//------------------------------// // Decisions // Story: A Marines peace // by Cone of Wonders //------------------------------// The strange orb sped through the dark forest in the opposite direction to the human at a fast speed, almost as though it was eager to tell of its new discovery. Within mere minutes of travelling, the orb reached a shiny metal gateway, like an arc with strange symbols covering each side. It stood just over two meters and was covered with small black lines in which inside, an illuminating light could be seen travelling down from the top of the gateway to the bottom in a matter of seconds. Soon enough, as the orb had gotten close enough, the top of the gateway revealed a small hole less than a centimeter in diameter and almost instantly, an orange light burst from it and covered the orb in its glow. A few noises were heard as the light moved carefully up and downs its round form before deactivating. The orb shimmied forwards and stopped and waited. As expected to the orb, a fast pitched, disorientated voice crackled from the machine before it. To any life form it would be too hard to understand but this orb understood every word it said and replied in its own high pitched voice. "Negative, the perimeter is clear of all sentient life forms. But what you must realize is that I carry vital information that must be delivered immediately". The gateway spluttered back towards the orb in a questioning tone. "That is none of your concern. You shall let my pass or I shall be forced to contact D-2. And with what I have to say, it is likely that you will be disciplined for interfering". The orb responded making sure the gateway understood the seriousness of the situation. A few seconds of perfect silence passed. Suddenly, a rectangular metal box shot up from the ground fitting within the gateway perfectly. The front of the box broke into three identical pieces before they slid slightly forwards and then outwards to the sides until there was enough room for the orb to get inside the box. "Excellent. Now then...". The orb floated inside the box, the front closed behind him and the box lit up with more illuminating lights travelling down each corner of the box. It the middle, there was a pillar in which the orb rested upon. Only a minute passed until something else happened. The back of the box, which was now in front of the orb, opened up in the same manner as the front part and surely enough, the orb flew up off of the pillar and through the door. Instead of coming out of the box and remaining in the forest, the orb was now floating within a giant metal room with greatly advanced technology compared to any other species on the planet, including the human. The box had been so still, so quiet, it was hard to believe that it had moved at all. Not even the smallest of shakes could be felt inside yet it had moved at great speed as could be told by the way the box shot up into the darker part of the 50 meter high room once the orb had left it. The orb traveled down the room until it had reached the center where a cylinder, 10 foot in diameter stood attached to the ground. As wide as it was, it was no more than 2 foot tall. However the small height was made up thanks to the large curved pieces of gray metal over it, one layer of the thick metal hovered in two pieces slightly above the 2 foot cylinder, spinning slowly to the left. Above the curved metal was another layer of the exact same design, only this one spun in the opposite direction. And above that one was a third set of curved metal pieces, spinning in the same direction as the first set. The top of the structure was sealed by a thick lid which remained still and was circled by a ring with four symmetrical lights shining on and off quickly. It looked like the structure was built to conceal something within. Then, before long, a voice echoed through the hollow structure, addressing the orb. "I trust you have news of great importance at the risk of returning to my chambers once again Calm Fire 27"? Asked the voice to what seemed to now be Calm Fire 27. "That is correct D-2. It may concern you greatly that I have news of a human reclaimer within the area of equine residence 7, travelling outside of the forest and what seems to be towards that said residence". Silence filled the room like it had outside mere moments ago until the echoing voice returned. "If this is true then this world may soon fall prey to the horrors that the humans once reflected upon us! I won't allow this human to reap what we have sewn"! "Shall I have the prometheans to dispose of the reclaimer"? Asked Calm Fire in a small but noticeable disappointing tone. "Alas I would ask that, but often in life it is the simplest of choices that carry the greatest risks. There may be more of his wretched kind among the equines which would only reveal our existence to them". At these words, Calm Fire seemed happier. "Then what do you propose"? "Bring the human to me at once. Once we have discovered his motives, we shall then decide his fate". "Very good, I shall fulfill your request at once". As the orb began planning, The human had returned to the library in which he had been tied up earlier. Rust had been offered a seat by the ponies but he preferred to stand in the corner. That way he could keep an eye on them all, after all he didn't want another frying pan to the face when his back was turned. As he kept an eyes on them all, the 5 ponies huddled round planning their next step, whispering as they did. "Okay girls, now that our new...associate is in the library, what do we do"? "I say we take him by surprise, captures him and throw him in the dungeons first chance his back is turned. There's no way we can trust it". "Rainbow dash, don't be so barbaric! Although I must agree that the brute can not be trusted. After all, look at it! So hideous and indimidating, and don't get me started on its taste in fashion sense"! "Ya know, there are more important things right now than worryin about what that things wearin Rarity"? "Oh and I suppose you could name one"? "Yeah, I can. What do y'all think would be a way to make peace with this critter from outta space"? "Lets throw him a party"! Everypony faced the pink mare for a second. "...What? Sometimes all you need is a little fun to help turn even the meaniest meany pants aliens into the niciest nicest nice aliens"! "As much sense as that makes, no parties! For all we know it may not even know what fun is". "WHAT?! That's just plain silly Twilight! How can somepony not know what fun is? Look, I'll ask him myself"! "Wait, Pinkie-". Before anypony could object, Pinkie had disappeared from the huddling group which left the two ponies who had been holding onto her from each side fell over from lack of support which resulted in the entire huddle falling inwards and collapsing in on itself. Rust saw this and laughed to himself. The pink one seemed to be his favorite one so far despite her standing on top of his head earlier on, she seemed to be quite nice. And soon enough, the pink pony was now standing in front of him with a friendly smile which Rust... sort of returned by grimacing and showing his teeth which felt awkward for both sides. Then, Pinkie Pie spoke. "Sooo... Do you know what fun is"? She asked making Rust turn his half smile into a look of confusion. "Excuse me"? He asked, caught off guard by the unusual question. "Because my friend Twilight over there...". Pinkie pointed her hoof back over to the group still trying to get up and off from each other. "...She said that you may not know what fun is, and I was all like UHUH and she was like NU UH, And I thought maybe asking you would settle our arguement. Of course now that I think about it, you don't seem avery friendly but looks can be decieving right? So anyway, my name is Pinkie Pie and I like parties but then again who doesn't? But anyway, I'm Pinkie Pie and what was your name again"? Rust thought hard for a second before coming to a decision in his head. "These ponies are crazy". He then answered Pinkies question, seeing how it was one of the few things he managed to pick up due from the speed she talked from.It seemed that she had completely forgotten the reason she had come to talk to him in the first place. "I'm-". But before he could tell her, he recieved a hoof over his mouth catching him by surprise causing him to instinctively reach for his magnum sidearm still strapped to his waist in case he decided that he wanted to shoot the pink menace. Or himself for that matter. "Ooh ooh don't tell me don't tell me, I remember! Your name's Trust!... Wait, no... Aha, no its Bust. No that's not right either... Must? Crust? Just? Plus? Bus? Dust? Thrust? Pus? Lu-". Before Pinkie Pie could ramble on any longer, she was ensnared by a lasso and pulled back over the the rest of the ponies who had recovered from their little mishap caused by Pinkie. This let Rust sigh with relief, unsure how one little pony could be so annoying. He then even more unsure of how he could now taste cotton candy. Once the lassoed pony has been dragged close enough to the main group, the orange pony who had the end of the rope in her mouth spat it out and tried to talk some sense into her hyper active friend. "Uh Pinkie, first off ah believe the man said his name was Rust. And second off, why did y'all think it was a good idea ter just go ahead and walk up to him like that?! Y'all could have ben hurt by it"! Surprisingly to everypony and everybody, Pinkie Pie giggled. "Oh Applejack, you're such a riot"! She managed to speak between laughs. "Rust wouldn't hurt us, he's too kind to do something so cruel". "How do ya know that"? Asked Applejack. "uh, Duh Applejack. The author would have written about Rust hurting us by now". She said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. To everyone else, not so much. "...Beg pardon"? "The Author. The guy writing the story. Only he's been on holiday so he hasn't had much of a chance to write much lately". Pinkie then looked over behind to the side and pointed. "And there's the audience. HI EVERYBODY"! At that point, she gave the "Audience" a huge wave along with a friendly smile which was odd enough, not to mention saying "Everybody" instead of everypony which left Applejack to look back to her friends seeing that they were just as clueless as she was. However this was Pinkie Pie, half the stuff she did never made sense anyway and decided to ignore it. "Well... anyway...". Began Twilight, trying to forget what had just happened. "I believe I should inform the Princess that we... caught... uh oh"! Twilight's calmness was almost immediately replaced with worry and panic as she remembered something from earlier today. In a flash she hurried upstairs and burst open the door to her room, waking the sleeping dragon Spike up as she did. Spike stirred for a moment before coming to his senses. "Twilight! You're back! Good news, I"- "Not now spike"! Spoke Twilight, paying little attention to the dragon as she grabbed a bottle of ink, a quill and a piece of parchment with her magic and brought each item down on a table in front of her. "But Twilight, the Pr"- "Spike, I'm a little busy at the moment". Twilight replied, sounding a little more irritated as she spoke. Obviously Twilight wasn't going to let spike speak so he decided to come out with what he had to say. "The Princess replied"! Almost as though Spike had said the magic words, in which case he kind of had done, Twilight had stopped writing her letter which seemed to be a good page long, God knows how long the actual letter would have been if Spike hadn't been around, and faced Spike, her eyes were slightly bloodshot and a couple strands of hair from both her mane and tail shot up. She even made a small noticeable twitch with her left ear. "She did..."? Asked Twilight. A few seconds of silence passed. "WELL, WHERE'S THE LETTER"?! Screeched Twilight as she picked Spike up with her magic and brought his face dangerously close to her own. "Umm.... Right here"? Replied Spike nervously as he lifted his arm which held the rolled up parchment from Princess Celestia herself. As soon as Twilight noticed the letter, She engulfed it with her magic and accidentally dropped Spike, causing him to land on his butt with a thud. Twilight basically scanned every word, even every single letter that had been written. As soon as she was done she let out a sigh of relief. "What does it say Twilight"? Asked the impatient dragon now standing on his small chubby legs. "It says that she already knew of his arrival... and would greatly appreciate it if I were to bring it to her as soon as I can. She would also like it if myself and the other elements are present". Twilight took a few seconds to absorb the letters words many questions rung up in her head. "How did she know about the human already? Did she already know about his species? But most importantly... why didn't she help us when we needed it earlier? She'd surely have had to react swiftly knowing her star pupil was in danger. Was she no longer that important to her"? With that though she looked down to the ground, unable to think or move. That was until a small purple hand landed on her shoulder causing her to look at the figure who owned the hand, or claw for that matter. Come on Twilight. You're her personal student for petes sake. As far as I know, you're the most important thing in Equestria to her". That said, Spike followed it up with a reassuring smile, and Twilight gave the same one back before pulling her number one assistant into a caring hug. "Thanks Spike, I don't know what I'd do without you". "Yeah well, you know". Replied Spike rolling his emerald eyes. Soon after, they both broke the hug and went back downstairs to her friends. Although their expressions were a mix of slight fear, confusion and concern. Even Rust, who had still remained in his corner after all this time, raised an eyebrow at her. Soon after putting two and two together, Twilights ears dropped in embarrassment. "Did you hear... everything upstairs"? Everypony nodded causing Twilight to grin sheepishly and even give a uncomfortable laugh. "Well, anyway". Twilight walked over to Rust. Rust braced himself for anything that the unicorn might pull off. "Rust, I have good news for you". At this note, Rust smiled. "You found Forest or get me back to INFINITY"? He asked enthusiastically. "Well... not really". Rust's rarely shown smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared it had appeared into a scowl. "Then whatever it is, I don't care". All the other ponies glared at the human for his bluntness and rudeness. "But...". Continued Twilight, catching Rusts attention. "I know somepony who could, and she's requesting a meeting with you, if you accept". Rust thought carefully about this, He looked down and considered his options. Everypony waited nervously for his response. "...Fine, I'll do it". Everypony sighed in relief. "Excellent, we'll set off tomorrow morning". Spoke Twilight with glee. "Great, can't wait". Muttered Rust as though he didn't feel too comfortable with his decision. Rarity then spoke up, something was on her mind. "Just one question darling". "Yes Rarity". "Where exactly is our... guest going to stay"? Twilight realized that she hadn't put any thought into something that seemed so simple and her ears drooped to prove it. "Well, I suppose I could allow him to sleep over at the library just for tonight". She said uncertainly, choosing her words carefully before turning to Rust. "You don't mind do you"? Rust shrugged. "Meh, I've slept in far worse places". He wasn't lying, he had slept in woods, destroyed buildings, even inside of a covenant super carrier but that was a story for another time. "Okay then, I guess that's settled". An hour passed and Rust had reluctantly agreed to sleep in Twilights room in a bed opposite to her own so that she could keep an eye on her. Everypony had left bidding their farewells to Twilight while only Pinkie Pie and Applejack were either brave or trusting enough to do the same to Rust. The human could only lie down on the bed, unable to sleep while Twilight and Spike slept like two babies. Too much had happened to the soldier, one minute he had been fighting a losing battle, the next he was being escorted by ponies. This would make an interesting briefing to captain Lasky. Time ticked on and sleep was beginning to take its toll on Rust and he slowly shut his eyes. Hopefully by tomorrow he could wake up in a cryo pod aboard INFINITY and forget this nightmare. He hoped. But nonetheless all he could do was shut his eyes and pray.