//------------------------------// // Welcome to Equestria // Story: Deus Ex: Equestria // by Jar of Dirt //------------------------------// It seems Diplomacy won this round. Also please, if you're going to vote, choose only one option. I've seen people vote "Stealth or Diplomacy" and that confuses me a bit. Do I count both, or none of the options? Also I'm changing the color from yellow to blue so it's less hard on the eyes. Regardless, Diplomacy won with a landslide so there isn't much else to say. Onward! Adam weighted his options carefully. On one hand, he knew tossing yourself into a situation without any clear understanding of it could be potentially hazardous, which he had learned the hard way in his battle against Barrett. On the other hand, he could not risk those ponies injuring themselves at his expense. Granted, he did not know much about these... Ponies, but if they were anything like back at home, Adam was sure little harm would befall him if things turned sour. Since openly stealing back his rifle in front of their noses could be seen as a sign of aggression, and he had a feeling that he would be required to confront more equines in the future, he decided to approach the situation carefully. He exhaled deeply. Well, here goes nothing... He moved forward. [h+] The ponies gasped at the scene in front of them. A sizeable crater laid in the middle of the woods, having blasted away large chunks of dirt and rock everywhere. Several trees had been uprooted from the blast and laid not too far from the impact site. Despite the destruction, the wildlife still chattered across the trees, curiously milling around the hole in the ground but too nervous to actually enter. "I guess it wasn't a bear after all..." Twilight murmured. Fluttershy, on the other hand, had quickly skipped over to the animals and checked them up for any injuries of some kind. Twilight peeked down the hole. There was nothing in there to suggest what might have caused it, other than it was almost perfectly circular and sloped. Also, there were no meteor showers scheduled anytime this month, and Twilight knew princess Luna wouldn't accidentally drop something from her night sky, so the phenomena could hardly be blamed on a rock falling from above. "I've asked the little ones if they saw anything," Fluttershy told her friend as she floated over to her side. "They say they were all sleeping cozily in there homes when there was a big, awful boom, and suddenly there was this giant hole in the ground! And every little animal was scared because they thought it was a big scaredy monster like an Ursa Major trampling around-" "I don't think there was an Ursa in the first place Fluttershy," Twilight comforted her friend. "Trust me, if there was, you'd be seeing more footprints around." The unicorn paced around in deep thought. "It can't be a meteorite either. So, what did this?" "W- well, the birds say they saw some... Thing leave the crater after a while..." That caught Twilight's attention. "What did it look like?" "They say it was tall, twice as tall as a pony! It stood on two legs, and it had these strange claws... Not too unlike a diamond dog..." The timid mare whimpered at the thought of those brutish dogs that had captured Rarity once. Twilight absorbed the information and peered down the hole again. "I don't think it's a diamond dog den either. Normally there would be a tunnel leading underground, but there's nothing but a hole here." Twilight's horn lit up briefly as she scanned the area. In an instant, her eyes widened in surprise: the EKG residue around the crater was simply massive, and it caught her off guard, sending her to the ground in disbelief. "Twilight!" cried Fluttershy. "Are you alright?" The unicorn panted. "My goodness, the magical residue levels are HUGE! I have no idea what could have happened to warrant this!" She composed herself and slowly rose to her hooves again. "I don't think this is a simple natural accident Fluttershy," the unicorn told her friend seriously. "Whatever happened here was probably the work of one or several ponies with powerful magic at their disposal. Let's look around, see what we can find." "Shouldn't we go find the other girls?" The pegasus asked meekly. Before Twilight could formulate a response, she caught sight of something in the distance and made her way towards it. Fluttershy followed her. Neither of them had ever seen what laid in front of them: a strange black contraption laid on the ground, its smooth, unblemished surface glowing at certain areas with a soft orange light. The design somewhat resembled a crossbow, but with a long tube attached on the stock instead of a normal bow. The handle was made of a strange material that was smooth but firm to the touch, with grooves that implied it could be held by a creature with claws or similar appendages. The "crossbow" trigger was protected by a handle that was obviously too small for pony hooves: this, and all the other observations Twilight made on the weapon, gave it an overall non-Equestrian feeling. It seemed almost... Alien. "I've never seen anything like this before," she mused and picked it up with her telekinesis. "Maybe we should bring this thing along with us; the princess might know what it is." "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Twilight and Fluttershy jerked their heads back in surprise at the source of the voice. A faint shimmer in the air could be seen before it dissipated, revealing the most bizzare creature any of them had seen. It was bipedal, standing twice as tall as they were, with its "forelegs" ending in five appendages that resembled claws. Its facial structure reminded them somewhat of a diamond dog and a monkey, but with a flatter face and less pronounced nose, its eyes covered by a pair of shades that almost seemed to be part of the skull. It was completely clothed, the upper part being covered by a curious vest that seemed solid to the touch, with faintly glowing lights on certain hardpoints. The most disturbing factor was the arms; in the mares' eyes, they seemed to share material similarities to the vest, with gleaming black metal and muscles made from some fiber-like tubing. The arms and fingers whirred softly as the creature moved them, briefly letting Twilight glimpse the mechanical workings between the joints. Twilight couldn't help but shiver. Something about it was... Unnatural. Like parts of it were artificial, and yet it moved with the fluidity of a living being. The creature extended its arm and gestured for the contraption in Twilight's telekinetic grip. "I suggest you give that back to me." Fluttershy made a scared sound and hid behind Twilight, trembling at the sight of the strange being in front of them. Even Twilight seemed fazed by its sudden appearance. "Who- but- What are you?" The creature cocked its head to the side before sighing softly. "Look, I know I must look strange in your eyes, but I could say the same about you," it spoke in a husky, gravelly voice. "What I know is that you're carrying something that belongs to me, and you could get hurt by it if not handled properly. I would feel much safer if you just gave it to me. Hand it over, and then we'll talk. Okay?" He paused in though for a moment, then added; "oh, and it's Adam, by the way." Twilight shifted nervously under its gaze. It spoke an a calm, collected manner, and yet its posture suggested it seemed tense at the conversation being held. The unicorn weighted her options. While she did not feel very reassured with handing over something potentially hazardous to a complete stranger, it spoke with a tone of sincerity that seemed genuine. "How do I know I can trust you?" She asked carefully. "If I wanted to harm you, I wouldn't have bothered to approach you like this," it stated matter-of-factly. Deep down, Twilight knew it was right. The creature seemed to be capable of invisibility as she had witnessed earlier, meaning it could have snuck up on them without warning, and it spoke without any obvious malicious intent. It felt odd to Twilight, but there was... Something about the creature that appeased her oddly. Reluctantly, she levitated the weapon over to it, who grabbed it and slung it over its shoulder. At once, the creature's posture relaxed. "Thank you," it spoke politely. Now that the immediate threat was over, Twilight was overcome with a sense of curiosity. There was no record of any being resembling whatever was in front of her in Equestria before. "So... Wha-" She never got to finish her sentence as an unearthly roar echoed across the woods. [h+] Adam let out a grateful sigh as the tranquilizer rifle was returned to him and smirked inwardly. Seems like the CASIE mod still works perfectly. The CASIE mod, also known as the Social Enhancer, was an interesting piece of technology. Originally developed for diplomats in hostage situations, it consisted of an implant directly latched to the skull, allowing the user to gauge the personality type of the person in front of him and subtly guide the conversation towards his own favor. Should there be any difficulties, it also allowed the user to deploy special pheromones that triggered different reactions depending on the personality type. His little inner victory was interrupted by the roar and stomping gait of a large creature shaking the ground violently. As the ponies gasped in terror at the sight towering over them, Adam raised his head and immediately dropped his jaw. "What the hell-" It was a monstrous thing, with three heads waving back and forth on a large reptilian body. Beady eyes observed the ponies and human under it, while rows of jagged teeth bared at the prospect of a meal. The monster had wandered aimlessly at the edges of its territory for days without food before being attracted by the commotion not too far from its previous location, and it was hungry. The purple unicorn yelled "HYDRA!" in panic and fled, quickly followed by the yellow pegasus, but they were cut off as a gigantic head slammed down before them and roared. Adam quickly unslung his tranquilizer rifle and aimed at another head that was lunging at him. A small dart filled with a cocktail of psychoactive drugs and anesthetics was flung out by the pressurized air in the gas tank, embedding itself into the frontal lobe of the beast. The hydra head thrashed about for a second as it tried to remove the prickling projectile before being overcome with drowsiness and falling asleep. Adam realized too late that the dart did not affect the other heads as the third one smashed into him and sent him flying into a tree, his tranquilizer rifle flying out of reach. Grunting in pain, Adam tried to move out of the way before the head came crashing down on him again. He instinctively rolled to the side as it chomped down onto the tree and uprooted it before tossing it away in displeasure. Shit, those fangs are strong! The hydra head bared down on him again and prepared to snap its jaws shut on the augmented man, but Adam brought his hands up in time and caught its jaw, the mechanical gyros whining in protest as he pushed all of his strength into fighting against the hydra's vicious mouth. The beast grunted with effort, but ultimately failed against holding back against the human's superior strength. Its eyes widened in surprise as Adam pushed with all his might and managed to get up to his feet. Enraged, the hydra attempted another boost of strength, but was sent into the dirt as Adam suddenly let go and moved aside harmlessly. Before the head could rear up again, the man threw in a vicious punch: the metal and carbon nanofibre fist smashing into its face with enough force to knock it out. Ignoring the pain from the hydra flinging him into a tree, Adam glanced towards the final head circling around the ponies. The yellow one seemed to cower beneath the unicorn, who had its horn lit up and lowered in a fighting stance. Just as he made his way towards them, the hydra's final head lunged at the mares. Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light, and the ponies had been teleported to the side while a confused hydra smashed into the ground. Adam's eyes widened in surprise and he stopped mid-stride in shock. Teleportation? How the hell did it manage that? Apparently, the hydra head had managed to remove itself from the ground, and now stared angrily at the closest being it could find, which just so happened to be Jensen. Uh oh. The monstrous head reared up above Adam and prepared to strike, but Adam quickly extended an arm blade and stabbed it through the throat. As it fell to the ground, he brought up his arm again with full intent on decapitating it. "No wait!" he heard the purple unicorn scream. "Don't!" But it was too late. The monomolecular blade clove through the flesh with ease and the head dropped off, splattering Adam with crimson blood. The remains of the throat flung into the air and waved around wildly. With a sickening crunch, two protrusions extended from the bloody stump and formed into two new heads, both of them glaring at Adam murderously. "...You have got to be fucking kidding me." Adam quickly jumped out of the way as the first one brought its razor-sharp teeth to bear and snapped where Adam had been just a second ago, while the second one attempted a lunge from directly above him. A purple blast from the unicorn's horn momentarily dazed the second head and prevented it from attacking, but also lead to attracting its attention. The unicorn teleported away again, this time behind the head, and fired another blast at it. The confused head started boiling with anger and brought itself down onto the purple pony, who barely had time to teleport a third time before the ground trembled under the impact. Meanwhile, Adam struggled with the first hydra head. The beast tried to bite, but the human managed to back away and swiped his arm blade, cutting a deep gash into the hydra's scales. The beast hissed in pain and withdrew before lashing out again. This time, Adam went for a stabbing motion, but the hydra chose instead to bite down into his arm. While it did not do any damage against the augmented arms, it still lead to the monster gagging at the surprising firmness of its prey and Adam falling off balance. Jensen strained and got up to his feet again, ready to continue fighting, when a purple blur slammed into him with a pained gasp. Adam was thrown to the ground again as he rolled the dazed unicorn's body off of him, who sported many scratches and bruises. Around them, the hydra heads approached menacingly, licking their snake-like lips at the prospect of dinner. While the unicorn crawled back in fear, Adam growled and extended both arm blades, unwilling to let the beasts eat them- "Stooooooooop!" The yellow pegasus had put herself between the two fighting parties, staring with untold intensity at the hydra head, who suddenly became much more docile. Adam swore he could hear them... whimpering? "How dare you!" The pegasus scolded. "How dare you hurt my friends! You are both just a pair of big meanie-pants!" Jensen swore his eyes would plop out and his jaw unhinge as the heads that had so ravenously tried to devour them earlier suddenly avoided the comparatively tiny pegasus' gaze shamefully. "I know you are hungry and that makes you in a very bad mood, but you are not allowed to stay here! You're going back to your bog right this instant!" she continued. Slowly, the lumbering beast stomped back where it came from, its unconscious heads trailing behind it. The pegasus' satisfaction suddenly turned to anxiety as she rushed over to the two individuals left. "Oh my gosh! Twilight, mister Adam, are you okay?" The purple mare struggled to regain her footing before falling over unceremoniously. "No, I don't think so..." She said weakly. Adam merely clutched at his side in pain and stood up, gritting his teeth before moving on to pick up his discarded weapon. "I'll be fine," he said. "I've lived through worse." The Sentinel health implants would slowly heal any damage he had sustained anyway. "Mister Adam, I need your help with moving Twilight to my cottage, I mean, um, if that's okay with you..." she said meekly. "Sure," he responded and carefully picked the unicorn up in his arms. "I owe you for chasing that thing away anyway." Slowly, they made their way to the pegasus' cottage. "Thanks, by the way." The yellow mare tried her best to hide her face behind her pink mane, earning a chuckle from Jensen before he winced in pain at his bruised ribs. "Strangest damn day of my life..." he muttered under his breath.