun Celebration.”
“What?!” Luna screamed, infuriated. “Why those wenches should rot in-”
“Luna!” Celestia shook her head. “They’ve been dealt with, I promise you. Everything is alright.”
The lunar princess nodded, taking several deep breaths to calm herself.
“We… apologize, sister. We did not intend to become so infuriated with the past.”
“It’s alright, Luna. But yes, they were very bad. Jackson discovered they were being supplied by another bad pony far away, and he believed it was best for him to go and… well, kill them.”
“A fair punishment, indeed, if we do say so ourselves!”
“Maybe. But this pony was not in Equestria. They were in Yakistan.”
“The Yaks killed them?”
“No, Jackson did… deal with them. But that’s the crime he committed. He faked his death to the Equestrian government so he could go to Yakistan without political permission.”
“...Oh. That is a predicament.”
“Very much so.” Celestia nodded. “And the other generals did not appreciate his stunt. They formed a council and voted to arrest him and investigate this event.”
“Can you not do anything to help him, sister?”
“I can’t. Me and the General’s relationship has not been a very well kept secret, I’m afraid. The generals decided I was emotionally involved, and so they cut me out.”
Luna scoffed.
“Under what right do they possess the power to do so?”
“There’s been a lot of political change since you’ve been gone. To prevent any sense of bias, they instituted a series of checks and balances in case any part of the government risks becoming too powerful.”
“That is a shame, sister.” The darker alicorn frowned. “If we are not mistaken, only a Princess may preside over a military tribunal, correct?” Celestia nodded. “So if thou cannot become involved, who will preside?”
Celestia stared blankly at the wall.
“...I hadn’t thought of that.” She muttered.
“Would it be correct in assuming, perhaps, that… We could preside over this tribunal?”
Celestia turned to her sister. A smile formed as the gears turned in her head.
“Yes.” She said to herself. “Yes. Yes you would!” She was beaming now. “Luna! This is perfect! You’re an unbiased third party! You can be his judge!”
“Sister, We must remind thou that We will be unbiased in this tribunal. Otherwise, We become just as emotionally involved as thou art.”
The solar princess forced her emotions aside, and sighed. Luna was right. There had to be justice. Besides, there was also the jury to worry about.
“Of course, Luna. I’m sorry. I’m just not thinking straight right now.”
Luna nodded.
“We understand, sister. Thou hast had a hard day, undoubtedly. When may thou retire?”
“I suppose I could now. Day court’s done for the day, and I’ve just got paperwork to deal with for now.” Celestia nodded and stood. “Thank you, Luna. I guess I just needed to get off my chest.”
“We are happy to help, sister. Fare thee well for now.”
