Isaac hesitantly put his left foot on top of the ladder and grasped it with both his hands. He then shifted part of his weight onto the ladder and gently pulled down. The ladder held its own against the humans weight, there wasn't even a creak to be heard.
He began to climb the ladder, slowly. It only took a few seconds until Isaac reached the top and onto the clubhouse balcony. Isaac took one look to the ground. The tree house must have been built at least 10 feet off the ground. He then turned round towards the entrance, a rectangular hole 4 foot tall, meaning Isaac had to duck to enter.
He slowly knelt down and stuck his head in. He checked left and right as though he expected something inside to try and grab him. Nothing. Well at least it seemed peaceful.
"What are you doing"? Came a voice from behind Isaac making him flinch before realizing it was Scootaloo's voice.
"Let's just say I've had unpleasant experiences from not checking corners". Isaac replied with a hint of seriousness in his voice. He entered the tree house, noticing that it was bigger than he expected. At least big enough for him to stand upright again. The three fillies followed him in and trotted in front of him, standing side to side of one another.
"Mr Clarke, welcome to"...
"THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS CLUBHOUSE"!
Isaac looked round. There seemed to be a second floor, a red and white target painted on the floor with a light bulb dangling over it, and a map of the town Ponyville and nearby locations nailed to the wall opposite him. Applebloom began to push for his opinion.
"Soooo... What do ya think"?
"It's... nice".
Sweetiebelle gave a small frown but did well to hide it from everypony else. She had hoped that the alien would have found it to be awesome or along those lines. To her, Nice meant that it was ok.
"So how long until I can talk to this Twilight person"? Isaac asked quickly.
"Well we did see her Pinkie Pie shortly before we found you. She's probably still sitting there talking with Pinkie".
Isaac nodded and walked over to the nearest corner of the tree house and sat down carefully. He noticed that all three ponies had left him, most likely to find Twilight, giving him a moment on his own. At his command, the advanced helmet to move on its own, each piece of metal that held the helmet apart removed and sunk into the suit, letting Isaac see the world through his own eyes and not through a visor. He rested his head on the wooden wall behind him and just sat there taking all that had happened in.
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Back at the restaurant, Twilight had been listening to Pinkie Pie going over her party list for over half an hour now. She tried to keep her head up with both her hooves so she didn't fall asleep but was close to doing so, completely forgetting about those new spells she was supposed to be practicing.
"...And then there's Thunderlane who's off to Manehatten to visit family so I'll need to prepare a welcome home Thunderlane party. Should I have it at Sugarcube corner? I mean it'll be hard to throw a party in Cloudsdale if I can't even walk on clouds. But then again"...
"TWILIGHT"! rung out the voices of three unmistakable fillies, snapping Twilight out of her barely conscious state. She turned her head and saw Applebloom, Sweetiebelle and Scootaloo running up to her before screeching to a halt in front of the table. Pinkie however was too caught up in her list to even notice the fillies and kept going over her list.
"... And he did make a Pinkie promise not to arrive late this time. After all, nopony breaks a pinkie promise"... Pinkie's last sentence was spoken with one of her rarely seen "serious" moments. Twilight rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the fillies.
"Hello girls. Is everything okay"?
"Yeah. Well, sort of. We ran into a new friend today".
"Oh excellent. What's his name"?
All three fillies paused for a moment trying to remember the humans name. They already forgot once before, now it was a little ridiculous trying to remember a second time. Eventually Scootaloo remembered or at least she thought she did.
"I think he said his name was Rice Sack". she spoke up, not too confident with her answer. The other two fillies looked at each other and shrugged. Rice Sack sounded about right.
"Oh... what a...unique name". Twilight spoke politely. Applebloom continued.
"Anyway, he's a little lost and we were kinda hoping that you would help him find his way home". Twilight gave a happy smile.
"Of course, I'd be happy to help. I don't think Pinkie would mind, would you Pinkie"?
"...But then again, chocolate cake is much better than boring old sponge cake, and"...
"...I don't think she minds". Responded Twilight. "So where is he"?
"Well we left him at the clubhouse so not too far away".
Twilight nodded and headed off, leaving Pinkie to deal with her party throwing problems. The walk would have lasted ten minutes at the most so Twilight decided to strike a conversation.
"You know girls, I must say that I'm proud of you, helping a friend in need. It was a very mature move for you to do".
The three girls smiled at the comment. Then Sweetiebelle had a sudden thought.
"Hey, do you think we'll get cutiemarks for helping other ponies"?
" Ya know, that would be a mighty fine cutiemark ta get".
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Isaac put his plasma cutter on the floor, certain he wouldn't need it. But even still, he found it hard just to let go seeing how he had carried it and several other weapons and tools ever since taking it from the surgery room.
It then flashed back to him. That man who was strapped down on the cold metal table, begging for help. Isaac had helped him out and managed to recieve the plasma cutter. Or at least tried to until the necromorph attacked. If only Isaac had been faster he could have saved him. That poor mans blood was on his hands. He could still remember the man screaming as the monster hacked his limbs off and slicing off his head before turning on Isaac. At least he had the plamsa cutter in time otherwise he would have been next.
Isaac did well to shake the memory quickly from his head as he heard something outside. Without delay, he snatched his weapon from the floor, much quicker than he had set it down, and let his helmet automatically seal itself around his head once more and waited. The tension was the worst part, not knowing what would come. Even though it had happened more than enough times, it wasn't any easier to control.
All of a sudden, up popped Appleblooms head. Isaac relaxed and let out a relieved sigh. He got back onto his feet and walked over to the little pony.
Applebloom walked over to Isaac and smiled. Isaac took it as a good sign. If he hadn't sealed his helmet back up, Applebloom would have seen him smiling back.
"I take it she came"?
"Yup. Your problems are nearly over mister Rice Sack".
"Good. I- did you just call me rice sack"?
"Uhh, yeah. Thats yer name isn't it".
Isaac sighed. This would now be the third time he had to tell her his name.
"No, it's Isaac. I-S-A-A-C. Got it"? He spoke calmly.
"...yeah. Of course. Sorry". Applebloom gave a sheepish smile and exited the clubhouse, gesturing for Isaac to follow.
Isaac smiled again. As much as he wanted to return home, he knew he was going to miss those three little angels. He then exited the clubhouse, noticing the other two fillies talking to a much bigger purple pony with its back to Isaac.
He climbed down the ladder and walked up to them. As he did, he heard the orange Pegasus speak.
"Really? Dang it I was so close"!
Isaac guessed that it had to do with trying to remember his name. He then heard the purple taller pony speak.
"Well as long as you remember. Just remember that just because he has an unusual name doesn't make him a monster. Everypony deserves to be treated with love and kindness". Isaac then decided to catch her attention.
"Umm... Hello. You must be Twilight".
Twilight's ears twitched from the sudden voice and turned round with a smile on her face. almost instantly her smiling face transformed into one of pure terror. Isaac expected her to be shocked. However he certainly didn't expect to be suddenly blasted by a bright purple like laser to fire at high speed from the pony's head, sending him through one of the smaller trees surrounding the area.