Chapter VIII
Princess Celestia looked at the golem prototype with interest. Now that it had been firmly established that the aliens were not here to kill them all, Celestia had devoted more of the Arcanum towards different pursuits, namely making sense of the new technology that had fallen into their saddles.
It had been decided that, since the technology that ~Alex~ was familiar with was closer to their own, and they even had an instructor to aid in understanding that technology, they would begin by trying to learn about the ~human’s~ 'calculation devices’ first.
Hence the intense study that was going towards the, admittedly incredibly crude, first attempt the ~human~ had made towards creating a golem from scratch. “And he made something this detailed with an Artist’s Matrix?” Celestia wondered to herself out loud.
Unfortunately, one of her mages took that as a non-rhetorical question. “Incredible, isn’t it? It seems that, if one were careful enough, an Artist's Matrix is capable of incredibly detailed work. What’s even more impressive is that the construct did not form in front of him, where the matrix was located, but several feet behind him,” the scientist said. Bunsen Burner was his name, if she remembered correctly. “It may have naturally sensed where Equis’s field was strongest in the room, and used that as its foundation.”
“Were you able to glean anything from his original manuscripts?” Celestia asked curiously.
Bunsen shook his head sadly. “Unfortunately, much of the work was covered in ink stains and alien blood. We were able to clean it off, but the language it was written in is the ~human’s.~ I could use a translation spell on it, but I believe that would do more harm than good. The diagrams and schematics have proven useful, but until the ~human~ has properly learned our language, I believe we have reached a standstill in our research.”
“May I see one of his schematics?” Celestia asked. She had no doubt that she wouldn’t have any more luck than her mages in deciphering the alien script, but she still felt a spark of curiosity at how ~Alex’s~ language looked like in written form.
“Of course, Your Highness.” Bunsen Burner went through several sheets of paper on his desk until he found the one he was looking for. “Here you go. This is probably our most legible sample of its writing.”
Celestia took the page with interest, her eyes scanning over the schematics, but bounced back near the top of the page, her smile turning into a disturbed frown. Slowly, her eyes panned to other portions of the page, her frown only becoming more pronounced as time wore on.
“Is there something wrong, Your Highness?” Bunsen Burner asked.
Celestia glanced up, seemingly surprised that the scientist was still there. “Oh! Uh, no… nothing’s wrong. Just… I need to consult with my sister. Do you still need this?” Celestia asked, holding the page a little higher in her magical grasp.
“No, Your Highness. As I said before, we won't be able to do anything with it until the ~human~ can speak at least passable Equestrian. Until then, we’re kind of stuck here.”
“Thank you, Bunsen. Until that time, I suggest you get back to work on the omniscope. Please, carry on with the good work,” Celestia said as she charged her horn. There was a familiar sensation of disorientation, and suddenly the research wing was replaced by her sister’s bedroom.
Unfortunately, it looked like Luna had yet to go to bed, and wasn’t even in her own room. Celestia pouted in frustration as she charged her horn again. She was still scheduled for a press conference in about an hour, and had a meeting with the alien representatives sometime later today, but she still felt she had enough time to check this suspicion.
She just didn't have time to hunt down her sister. She’d send a note as soon as she got to the library. Hopefully Luna would join her before the real headaches of the day began.
* * *
I grumbled a bit as I entered the training yard. All around us I could see soldiers exercise, perform drills, and generally work hard to make themselves the most deadly force on the planet. There was also a snack table nearby, loaded with large water coolers, and oddly enough, small candies. I made a mental note to ask about that later, but at the moment, I had other concerns.
Many of the soldiers stopped their training when they saw Rainbow, Evening and me enter, followed closely by my escort. “Why are we doing this again?” I asked, still not happy with the blue pegasus.
“We need get you better. All way better, and that involve get you in shape,” Rainbow answered.
“Not only being that, but also need information on you body, how it affect by heal magic, now that heal finally stop. Need know all difference, you only one know where strength lying,” Evening said as she readied her clipboard and quill.
I nodded, getting the general gist of what she meant. They wanted to know how different I was from a normal human’s limits. I immediately spotted a problem with that, though. “Um… well, I don't mean to be negative, but how will we be able to do that without shared units of measurements?”
This made Evening look confused for a little bit, but it was quickly replaced by understanding. “Oh… not think about weight difference… is gravity here different?” She asked curiously.
I shook my head. “No, at least not from what I can tell. Our two planets’ gravities are pretty much the same.” I actually felt pretty confident about this one; stronger muscles or no, you can actually feel it in your bones when you’re in higher or lower gravity.
“Then most lift same, if know weight of similar object.”
I shook my head again. “That’s really not going to cut it. I only lifted weights a couple of times before, so I really have no clue how heavy things are supposed to be.”
Evening deflated a little at that. “Well, still need knowledge about you body work, how strong, heaviest weight to carry, thing like that. So, if start over here? We start small, work way up.”
She led me to an area that consisted of mainly smaller weights, as well as a large collection of unicorn soldiers. Again, I was struck at how similar our two cultures had developed, despite them having hooves. Most of these weights would have gone into a gym back home without a second thought, though there were still a few that I had no clue what they were for.
Shrugging my shoulders a little, I went to what I guessed was the mid-ranged weights and picked up some dumbbells.
“Wow! Careful is being!” Rainbow shouted as I overcompensated and nearly beaned her in the face.
“Sorry! I kind of forgot my strength, there,” I said as I put the weights back. This was true; despite the fact that I had six months to test the limits of my enhanced body, it still never felt real to me. When I had picked up the weights, subconsciously I had judged them to be about twenty to twenty-five pounds, and had lifted with roughly that much force.
These felt more like twenty to twenty-five ounces. Not even remotely heavy.
With a resigned sigh, I moved up to heavier weights, and was just about to grab some before the sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted me.
Standing at my side was one of those 'normal’ Ponies, though another look changed that initial assumption. He had no horn or wings, but his teal eyes were slitted like a cat’s, and his friendly smile revealed a set of fangs, clearly marking him as one of those night-time Ponies. He wasn't wearing anything, though not a whole lot of Ponies out here in the yard were. His clothesless situation only revealed the multitude of scars that ran all over his dark blue coat, though, with the most noticeable one being the scar that ran across one of his eyes.
His messy mane and tail were both tri-colored, an unusual trait in the Ponies I’d seen so far, though his colors were much more muted than the other ponies I’ve seen with multi-colored hair, his being only alternating shades of grey. On his flanks was one of those strange marks that all adult Ponies seem to have; a blue kite shield with a crescent moon superimposed over it. Flanking that shield was a pair of wings, though why that was was anyone’s guess.
He said something to Evening, his tone polite--deferential, even--though it was clearly formed in a question.
“We run test, figure out his strength, how body works, what happen in stress, all thing. Sensing device active, find lots of things about him.”
“Yeah! But main we find limit, so I whip in shape!” Rainbow added, striking a proud-looking pose.
This only seemed to amuse the stallion. He said something, his grin wry, but his tone still respectful.
“Well, if you want, you help,” Evening said as she started making her horn glow.
“Thank you, Lady Twinkle. If follow me? These unicorn weight. We use these make sure War Wizards not fail fitness test. Good idea, work small to big, when exercising. Rule first about work and train new race: When look limits, start big, work down,” the normal pony said with a smile. He then turned around and began cantering towards the other end of the yard. It was the end that I had been deliberately avoiding looking at, since the weights it contained had more in common with local geography than with anything I’d find in Gold’s Gym.
“Pardon me, but what’s your name?” I asked as I nervously eyed a 'normal’ pony lifting a rock that had to have been as large as I was.
“I Warrior Wind. Now, no be nervous, I here help. But please, start by lift this rock here,” he said, as he put his hoof on the boulder next to him.
I blinked in disbelief. The thing was easily the size of my dad’s old toolshed. In fact, I had mistaken it for a decorative piece before Warrior had pointed it out to me. “Uh… I… don’t think that’s even possible…” I said as I made my way around the intimidating rock.
“Uh, yes Warrior, not think most Dirt Ponies lift this big,” Rainbow said next to me.
This immediately freaked me out. “Wait, what’s a Dirt Pony? Are you saying there's a kind of pony that could actually lift something like that!?”
Warrior Wind’s booming laughter could probably have been heard on the other side of the planet. “Defender, I Dirt Pony. We three basic kinds pony, with lower kinds, but basic is Pegasus, Unicorn, and Dirt Pony. Each have gift, but basic is sky, magic and earth,” he explained, clearing up something I had wondered about for a while. “We Dirt Ponies… better is show. Hey! Loudfeet!”
That last part wasn't shouted at me, but at one of the soldiers who was currently working with some of the smaller rocks. They were still huge, but compared to the boulder that I was being asked to lift, they were pretty puny.
The pony in question was the beefiest pony I had ever seen, including that weird white Pegasus with the tiny wings I had seen in the town back near my cave. He dropped the rocks he was carrying and stepped up, his expression questioning, but he didn't say anything. All he did was position himself next to Warrior and snap off a crisp, clean salute.
“Sergeant Loudfeet, minding give friend demonstrate of Dirt Pony strength?” Warrior said, his smile widening with every second.
The Sergeant shouted an affirmative, turned around, stood up on his hind hooves, and stretched his hooves as wide as they could go. He then placed them on the sides of the boulder, clenched his teeth, and grunted, but with no other apparent effort he lifted the rock off the ground.
If that was all he did, I would have still been struck speechless, but he wasn't even remotely finished. With another grunt, the Dirt Pony fell backwards, pulling the rock with him until he was lying on his back. He then positioned his hind hooves on the underside of the rock, got a different grip with his fore hooves, then pushed upwards.
For a brief moment, he looked like he was standing upside down, his feet on the boulder 'floor,’ while his back was holding up the dirt 'ceiling.’ He took a deep breath, bent his knees, then started to bench press what was probably well over four tons.
I stared, blinked, rubbed my eyes, then looked again. Finally, I threw my hands up in disgust. “Why am I even surprised!? I mean, it’s not like your rulers can control the freaking sun and moon or anything! Compared to that, this is practically tame!!”
“You being good?” Evening asked as the Sergeant in front of me righted himself, set down the boulder, and cut a sharp salute to Warrior.
“As you being,” Warrior Wind said with a negligent wave.
The soldier turned and went back to his routine as Warrior turned his attention back to me. “No feel bad if not lift, Thunderfeet work years before that strong. I not even close. That too, but also Dirt Pony. Very strong. But still try, need see if possible, know where maximum alien strength lie, if you is experiment weapon, you have maximum strength?” he asked, suddenly very serious.
They wanted to know what they were up against. I could understand that, but I also knew something that they didn’t; it was that a space-age civilizations wouldn’t be waging a war of troops against troops. Any ground combat would have been a formality, brought on only when they needed to take planetary defensive positions, or to pacify the remaining populus. “No, I wouldn't be a good measure for that. I got the feeling that I was made for stealth, not strength. Yes, I’m stronger than I should be, but you shouldn't assume I’m the strongest they can make. Besides,” I twisted my mouth ruefully, “they’ll only resort to hand-to-hand as a last resort.”
The pony in front of me smiled sadly at that. “You think not know that? They throw rocks from space, kill in instant,” he said quietly, probably to keep the other troops from hearing. “We already know. Huge boon, not being attacked. Huge help, they here defend against real threat. But what happen after? What happen when threat disappear?”
I smiled, nodded, but didn’t say anything. His men needed to believe that they had a leg up on the enemy, even if it was an extremely small one. With no more backtalk, I walked up to the boulder and cricked my neck. “Well, let’s see how much super strength I have left, then.”
With a grunt, I reached out, grabbed each side of the massive rock, and heaved. As I expected, I couldn’t even budge the thing.
“Well, that’s a bust,” I said, releasing my grip and stepping back. I didn’t want to throw my back out, so I hadn’t given it everything I had. I just knew that what I had wasn’t enough.
“Very good. Next!” Warrior said, immediately regaining his cheery demeanor and waving me towards a much, much smaller, yet still quite hefty, rock.
"This is going to be a long day…” I said as I bent down and wrapped my arms around its stony surface.
* * *
Rainbow Dash and Twilight watched the ~human~ try rock after progressively smaller rock until he found one that he could at least move.
“Good! That puts you at a little above average for Earth Ponies!” Twilight said, making a note of it on her clipboard.
“Jeez, if that’s what he’s like with enhancements, then how did his race hunt the other things on his planet?” Rainbow whispered to Twilight, disbelief in her voice. “I mean, he’s a carnivore, right? Doesn’t that mean he has to catch and kill things if he wants to eat? If he’s this weak, is everything on his planet weaker?”
“Rainbow, he’s not just a carnivore. He’s an omnivore, like a Thestral, or Captain Knight Breeze over there,” Twilight reproved her.
Rainbow just shrugged a little. “Whatever, my question’s still there, though. If his race is nothing but weaklings, then how did they hunt? The claws aren’t natural, and we’ve seen how his teeth are supposed to look like, and they’re pretty stupid for that, if you ask me.”
“Rainbow, you’re forgetting his planet doesn’t have magic! Earth Ponies augment themselves with magic, so it’s entirely possible that he doesn’t need to be that strong!” Twilight pointed out. She stared at ~Alex~ thoughtfully for a bit, though, as he held the rock in different stances and positions according to the captain’s instructions. “But… you do have a point, there. Griffons use weapons to hunt now, but before that, they used their claws and talons. Night Tribe ponies primarily ate fish as their meat source... but ~Alex’s~ people don’t look like predators. He’s really more of a… scavenger, now that I think about it.”
“No, we hunters,” a voice called out, making them realize that the ~human’s~ hearing was better than they thought.
Both ponies looked up to see ~Alex~ put down a rock that was a bit bigger than his torso, a wry expression on his face.
“If you’re a hunter, then how did your people hunt when first starting out?” Twilight asked curiously.
“Yeah, you got to admit, you guys don’t look particularly impressive,” Rainbow added.
The ~human~ grinned, his unnaturally sharp teeth and black, soulless eyes making the friendly gesture a lot more unnerving than he probably intended. “You right, Evening, Rainbow. We bodies not built be predator. We bodies built scavenger, and compare most other creature, we look pitiful. We MINDS, though...” He trailed off, as if he were trying to figure out how to say what he was trying to say.
“Um… you aren’t really making a good case for yourself when you said you were a hunter there, pal,” Rainbow said, a little confused.
Suddenly, ~Alex’s~ face lit up, as if he had thought of something. “Tell me, how long you run?”
This seemed to confuse the ponies even further. However, this did not stop Rainbow from puffing out her chest and flying a little higher. “My wing power is 16.5! I’m able to break the speed of sound if I have to!” she said, her pride ringing through her voice.
The ~human~ looked impressed, but a little confused. “While that… cold, not what asked. How long can run? How long keep pace? How long till need food? Water? Sleep?”
This deflated Rainbow a bit. “I… I don’t know about food and sleep and stuff like that, but I can go for about fifteen minutes at full speed until I need rest, about a half an hour to an hour if I go a bit slower,” Rainbow said with a shrug.
Captain Breeze let out a low whistle. “That pretty impressive, Miss Dash. Most ponies are only capable of about thirty minutes tops before they’re wasted.”
“As for food, water and sleep, a pony can go about one and a half days without water, six without sleep, and two weeks without food,” Twilight rattled off.
The human nodded, his eyes twinkling with mischief, then got back up. “Tell me, if you were, say, pig, and I were walk up to you, what would do?”
“Depends on the pig,” Rainbow said with a shrug.
The human raised an eyebrow at this.
“If it were one of Fluttershy’s or Applejack’s pigs, he probably wouldn’t do anything. Just sit there and wonder what you were doing,” Rainbow said with a shrug.
Twilight frowned at her. “I think he meant out in the wild, Rainbow.”
“Oh.” Rainbow thought for a second. “I guess I’d run away.”
The human smiled again. “You right. On my planet, we have creature similar to you pig. Would do same thing, if human walk up. In fact, most creature we hunt do that. Run second see, run second smell. They fast, too. Faster than us.” He looked like he wanted to say something else, but shook his head and looked around. “Is there track nearby? Need show. Can’t just tell.”
Rainbow perked up at this. “Track? Like a race?” she asked, her curiosity piqued.
“Hm… Kind of. Special race, special rules. You want?” he said, raising an eyebrow.
“Heck yeah, I want to race!” she shouted, pumping her hooves into the air.
Twilight looked at her sheet of paper, then shrugged. “Well, we needed to test his endurance and speed next, anyway, so…”
“This way. The guard’s track is just through these doors,” Knight said, cantering towards a small door set into one of the walls of the training yard. He pulled it open, then made his way through. Several troops followed him, clearly in interested in seeing where this was going.
Rainbow, Twilight, and ~Alex~ followed them, and got their first look at the Royal Guard’s running track. It was a pretty good-sized one, obviously used to train soldiers to be able to march in heavy armor for long periods of time. Both Rainbow and ~Alex~ lined up at the start, with the soldiers taking the stands nearby.
“So, what are the rules?” Rainbow asked, her competitive spirit shining brightly in her eyes.
“Very simple. You not use wings, only run. No let me get ahead you,” the human said as he began to go through an odd series of stretches. “Go fast as want, slow as want. You may lap many times as want. But my position ever reaches yours, not include lapping, you lose.”
Rainbow looked confused. “How do I win?”
The human just gave her another one of those sharp-toothed, unnerving grins. “You win if I give up,” he said simply. “And for purpose of match, me collapse counts give up.”
“I’ll keep track of the laps,” Twilight said, holding up her clipboard and quill.
“It would probably be better if you used the chalkboard over there, Miss Sparkle,” Captain Breeze said, pointing to the other end of the field as he went to sit with his stallions. “That way, we and the competitors can see where they are.”
“Ah, good idea, Captain. Thank you,” Twilight said as she trotted over to the board.
Both the ~human~ and Rainbow continued stretching for a bit, until they finally signalled that they were ready. They both crouched down in front of the starting line, Rainbow’s face contorted into a look of fierce determination, while ~Alex~ had one of mild certainty.
“Oh, one thing more,” ~Alex~ said, only loud enough for Rainbow to hear. “Make sure you be careful, there. Don’t kill self, try get away, okay?”
Rainbow frowned at that. “Wait, what?”
“On your mark, get set, GO!” Twilight shouted.
In a multicolored flash, Rainbow had shot out of the gate, determined to put as much distance between herself and the human as possible. She wasn’t going as fast as she possibly could, though, simply because of the no wings rule, and because of the fact that there was no finish line to race to. However, she still was going pretty freaking fast, probably somewhere around sixty miles per hour.
She passed him in a little more than a minute, again in almost three, and a third before five. Even though he pumped his arms as fast as he could, his legs moving like pistons, and his breath was already a heavy panting, his speed really wasn’t that impressive. Even with her constant passing, he still had a look of grim certainty on his face, as if he already knew how this was going to play out.
“Come on, you slowpoke! Aren’t you going to catch me?” Rainbow taunted him as she trotted backwards for a few yards, easily keeping pace with him. “You’ll never get me at that rate!”
All the ~human~ did was grin, shrug, and keep running. Rainbow shook her head, turned herself around, and turned on the juice again.
She couldn’t keep up that pace for long, though, slowing down to a canter, a brisk trot, then to a fast walk. She had about twenty laps on him now, and since the track was about a mile long, he would have to travel a pretty hefty distance to reach her. She was tired, though. Her legs were aching, and she was short of breath. If she had been allowed to use her wings, she probably would have been at least three times as far, and not nearly as winded.
That being said, she still felt pretty confident about where she stood. She spotted ~Alex~ just ahead of her, his legs still pumping, but his speed was about a third of what Rainbow had been doing. “I can’t believe it. He’s never going to catch me like that!” she said.
* * *
“She’s fast, I think I’m in love,” Lieutenant Feather said, his eyes glued to the blue pony below.
“This isn’t even her top speed, you goof. If she’d been using her wings, she’d have been going so fast she would have made a Sonic Rainboom by now,” Sergeant Thunderhooves said, his eyes fixed on the strange alien below. “Cap, what did you say the rules of this shindig were, again?”
“She loses if he catches her, but he loses if he gives up. Collapsing counts,” Captain Breeze said, his eyes locked on the spectacle below. The ~human~ couldn’t match her speed; he was barely going twenty miles per hour. There was absolutely no way he’d beat her in a straight dash, but something about the way he moved set him on edge.
“That all? I betcha fifty bits he gives up after only forty minutes,” Thunderhooves said, waving his hoof in disdain.
“I dunno, he’s got a lot of gumption, I’d give him fifty, tops,” Lieutenant Feather said, his eyes never leaving the track.
More bets were made as Rainbow’s lead increased by a larger and larger margin. Eventually, she slowed down after the thirty minute mark, stacking an impressive thirty laps against his almost pitiful ten.
“Is that the fastest you can go?” she shouted loud enough for everyone to hear.
The human shouted something else back in his own tongue.
“What’d he say, Captain?” Sergeant Thunderhooves asked curiously.
“He said: ‘Yeah, pretty much.’” Captain Breeze said, his eyes narrowing in thought. Suddenly, his eyes widened as something occurred to him. “Boys, what’s the current betting pool?”
“Fifty bits each on when he gives up. The longest time is Soft Shoes here, who thinks he’s going to give up in about an hour.”
Captain Breeze stared at the human for a few seconds longer before turning to the others. “Fifty bits says he catches her in roughly two hours.”
The others started laughing. “No way, Cap. If that’s the fastest he can go, he’ll have to kill himself to reach her!” Lieutenant Feather said dismissively. “There’s no way he’d catch up; the moment he takes a second to catch his breath, she’ll gain another thirty laps on him! There’s no way he’ll beat her!”
The captain didn’t say anything. Instead, he just settled down for the long haul. Officially, he wasn’t on duty. Unofficially, he and his stallions were standing guard, making sure that none of these tests were interrupted by outside interference. Compared to watching an empty room for six hours straight, watching a race like this was practically carnival-level entertainment.
“Fifty on him winning,” he said again.
The others just rolled their eyes and continued watching. If the captain wanted to blow half a day’s wages on something this trivial, they weren’t about to complain.
* * *
I wasn’t out of shape. At least, not exactly.
Every morning I did the usual suite of calisthenics: pushups, situps, and squats, as well as a few things of my own design. Not only that, but the alien tech in me was more than enough to keep me in shape as long as I was fed. After all, they kept us stored in a tank, only letting us out for missions. It stood to reason, then, that they had put in some form of built-in exercise to keep us in fighting shape.
That being said, I wasn’t really used to running this fast for this long. I could still do it, no doubt about it. It was just that my muscles were going to hate me for it later.
Yeah, I could move a lot faster than this, but only in short bursts. Moving like that would have tired me out instantly, and besides, moving like that was only for dodging plasma fire.
No, like the good old tortoise of old, slow and steady was going to win this one.
Thirty minutes passed, and Rainbow had already slowed down to a crawl. Huh, good to know they can’t keep something like that up forever, I thought when she failed to pass me. I knew it was a good idea to keep her from using her wings; otherwise we would have been here for days as I tried to catch up to her. My augmented ears could hear her labored breathing behind me, but that only fueled my determination.
I was going to win this; she just didn’t know it yet.
* * *
After an hour, the other soldiers were just staring in blank comprehension. “He’s breathing heavily, right? He’s about to pass out, right!?” Thunderhooves asked, worry bleeding into his voice. “Should we… Should we call a medic?”
“He’s breathing heavily, but if anything, he just hit his stride,” Soft Shoes said quietly. “What… What are these things made of? Steel!?”
“Oh, dear Celestia, he just passed her again,” Lieutenant Feather said after rubbing his eyes a bit.
Fifteen more minutes passed, and he was still going at that same, steady, deceptive pace that just seemed to eat the track underneath him. Lap after lap disappeared behind him, and after another fifteen minutes, he was already up to thirty, while Rainbow had barely completed an additional ten.
Rainbow Dash seemed to have realized this, judging by the way she started picking up her pace again.
The thing was, though, that the pony body might have been capable of stupendous feats and magically augmented powers, but each one of those abilities burned calories faster than a dragon torched a town. They needed food, water, and lots of rest in order to perform any of them. It was the reason why candy, sweets, and other high-calorie foods were so popular among the Equestrians; magic was such a central part of their everyday lives that they needed all those extra calories just to get by.
But not ~humans,~ apparently.
Even though she was going much faster than before, it wasn’t nearly at the same breakneck pace as when she started. She was struggling, and it showed.
Fifteen more minutes and he was still gaining, even with her increased speed. He was only twelve laps down, now, and Rainbow looked like she was freaking out. With a sudden noise of panic, she took off as hard and as fast as she could, trying to get back the lost distance.
It was too bad, then, that she had nothing left in the tank.
She only made it another lap before she collapsed on the ground, panting as if she were trying to suck in all of Equis’s air as quickly as possible. Shaking like a leaf, she got back up to her hooves and tried to put a little more distance between them, but she fell again, and did not get back up.
The ponies present got up and rushed forward, just as the human passed her. He was only eleven laps down, now, and Captain Breeze knew that it wouldn’t take too long for him to catch up with her. Another half hour at most, especially if she wasn’t moving any. He seemed to realize this, and with victory in sight, he increased his speed. Not significantly, but just enough to be noticed.
“Rainbow, are you alright!?” Twilight said as she came up to her wheezing blue friend.
“I’m… I’m okay… I… I just need… a drink… of water…” she gasped as she lay there, cradling her front right hoof. Lieutenant Feather reached out to help her, but she just waved him off. “I’m okay, I still got to win this. He can’t keep running like that forever, right?”
With a rhythmic thumping sound, the ~human~ came around the bend again, and passed the ponies gathered there. “Ten more laps,” he said, as casually as you might tell someone that it was a fine day today.
“Get out of here, you guys! I have to win this!” Rainbow shouted, waving the crowd off. Once they backed away sufficiently to suit her tastes, she got back up to her hooves, and very slowly, began putting one hoof in front of the other.
She was able to complete an additional lap before he finally caught up to her. He was still breathing heavily, and sweat was pouring down his face, but otherwise he didn’t look any worse for wear. ~Alex~ said something as he came up to her and lightly touched her withers, but whatever it was, Captain Breeze was too far away to hear.
The ~human~ came to a halt just as Rainbow sat down heavily, her tongue hanging out like a dog as she tried to catch her breath. The other ponies all rushed over, eager to hear what the two were saying.
“How did you freaking do that?” Rainbow asked between gasps, completely perplexed.
~Alex~ said something, something that sounded more like a speech, than anything, but whatever it was made the ponies that could understand him pale.
“Sir, what did he say?” Thunderhooves asked, somewhat confused.
Knight Breeze gulped, shook his head, then looked at his subordinate. “He said; ‘Three days no water, no sleep for over week, a month no food. When prey bed down sleep, we never stop running. When prey run for lives, we follow, using tracks for guides for days. We need no claws, teeth or magic to make kill.’” Knight Breeze shook his head again, then looked up at the human with an odd mix of wonder and horror. “‘No, our natural weapon determination. We weaponized will to never give up.’”
The human will to chase and prove a point....made him filled with DETERMINATION.
God, I laughed so much about that. Dirt ponies. Honestly, ground ponies would probably be the better legitimate translation, since the point of the "earth" in "earth pony" is pretty much soil or the earth beneath our feet, not the aspect of it where it's dirt and grime, but just for the laugh, I am still happy you picked this one.
His LOVE increased.
7664704 I thought you might like that one.
7664695 I love that game, if you couldn't already tell.
7664710
I really loved this chapter in general. It was just nice to see something focused like that again. I'm glad you took the advice on the last one.
Humans in dire straights have proven time and time again in tough situations they are capable of super heroic endurance. Look at some of the people who survived weeks on life boats.
It's great to see an other chapter of this story. I know that Alex had talk about them human being endurance hunters. I am curious to know how that subject will be impotent later in the series.
7664742 Not super-human. Just...human.
We're a lot more super than we give ourselves credit for.
7664713 huh...I didn't noticed.
Hum, that was cool. I have a question; Other than what you already have, are you going to have more things from the multiuniverse? I have a pony OC that has the title of The Watcher of the Multiuniverse where he watches the timelines of the different universes and corrects them if something happens that was not meant to happen. Let me know what you think.
it just to show you... that humans are the Cthulhu here.
By what we've seen here and you explanation as to why ponies eat so much sugar, a human with magic in conjunction to it's natural endurance would be freaking terrifying.
This chapter... just...
7664854
The chapterwaspretty clear about it that it isn't in any way the standard, though. The guy is described as more stacked than Bulk Biceps, after all. That's a high-end bodybuilder physique by anyone's measure.I really loved the sugar bit, too. Pinkie Pie runs on cake-powered magic. It's canon now!
7664885 Yea I thought of that and wen't to edit it out as soon as I wrote it. But I will repeat what I amend my original comment to
By what we've seen here and the explanation as to why ponies eat so much sugar, a human with magic in conjunction to it's natural endurance would be freaking terrifying.
7664895
It would probably push our natural endurance down to pony levels, actually. Like the chapter says, it's a matter of calories in, calories out. This story runs on real-world physics that way - pony magic outperforms human natural ability because they burn multiple times more energy than we do simply by living. Way higher baseline caloric expenditure. Give that to a human and, well, you get one of those annoying people who eat like pigs all the time but stay thin anyway, with proportionately higher personal abilities.
e: Seriously, are people downvoting this because I know basic thermodynamics or something? The chapter literally says "it's because they don't have magic."
7664792 There's the good old Humanity Fuck Yeah.
But seriously, if regular earth animals were humans then humanity itself are friggin' space orks.
Never 'nuff dakka and we keep on coming like locusts.
Heh, good ol' persistence hunting. Mind, in real life it usually isn't quite that simple.
There'd usually be multiple guys along with some provisions and a simple club or spear to finish an animal off quickly without getting in thrashing range. Even a downed, heat exhausted animal can tear you up in its death throes and lead to a maiming and death from infection.
Also, you won't last 3 days of jogging out in the savanna heat. Only 1-2 without any water provisions. And you'd burn like paper if you didn't have dark skin. (Light skin exchanges protection from the sun for providing more vitamin D, which helps when you get less sun in cold areas)
Not that many animals wouldn't collapse in the heat after a few hours. And hopefully Rainbow Dash didn't froth up. I hear getting to that point is bad for horses.
One human? Relatively harmless.
One human with a pointy stick? A managable threat.
Thirty humans with pointy sticks? One of the deadliest animal threats in nature.
7664909 Alex has magic at the time he did this so if what you say is true that means he actually under performed compared to what his new body would have been able to do without it. And when Tirek stole ponies magic in the show they didn't react like a tax on their system had been lifted. They became lethargic.
7664980
It only really works in hot areas anyway - the exhaustion spoken of there is mostly heat exhaustion. Humans are custom-made to be able to perform well at temperatures that would have the average furry mammal collapse: the heats of an African noon. This is why we have no hair, but more sweat glands per square inch of skin than any other animal alive. A large part of the rest comes from our ability to eat and drink on the run. Animals need to stop to eat or drink. We, on the other hand, can use our hands and a container to eat and drink without ever slowing down.
In temperate areas, this endurance difference tends to be much less pronounced, more so in an untrained person. That matters quite a bit and is the main reason endurance hunting hasn't been widely practiced by most of humanity for tens of thousands of years. The average human wouldn't be able to keep running constantly for one hour, never mind three. That's nearly marathon endurance. Bows and thrown spears are just categorically superior.
7665011
Well, this story doesn't work entirely as the show... Think of it this way: the only reason ponies can be as strong, as fast or lift as much with telekinesis as they can is because they supplement their systems with magic. To do that, a lot of their body has to be designed to run on magic to begin with, though - and that needs to be fed by something. Some of it is taken from the planet's own magical field. The rest comes from the energy intake of the body.
Since humans don't have their body run on magic, they need to supplement far less of it. That means less feats of great strength, but it also means that we can keep going for longer with much less. The difference between a bulldozer and an economy car. My guess is that on Earth, they'd actually be weaker than a standard human.
7664713 Still waiting on your Let's Play....
7665017 The difference here is that humans do not NEED magic to continue to function like a pony does. That is why a human with magic would be so dangerous compared to a pony. None of those calories would be spent 'trying to get by'
Great chapter!
I especially loved that last line.
Awesome
7665039
Yes, but all that extra energy still has to come from somewhere, doesn't it? Magic isn't free. That it would be taken from our general endurance only makes sense enough. We would need that magic to do anything greater than what we already can, after all. It's just a different definition of "need."
Not to say that a human with magic wouldn't be scary, but I think of it more as turning us from long-distance runners to sprinters, with a gain in performance overall. A cheetah can run hella fast... but not hella long.
And that's what's called HUMANITY FUCK YEAH!
Your figures seem about right. Dash didn't have fear pushing her beyond her engineered limits (i.e. sprint until she's frothing), the circuit was stable, and weather didn't get in the way. But wow, am I impressed by Alex's constitution there. Great inspiration for treadmill day there, if slower and for not as long.
Persistence hunting, fuck yeah. And that's without touching the sling, bow and arrow, javelin, and other such ranged weapons. After all, nothing else hunts from a distance.
We started off as scavengers, but we didn't respect our limits and went beyond. And now I wanna see how ponies digest and adapt this line of thought for their own sake.
I see what you did there.
7665056 Yes Magic isn’t free but, again, humans do not require magic to function. That is the key here.
Think of it like two buckets. One bucket has a hole in the bottom and the other has a tap valve. Even if the human’s bucket is smaller over all, every single drop of ‘water’ would go into throwing fireballs or lifting heavy things, while the ponies have to replace what is constantly draining from it. And while, yes, the human’s natural endurance would be compromised if they tired running while carrying something it would not usually be able to lift, or run faster than it should be able to, therein lays the rub. the human doesn't have to do those things.
In the case of the bulldozer analogy. It's more like a bulldozer that burns fuel even when it's not moving and an economy car that can suddenly expend it's fuel at an accelerated rate to become as strong and heavy as the bulldozer for an equivalent period of time.
So human endurance is greater than ANY other races in the galaxy?
7665132
Well, at that point, it kind of depends on what Knight Breeze does with it. I don't think you could turn suddenly having this extra part to your metabolism seamlessly on and off at will. There's presumably a reason the ponies have to work this way, but that's just conjecture on my part.
7664819
No, we are more like the Slendermen of Nature.
7665174 personally I'd guess it's going into fueling their Cutiemark since according to the boast busters episdoe, 'ponies usually only have a small amount of magic that relates to their special talents'.
I personally subscribe to the idea that ponies are somewhat like savants when it comes to magic.They are very adept in a very narrow field and rather than being extremely powerful on a relative scale, what they do have is extremely specialized. But that's just my guess.
"Dear Princess Celestia,
Today I learned I would rather be eaten alive by ravenous feral dragons than hunted by a half-starved human.
Sincerely,
Rainbow Dash.
P.S.
Your guards in the weight room agree."
7665200
That's pretty much canon, really. It's made very clear that the average unicorn can only do a very narrow range of spells related directly to their talent. Twilight is just the exception because her talent is magic, period.
Ah, endurance hunting. May not be quite as efficient outside equatorial climates, but damn if it's not terrifying. RD got a taste of that, first hand. I bet she has quite the healthy respect for humans as predators, now.
I liked how Alex put it. Not endurance or resistance, but determination as our most powerful weapon. Rather poetic.
That is pretty much how it worked. Ancient Humans jogged their prey to death then clubbed them with rocks.
This chapter brought to you by the "Humans are the real monsters"
Meanwhile in Equestria; http://i.imgur.com/9NYr3T6.jpg
Here is a long tumblr post about humanity and our oh **** what?! http://imgur.com/gallery/hINj1xf
populace.
Yay update
Good catch on units. You could get them, though. It just takes some things they don't have. (Among them:a proper human body, if you want approximate Imperial; inches, hands, feet, cubits, yards all sort of being based on body measurements.)
Temperature is dead easy…if you have STP, which is not guaranteed.
Seconds based on atomic half-lives. Distance can be found by speed-of-light from there. You could get grams if they have isotopic materials science and a way to count atoms. Meters through water density is also viable, but again, atmosphere pressure might bother. Charge is a multiple of electron charge.
Radians and steradians are easy math.
Candela:hahahhahahahahaha good buckin' luck.
And some assumption that magic is not screwing with any of this.
But you'd have to REMEMBER the conversion factors from base quanta. Then again, he has a semi-computerized brain…
Twenty miles an hour is the top speed of most humans in an all-out sprint. (Usain Bolt actually got close to 28mph)
The adjustments the aliens did to him essentially made that his "marathon cruising speed", about twice that of a normal human, but still impressive. However, only up to about half of Khan Noonien Singh's ability.
Being hunted by a human must be a lot like running from a slasher villain. Even though you're going all out and he's only walking, he's still always RIGHT BEHIND YOU when you look.
I like it.
vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/tomska/images/7/77/I_LOVE_IT.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20131127110654
YEAAAH NEW CHAPTER!
I love this story.
Hah, gotta love some good ol' HFY, I hope it's gonna be a thing for a few more chapters. It's always a good bit of fun seeing ponies be impressed like that.
7665307 "Populus" means "the people" in Latin.
Awesome chapter, and something little here, in spirits of the chapter <---- Dashy def shocked
7665591
Son of a bitch you beat me to it. None-the-less a solid point. In my mind that speech is what made the ponies Blanche.
This is just what happens, when you prey races suddenly find yourselves sponsoring an enhahanced alien apex predator; you get impressed at how subtly awesome a normal member of their race truly is. Nigh infinite potential is with a species able to manipulate their own own genes, after an existence not even half of a million years old, able to make a huge swath of land uninhabitable in an hour from anywhere on the planet is several decades less, and capable of compiling our entire race's knowledge in a system accessible from anywhere in a device that fit in out palm, which weighs less than a pound, and can systematically hunt other species to extinction so efficiently, that we're genuinely surprised that our billions of numbers haven't been made the only species of animal life left, save bred livestock...
tl;dr: humanfellating that belongs in the group, Humans are Superior.
7665674 Blanche?
Three weeks actually.
7665568
We're not using Latin.