Before I kick off this next chapter, I'd just like to throw a thank you to the influx of followers I've been getting over the past few days. You guys are the reason I do this. Feel free to review and give feedback, and with that, let's get this party started.

I sat up in my bed after a fifteen minute cognitive check and a few threats to the doctor about the IV buried in the back of my hand. I hadn't noticed until after the eye check, but there was a general in the corner of the room. I didn't recognize him, but I knew that rank emblem and I knew a commander when I saw one. I steeled myself, because I already knew exactly what he was planning to ask. He stepped forward as the nurses cleared the room and sat down a few feet from me. His voice was that of a young soul in an old body.

"How you feeling, Carr?"

"Sir, I'm going to request that you cut the crap and ask me for whatever it is you want." He blinked and nodded approvingly.

"That's what I always did like about you. Straight to business when it needs done. Fine then. I want to know the coordinates you traveled to. There was a readout malfunction on our end, but the machine should have displayed them. I've got my boys working on decoding it now, but it'd be a lot quicker if I got it straight from the horse's mouth." I cringed slightly, thinking of my friends back on Equestria. This had been what I was worried about, but thinking of them sealed the deal.

"Sir, I'll give the coordinates on one condition." He raised an eyebrow.

"Go on."

"I want a document signed by every official on the UN council stating that nobody in their population will be authorized to take military action against the people on the world I'll be taking you to." He let out a low whistle.

"I've known you for a few years now, Don." He was getting serious if he was addressing me by my first name. "And I know you're not stupid. Thus, I'm going to assume you realize exactly what you just asked of me." I nodded. "Then you know I can't pull it off."

"Sir, I've known you for a few years now, and I know that you taught me something very important. Where there's a will, there's a way. I'm just asking you to find a way."

I couldn't really move, considering my left tricep and right Achilles tendon had been severed. Of course, I was going to die of anemia if I stayed still. I had thirty yards to crawl before I reached the door of the medical building, and if I couldn't make it then I would fail the entire class and possibly die. Too bad, because I was stuck here. I lay back in a small puddle of my own blood and stared up at the sky, trying not to pay attention to the barbed wire that had gotten me stuck here. Unfortunately, there was a man now blocking my view. I saw four stars on his chest and I instinctively brought up my right hand, even though I was flat on my back. "At ease, son. But I want you to pay attention to me for a second. I've read up on you. Both of your parents died when you were a kid. You were singled out as a guinea pig for this because you grew up tough. Don't tell me you never had to get somewhere with a gash. Growing up like you did and knowing what you know about how to survive should be more than enough to get you to that building. So why are you laying here?"

"Sir, I've had as much as I'm willing to take." There was no blame in my voice. I wasn't referring to the training. I could take the psychological and physical aspects of the job. But I was simply done. The sound of that second gunshot wasn't planning on leaving my head anytime soon, so it was time to get rid of it myself.

"That's not good enough. Willpower is Earth's only inexhaustible energy source, and therefore you as a human being are Earth's only inexhaustible energy source. When you lay down to die, you aren't just letting yourself down. You're letting your parents down, you're letting Uncle Sam down, you're letting me down, and you're letting humanity down. Do you really want to lower humanity's standards just from your own lack of willpower?" It wasn't the most motivational speech, but somehow it took my mind off the pain. I reached my right arm out and dragged it toward me, pulling myself forward slowly. "That's fine work, Private. You keep that going."

"Alright, then. If this is the only way." He stood and turned around and a group of suited hulks moved in behind him.

"Sir, I think we both know you're not going to break me." He nodded sadly.

"I know, but I don't have another choice. I've been ordered to retrieve those coordinates by whatever means necessary. But I do want you to know one thing. I'm proud of you." I gave a half grin.

"I'm happy to hear it, sir. If you'll give me five minutes, I might be able to get us both out of this." He raised an eyebrow and one of the brutes spoke.

"Do you know who you're speaking to?"

"You're a CIA stooge who's been promoted based on combative ability. The two behind you are Marines, and that one in the corner is a Navy Seal. Interestingly enough, you're the only one I won't need my left arm for." He sneered.

"Care to bet on that?" I chuckled under my breath as the general walked out.

"You can't bet without any chips." My left leg swung out of the bed and smashed into his ribs, doubling him over. Both Marines stepped in to grab me and the Seal drew a six inch knife. I pulled myself forward and locked my arms around the necks of the two Marines, waiting for that all-important 45 second mark. The Seal squared up to me as the agent stood up again, breathing heavily. This was a long 45 seconds. The agent charged me and the Seal pulled him back and used his body as leverage to rocket forward and grab ahold of my neck. His knife tickled my Adam's apple and he whispered in my ear.

"Let them go or I will gut you." As he finished speaking, I felt the Marines finally go limp. I raised both arms and clapped them to the sides of his head, using the force to slide away from the knife. He gripped his temples, trying to recover from the deafening ringing I'd induced, and I turned to the agent. His eyes were bugged out as he fumbled for his sidearm.

"Don't even try it. Just give me the gun." I saw the fear in his eyes, and I knew he was going through fight or flight. His hand stopped shaking for just a second, and his hand shot upward. I lifted my right leg as fast as I could, smashing his head into the wall. He fell back, probably comatose. I grabbed the Glock from his hand and turned, only to be caught in the stomach by an deaf, charging, and very angry Navy Seal. I grabbed a pillow as I flew past the front of the bed and smashed him across the spine with the butt of the gun. He stood straight up instinctively to resquare with me and I knelt down, wrapping the pillow around the barrel of the gun. He didn't realize what I was doing until the pillow pressed against his kneecap.

Phoom.

Not very loud, but enough to get the attention of a passerby. I clubbed him over the head with the butt of the gun to knock him out and turned to the unconscious agent.

"Looking good, Carr." The suit was just my size if I stretched my shoulders.

"Thank you, sir. I knew the intelligence agencies were useful in some fashion.." He chuckled. "Now, shall we?"