I'm a man inside a suit, my enemies call me a Dead Man walking. I wish I was, I've killed someone close to me and I didn't know until it was too late. Now I reside in another world, one filled anthropomorphic ponies.
I'm no Prophet, I'm no Alcatraz, Tin man, Zombie, Dead man and certainly not a machine. I'm a human or was but I have the spirit of one still and as long as I live, I will protect the innocent even if they are Anthropomorphic ponies.
My name is Samuel Rodriguez, I was a First Lieutenant in the U.S.M.C. Now I live a new world, one with little to no technology and magic.
"And there's a little more of that coming up. So, Gary, who do you like?"
"Well, I'll tell you so far, I like what I'm seeing here in New York!" Manhattan appeared on the screen. The city looked amazing back then. The sidewalks were full people going to work, the occasional traffic jams and family owned businesses
"They got a pretty strong team as usual. That's in the eastern and the western. And I'm liking San Francisco. But Los Angeles has the sleeper." New York, The Big Apple, The city that never sleeps. Home to the largest building in the Unites States and Lady Liberty.
On the sunniest of days, children would go on to the park and play with their friends or simply have a family outing
Several images of New York pop up as the news report goes on, including wide shots and birds eye views of the city, along with a street cam shot and a park with several children kicking a ball.
"Okay. So, we're looking at a New York, San Francisco at the finals or possibly L.A. You heard it here first, folks! We'll call Gary in at the end of the season. Heh heh. That's all for sport. Back to you guys in the studio."
"Thanks for the workout!"
"Thanks guys. And that's not all we're following. Here's Dan at the health desk."
Shot from a newscam with an ambulance in a quarantine zone.
"Three more employees at their Time Square headquarters have been diagnosed with-" Another newscam video. Several civilians are walking through a street. A fire truck with its sirens blaring speeds through a street. Another news channel report comes up with a shot of Crynet HQ.
"Crynet have denied reports of a biochemical leak at their midtown unit. Parent company Hargreave-Rasch were unavailable for comment." Another firetruck with sirens blaring goes speeding through a street. A clip of Dr. Nathan Gould comes up on SBC news.
"So far, there are 127 laboratory confirmed cases, but due to the speed of infection-" A wide shot of a crossroad from a helicopter comes up with a crowd of people milling in it.
"All transport routes have now been severed as C.E.L.L.-" A picture of gasoline prices comes up on BBS news.
"Gasoline threatens to break the dreaded 200 dollar-" A shot of C.E.L.L. enforcement officers with riot shields securing an area in the city, with a red smoke flare in the middle of the street. Another shot shows them dragging a dead civilian on SBC news.
"We need to reinstall trust in our law enforcement agencies." Another shot on NYNC shows a street full of cars, ambulances, and firetrucks, all crowded together in a traffic jam. Another BBS news shot shows a large crowd of protesters yelling at a group of C.E.L.L. enforcement officers, with a purple smoke flare on the ground.
"Where is our military?" Another BBS video shows several C.E.L.L. enforcement officers, quarantine officials, and firefighters attempting to gather up and prevent infected people from escaping. A NYNC shot shows several crowds of rioters from LA, Chicago, and Seattle. More shots from LIVE videos show civilians running and yelling.
"They're coming! They're coming!" Chaos resumes as firefighters, C.E.L.L. enforcement officers, and regular police officers attempt to round up rioters all over the city. As the riots get more frequent, C.E.L.L. enforcement officers give up and simply begin shooting rioters.
System Rebooting Vital signs; nominal Injuries; None Scanning for Foreign Contaminant Alien spore Found Scanning Alien Tissue Sample
My vision was filled with images of the Alien spore that coursed around my DNA. I didn't feel infected nor did I come across any infected personnel.
I am First Lieutenant Samuel Rodriguez of the Marine Corps. My mission was to find and extract a VIP by the name of Nathan Gould.but that didn't go as planned.
Me and my squad were dropped off in Brooklyn in the middle of a riot. My younger brother, Captain James Rodriguez was supposed to beach near the statue of Liberty but was ambushed by the invaders.
When I first heard that James, my own little brother died, I knew I had to make them pay, so I left my squad and headed straight to New York City.
As I did, I've been getting reports of a man wearing a highly advanced suit running around the city, taking down C.E.L.L and the Ceph alike. This man showed that he was a danger to mankind if he were to get out of the city.
The Tin Man is what they called him and sometimes Prophet but I knew someone needed to take the menace down. So I followed his tracks up to Manhattan.
There I took my chance and took him by surprise. With nothing but a SCARAB assault rifle and Glock, I managed to do it and shot him in the head but before I left, I wanted to see who the man behind the mask was.
When I took of that mask, I felt my whole world fall apart. The man was James, there he was, dead in a pool of his own blood.
I hugged the corpse, crying out my apologies while doing so. I've murdered my own brother, I never thought I'd ever do it but I did and I wish I never did.
I had closed his lifeless eyes before reciting the prayer for Our Holy Father. Just as I finished, I heard someone speaking through his helmet.
Putting the helmet on, I saw a Heads Up display pop up and a picture of Nathan Gould was on the top left, telling a man named Prophet to meet him in his lab.
I took off the helmet and looked at James, seeing his Dog tag around his neck before yanking it off and putting it in my pocket. After a minute of thinking I thought that the least I could do was to finish whatever it is he started and donned the suit.
It hurt when I put it on, it was almost like it was fusing with me but as I put on the helmet and looked down at myself, I saw that I looked unprepared for anything, so with that it mind, I decided to add a few things to the suit. After adding a few things, I left to find Dr.Gould’s Lab. I've promised our little sister, Alice a better future and I've already broken that promise and I will not stop until the future is better.
Cutting to a few days later, today, I was heading towards Time square to help with the evacuation. Colonel Barclay, the head of the Evacuation had reported major Ceph movements near Time Square and were closing in on them.
When I arrived, I was already too late and it was a bloodbath. Seeing this didn't stop me from joining the fight. I’ve fought bravely along with the remaining Marine soldiers until three V-Tols arrived guns blazing.
It only gave us a few seconds before Pingers broke through the barricades. I tried to hold them off but was blown away by a blast of the Pingers weapon.
Nearly dead on the floor, I heard Barclay call out for me, yelling at me to get on quick. So with the remaining strength I had, I pushed myself up and jumped onto the ledge of the ramp.
I was slipping and Barclay saw this before taking my hand and trying to pull me up. The Pinger wasn't idle long enough for us to escape and looked at us.
As the Pinger fired and hit the left wing, I started to slip further down and saw that Barclay was as well, so I knew what I had to do.
“Major.” I said gaining his attention.
“They need you more than they need me but remember my name, Sentinel.” I said before letting go of his hand and began to fall. As I faced downwards, I saw that a Spire was erecting right below me.
I closed my eyes waiting for my inevitable demise before everything turned white.
Meanwhile in another World
Canterlot, a city for the rich and home to the two deities who rule the night and day.
Today was supposed to be a tremendous occasion. The Princess of Love, Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armor were to be wed today. Key word, were.
Armor’s little sister, Twilight Sparkle and her friends were invited to the wedding but Twilight wanted answers. She did not know who this Cadenza was until she was revealed to be Twilight Sparkle’s old Foalsitter, Cadence.
But something was a foot, Cadence was different, mean, bossy and supposedly controlling Shining Armor with a spell. Twilight noticed her drastic change and had informed her friends only for them to not believe a word Sparkle said.
Defeated, she left to wander the halls of the Palace and had met up with Cadence only this time she was revealed to be an imposter and trapped Twilight in the Crystal Caverns along with the real Cadence.
Having found the real Cadence, she used a spell to take them both to the doors of the wedding and burst through them. The imposter, seeing the real Cadence revealed her identity as Chrysalis, Queen of The Changeling race.
Celestia finally seeing her grave error fought the Queen but lost. Twilight and her friends quickly made their way towards the Vault, to grab the Elements of Harmony but were captured and brought back to the Queen.
“You won't get away with this! Twilight and her friends will–” Cadenza was rudely interrupted by the large doors opening, revealing Twilight and her friends captured by the Changelings.
“You were saying? You do realize the reception's been cancelled, don't you? Go! Feed!” The Queen declared as she looked over the balcony, seeing her plan in action. Laughing, The Queen turned to look at Twilight's friends.
“It's funny, really. Twilight here was suspicious of my behavior all along. Too bad the rest of you were too caught up in your wedding planning to realize those suspicions were correct!” The Queen stated before erupting into laughter.
“Sorry, Twi. We should've listened to you.” Applejack, one of Twilight's best friends and the Element of Honesty apologized.
“It's not your fault. She fooled everypony.” Twilight stated in defeat.
“Hmm, I did, didn't I? This day has been just perfect The kind of day of which I've dreamed since I was small Everypony I'll soon con-” The Queen was interrupted by something crashing through the roof, landing in the center of the room.
Everyone heard the noise of something crawling out before anything was said, the Queen saw red in the dust before it settled, revealing a very tall stallion wearing a set of strange armor. Everyone was utterly shocked and confused, even the Queen herself was at a loss for words. The Queen, not knowing this stallion, commanded a drone to get rid of him.
As the drone came into close proximity with the stallion, he attacked with such speed that would rival Rainbow Dash's. The kick sent the drone onto the wall before sliding down onto the floor, lifeless.
Two word, only two word could be heard through the silence.
“Hold on for a second, Alice.” I said as I helped mom out of the car. It was veteran's day and we were heading towards Dad's grave. Mom had been diagnosed with Dementia, she had been forgetting certain times in her life and can't focus or pay attention before being distracted by the smallest of things.
Before we found out it was Dementia, I had found her cooking dad's favourite dinner and set the table for five. I asked her who's the fifth person she expected and her answer confused me and Alice, saying that she was expecting Dad to come back home from work.
We had to explain to her that Dad had been dead for more than three years and she didn't take it well. After I had talked about it with James and Alice, we all came to an agreement to take her to the hospital.
That all happened a year ago and since then, I had dropped out of school to take care of her and the rest, meaning I had to cook, do laundry and even sometimes feed mom the food I cooked. I'm no chef but the semester of culinary class came in handy.
Today, she asked where we were going dressed in black and I told her for the fifteenth time that we're going to see dad. I could tell that she doesn't remember his death so she agreed in going along.
I had to walk alongside her so she wouldn't wander off again. As I rounded up a corner with mom, I saw Alice and James staring down at a familiar grave. I walked up to it and so did mom, I knelt in front of the stone, seeing that dad's name faded off only leaving his last name. I took out a permanent marker before popping the cap and wrote Ben on the faded stone marking.
I couldn't help but smile a little bit.
“Wish you were here, dad.” I heard my baby sister Alice say before sniffling. I looked over to James, he didn't show it but I could tell he wished the same. Me, I can't say the same, he hasn't done anything for me to miss him but he was my dad and I loved him anyway. I heard Alice start reciting Our Fathers prayer.
As Alice and James recited the prayer, mom leaned over to me.
“We'll all do something we’d regret.” She said before jumping into the prayer halfway. I didn't know if she was delusional and had said some nonse.
“Why did you do it?” I looked over to James, instead of seeing a sixteen year old James, I saw a twenty five year old Alcatraz with a hole through his head. I looked for Alice and mom but found that our surroundings changed and so did my attire.
“You should've known it was me in the suit.” I looked up again, seeing James now wore the suit. I felt tears well up as I realized what he was talking about.
“James, I-I didn't know, I'm sorry...p-please.” I said, struggling to contain a few sobs as blood started leaking out of the helmet. He took a step forward, causing me to move backwards.
This kept happening until my back hit a wall. James was just a foot away from me.
“So you're the new guy, eh?” I heard a different voice. I looked around and found nothing before setting my gaze at James.
“Welcome to the future, soldier.” I heard the same voice before everything went white.
I opened my eyes and was greeted with total darkness, I tap the helmet a few times before the HUD activated. I don't know where i am and I'm sure I died back at Times Square, impaled by Spore Spire. Now I'm in this dark room.
My vision was blurred as the suit integrated video footage into my memory. The suit was on autopilot, not surprising really, my first encounter with this feature was when I was knocked out by a Ceph Devastator.
The suit fell through a roof of a large room and stood in the middle before taking down a human looking insectoid thing that tried sneaking up behind it. After that more tried to apprehend the suit but were either punched, kicked or ripped apart by the suit and when it almost did the same to what I could assume was the leader but stopped when she started sobbing out apologies. After she called off her army, the suit powered down but with what I saw, I guess I was hauled off somewhere.
After I regained my vision, the suit was half way in powering back up. As soon as the HUD displayed it's normal information, I tried to stand up but found myself very exhausted to move and stayed on the floor with my back on the wall.
Analysing Sample Tissue
I ignored the suits message before almost falling asleep. My eyes instantly snapped open as the sound of a cell door opened.
It was too dark for me to see anything.
Nanovision Enabled
Everything soon changed and I could see the heat signatures of everything emitting around me. I saw four signatures coming towards me, I didn't try to do anything because the suit didn't recognize them as threats, at least not yet anyway.
“Are we even sure it's safe to be near it, princess?” I heard a male voice.
“Captain, we're able to handle ourselves if this stallion shows hostility.” I heard a regal voice. I looked over to them again and saw one of them near my visor.
“Twilight, I'm sure he doesn't appreciate you invading his personal space.” the regal voice said before the smaller signature was pulled back almost as if by magic.
“Should we wake him, sister?” I heard another regal voice mention.
“I'm already awake.” I said through the helmet, surprising everyone. I turned off Nanovision as I noticed the energy was almost depleted.
“Excuse the inconvenience but could we ask for a bit of your time, we wish to know about you.” I heard one of them say. I shrugged my shoulders before being blinded by a golden light.
“Damnit lady, warn me!” I said as I raised my hand to block out the light.
Threat Detected
The suit tracked a spear inches away from my face.
“Watch your mouth, you're talking to the princess.” I heard the same male voice, I looked at the iron spear before grabbing it. I gave it a squeeze, earning the sound of metal being bent before a loud snap was heard. I tossed the half of the spear away before standing up and looking at the one threatened me, seeing human shaped horse...no, I'm sure he's a pony. Looking around, I saw that the others were also ponies, Anthropomorphic ponies. One of them, a purple horned woman looked at me with excitement as she held a note and pen. I then turned to the stallion, I think that's the term.
“When you threaten me, make sure you have a J.A.W.” I growled at him. He only stared as his broken spear with dilated eyes and a blank expression before dropping what was left of the spear and started walking out the room.
“Buck it, I don't want to deal with anything today.” He said before he turned left after exiting. I heard someone sigh.
“I told him to stay with Cadence but he insisted on guarding us while we conversed.” I saw that it was a tall alabaster mare with both a horn and wings. I'm too exhausted to even want to question the reasoning behind this.
“You wanted to talk, so talk.” I said to them. I saw another winged unicorn mare, smaller and darker than her companion. She glared at me before sighing as the other one nudged her. She then raised her hand as it shone in a dark aura and soon after, four chairs were dragged over to us. That..that was not normal. This isn't normal. Then again, not so long ago I was fighting in New York against squid like aliens threatening humanity.
“Sir, are you alright?” I heard the tall one ask and I nodded before taking a seat.
“It is impolite to hide your identity from us, especially us.” The midnight one said. I chuckled before leaning backwards while crossing my arms.
“Too fucking bad, I'm just one of those types of people.” I said to her, earning another glare. The lavender mare, stopped being so giddy and looked at me in an odd way before saying.
“Ponies. You mean ponies.” She said. I sighed before leaning forwards onto my chair, placing both my hand under my chin after clasping them together.
“Say that again, I couldn't quite catch that.” I growled out. She reeled back and his behind her notepad and I straightened back up.
“First, where are all my things?” I asked, wanting to know of the whereabouts of my gear.
“There right here, we don't know what they are and couldn't see if it was a weapon.” The Alabaster mare said. My gear floated towards me in a golden aura before being gently placed onto the ground beside me. A J.A.W, Hammer Handgun and a Spec Ops SCARAB along with a few grenades.
“Second, Where am I?” I asked. I'm taking this nice and slow, I'm already freaking out.
“You are in Canterlot.” The Midnight blue mare said. It sounded familiar but I couldn't place my finger on it.
“Country?”
“Equestria.”
“World?”
“Equis. How do you not know this?” The alabaster white mare said. Oh dear Lord above! I'm in a whole different world!? How!?
“That's because I don't belong here. I'm from a planet called Earth. I died for my country and I find myself here!? Of course I wouldn't know anything!” I yelled out in anger. This doesn't make any sense, I was impaled by the Spire.
They looked at me like if I was a madman.
“Tia, I think this Stallion hit his head a little too hard.” The Midnight blue mare said. Stallion? What.
“Can I have a mirror?” I asked, dreading the image that I would see through the mirror. The Alabaster white mare nodded and made one appear out of thin air before handing it to me.
I looked into it without taking my helmet off and saw a very noticeable difference. My left eye began to twitch before moving my free hand towards the helmet and turned it to the right, earning a loud click before pulling it off. It's official, I fucking hate this place already.
Instead of a face of a twenty year old latino male, I saw light brown fur stallion staring back at me. He had brown eyes and a darker brown hair. His scars never left, showing even through the fur but that image was soon broken with the mirror broke. Pulling my fist back and scraping the glass shards off my hand, I stood up.
“Name.” I said to them. I was beyond angry right now and just wanted to get out of here. I grabbed my helmet and put it under my arm as I looked at the three mares in front of me.
“I'm Princess Celestia, Co-Ruler of Equestria and raiser of the Sun.” The Alabaster mare said. I snorted at the last part before turning to the other.
“I'm Princess Luna, Co-Ruler of Equestria and raiser of the Moon.” The Midnight blue mare said. I then turned to the last one, making her cower from my gaze.
“Name.” I repeated. I heard an audible gulp from her before she straightened back up.
“I'm Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia's personal student.” The lavender colored mare said before I put on the helmet. The suit, knowing full well what to do, already scanned for a structural weakness in the room I'm in. I grabbed my things and strapped them onto the vest I wore over the suit.
“It would've been nice to meet you, but it isn't and it never will be. So now.” I started as I walked towards the wall the suit was pointing at.
Maximum Power
With that I kicked the wall, earning the sound if it cracking. I kicked it again, further cracking the wall while the three mares were utterly shocked at my strength while this time I punch the wall, making a whole and allowing the debris fall. I took a quick look down and the suit calculated the height, 829.8 m.
“They call me Sentinel.” I said before jumping off and praying to God almighty that I would survive. I waved my arms in a circular motion as I fell. Half way down, I heard the suit.
Maximum Armor
And with that I did the only thing I could do. Try to go for the superhero landing. Once on the floor, I straighten back up before wincing in pain. I saw a forest in from of me and with in sight, I started walking towards it before finally breaking into a full sprint after feeling my leg was good as new.
I heard a faint beep as a pulse emitted from the suit, scanning the area around to display a map. The scan could reach up to one hundred miles max (fifty minimum), and I could see in the map that I was far away from the mountain.
In fact, I took this as a good sign and tried to relax while walking. The forest actually helped, with the birds singing, flowers blooming, the sound of the leaves rustling through the wind it all helped me calm down.
Despite how peaceful the forest was, it didn't make me forget my predicament. I'm M.I.A, I should be dead. I was impaled through the heart into my spine then out my back by the Spire.
I feel like I'm forgetting something, but the longer I think about it the more my head hurts. I had found a cool little cave that I decided to use as a camp, and went to get some wood - I can survive without fire because of the Nanosuit, but I like to see without using Nanovision.
I placed my weapons in the cave, including the J.A.W and SCARAB, but kept the Hammer with me just in case. It took me awhile to find dry wood (I guess it rained not too long ago), but after scavenging enough, I went back to the cave and set up a neat little camp fire with the rocks surrounding the twigs and sticks before taking out a lighter.
I looked at the lighter and read the name that was written on the side - Ben. I shook my head before lighting the flame and inching the lighter close enough to the stack of sticks and twigs.
After a few fruitless tries, the sticks finally caught on fire and the cave was lit in a bright light. I sat down and placed my arms on my knees before taking the helmet off, shutting down the HUD before pulling it off.
I held the helmet in front of me, seeing my reflection on the red visor. I still had the scar over my eye, on my right cheek and a triangular shaped scar from a fight I had with Ceph that had managed to punch off my helmet before it went down. I sighed before placing the helmet next to me on the ground.
“This...this takes the cake, I thought I've experienced the worst, nope.” I said before burying my face into my hands, feeling the cold nanofiber of the suit.
Meanwhile, back in Canterlot
The two princesses were at a loss for words for what they had witness only an hour ago. Twilight Sparkle being the very intelligent one, almost smarter than her teacher but she wasn't quite there yet, tried (and failed) to come up with a logical explanation for the strength that the stallion known as Sentinel showed in the holding cell.
He even dropped down to the forest, survived and ran away. It was just an impossibility without magic - and he was an Earth Pony for Celestia’s sake!
“Tia?” Luna called out for her dear sister. Celestia turned to her baby sister, waiting to hear what she has to say.
“Shouldn't we try to look for him?” Luna suggested. Celestia pondered at this, for all they know this Sentinel could wipe the floor with anyone that dares to annoy him and that troubled the Sun Deity.
“Alright, but we must be careful with him and send only our strongest elites-” The elder sibling was cut off by her sister.
“I meant search for him ourselves, I'm sure that if he were to attack us, we would overpower him.” Luna said, clarifying her earlier suggestion. Celestia was about to answer but was cut off by a loud pop. Looking back around the room they sat in, she noticed that Twilight was gone. Celestia hoped that she wasn't going to do what she thought Twilight is doing, namely looking for Sentinel.
Celestia stood up from her chair and was about to follow her student but felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at her sister.
“If Twilight wants to do this, let her. Let's see where this will go.” She said. Celestia looked back at the spot she last saw Twilight before sitting back down. Praying is one thing Celestia rarely ever does but every time her faithful student is facing something dangerous, Celestia would be praying for any Gods or Goddesses for Twilight's safety. This time, however, she would pray more than she ever had before.
I stared at the fire for God knows how long. I just don't want to do anything, I give up. I've broken two promises and the worse part is I won't be able to see my sister again.
I had been spinning the helmet around on my hand for entertainment, but doing so only made sitting around all the more unbearable. This suit was supposed to save the lives of millions and take out the Ceph threat - but how was it going to do that if I'm in another world wearing the goddamn thing.
After an hour of literally nothing to do, I decided to form a map of the entire forest just because I could. I took out my Hammer and put on my helmet before venturing into the forest while the sun was setting. I looked at my hand before opening it and showing a small menu, moving my fingers slightly, I chose the proximity scan module before hearing the suit.
Pulse Ready
With that I started heading west, towards a lake. On the way, I could hear growls and snarls around me, likely the sound of predators examining me or something, because this lasted for six minutes before they left. I finally arrived at a large lake just as the sun finally set, allowing the moon to slowly rise up and take it's place.
As I was inches away from the actual water, I knelt down and took off my helmet before taking a nice handful of water. It was nice and refreshing, but did nothing to sate my hunger. Hearing the rustling of bushes nearby, I quickly put the helmet on and watched as a large beast walked out of the tree line headed straight for the water. It lowered its head before drinking from the lake’s contents.
The beast had a body of a lion, a scorpion's tail, and a pair of dragon-like wings. Yet another big what the fuck about this place. It turned to look at me and before growling and taking an aggressive stance. I stood my ground, ready to defend myself. The beast pounced and I stepped to the side, as it landed roughly on the ground, I took hold of its tail and heard the suit talk.
DNA Sample Acquired Processing DNA Analysis complete Integrating New DNA to Suit: 75%
I gave the tail a mighty pull and smashed the beast onto floor in front of me before doing so again three time before the suits energy was drained - which caused me to feel the beast’s actual weight - before dropping it, head first onto the ground. As soon as the energy in the suit was restored, I stood on the weakened beast's neck. I applied more pressure before earning a satisfying crack, along with the beast going limp.
Before I could even move my foot back, I felt the suit morph and it was painful. It felt like being shot fifty times over, it was so painful, I got on one knee as I clutched onto my chest. I held my hand where I could see it, and watched as the Nanofiber was growing into large, sharp claws. The same thing with my other hand. I grasped my head in pain before falling onto the floor.
DNA Integration Complete Stalker Mode
The pain left just as the suit announced that. I couldn't move, my heart felt like it had stopped. Sudden I felt a jolt of electricity course through my body, causing it to twitch before another jolt was felt. After the second time, my vitals stabilized and returned back to normal and I was able to get up. As I saw up and was about to take off my helmet, I saw my hand grew an insanely large claw. I was surprised, the suit added another mode. I, however, had several questions - ones like why now, and why did I get by taking a sample from whatever just attacked me? Looking over the changes further, I saw two mechanical tendrils extend into my line of sight. After feeling them and examining them fully, I realized that I had full control of both of these things.
I turned to look at the corpse of the dead beast before decided to bury it as a sign of respect. After digging a hole with my claws and then placing the body inside, I began walking around the forest while emitting pulses on the way, allowing my mini map to expand with each pulse wave.
I stopped as the pulse detected a few signs of life. I wanted to test the new feature to suit and decided to see if I was extremely agile, as the structure of the suit now seemed to imply. With that in mind, I jumped onto a tree branch and started running along the branches.
Twilight Sparkle was known throughout Equestria as Princess Celestia's personal student and a very intelligent mare. If Ponies were to examine the situation she placed herself in, they would put Dangerously Curious along with her other titles.
Not only had she left her teacher to get answers from the strange new stallion himself, a task that many would disregard as suicidal, but she also didn't notice her exhaustion from the effectively-cancelled wedding merely hours prior. The teleportation spell was the last thing she did before collapsing on the grass. She had only just woken up, which was of course a bad thing for various reasons. The forest she had quickly transported to was none other than the Infamous Everfree Forest.
Once fully aware of her situation, she had noticed she was being dragged. Trying to move her arms, only to find them tied up behind her back.
“Me thinks this pony will be great for digging.” A raspy voice was heard before a chuckle.
“Shut up, Rex.” Another voice was heard. She looked down and saw that she was being dragged by two diamond dogs. Twilight didn't know what to do, for one this was her fault entirely and all because she didn't understand something that she thought was impossible, yet visibly made possible by an Earth Pony.
“I smells something, above us.” Twilight heard, curiously looked up and saw something that was straight out of nightmare as it dropped onto the two dogs. Two tendrils lowered themselves and took hold of both dogs before the mechanical nightmare took a closer look at them. It then turned to look at Twilight, making her cower in its gaze. The silence was broken by the dogs choking for air before they were dropped onto the floor.
“Don't let me catch you here again, or else.” The thing said, earning rapid nods from them both before high tailing it out of there.
Before Twilight could let out even a small breath of air she held, the thing turned to look at her before bending over to pick her up. Twilight, scared out of her mind tried to blind it with a flash spell. However, it didn't seem to even faze the thing before a voice was heard.
Energy Depleted Changing back to Default Mode
The claws and metal spikes of the thing shrunk into the body as well as the tendrils, only leaving a few plates of metal before finally the head changed into a familiar one. Before another word could be said, he picked her up and walked deeper into the forest without her consent. Twilight noticed her exhaustion while being carried to Celestia knows where before closing her eyes and fell asleep.
As I carried this mare, Twilight if I'm not mistaken, back to my little abode, I could hear snoring coming from her. I ignored her but I have to admit, her snores sounded very cute. As I reached the cave, I saw three wolves inside. At first, I understood the reason but then I saw that instead of skin and fur, they were made entirely out of wood.
After a few bites and scratches, I showed them true fear by crushing their leader’s head and letting them off with a warning. I guess they understood since they left seconds later, leaving the body of their leader behind for me to use as firewood.
I had taken off the suit for a few reasons, first and foremost being that I wanted to see my new body. It was actually fortunate that I had been wearing a white sleeveless shirt and a pair of boxers. Yes, I stripped down to my underwear to put on the suit. Though, now that I think about it, how did the suit give those enhancements while I wore clothes underneath the suit?
The suit was actually pretty easy to take off. The first time I put it on was like trying to put on that tuxedo you used in your wedding ten years ago, in other words, it was tight as hell trying to put it on.
Anyways, ever since I started wearing the suit, I've grown more and more dependent on the Semiautonomous Enhanced Combat Ops: Neuro-integration Delivery AI or SECOND for short. Now since I'm out of action for God knows how long, I might as well be myself without the armor.
I placed the armor next to my weapons before stretching my limbs. As I did so, I heard a few satisfying pops before letting out a sigh of satisfaction. That done, I looked down at myself, seeing a well toned body. It's good to know that I didn't lose any muscle because my god, it was hell to gain them in the first place.
I walked up to the sleeping mare on the opposite side of the cave, sleeping with the her back against the wall of the cave. I walked up to her and checked her temperature while seeing if she was injured. Once I was finished checking her for harm, my stomach started rumbling.
I groaned before walking back to the Nanosuit and grabbed the vest on the chest of the suit. Reaching inside one of the many pockets, I pulled out two MRE's. I sat directly in front of, and across from, the mare, staying vigilant while I ate. I yawned after taking the last bite, it was almost midnight judging by the moon at least. I sighed before closing my eyes. A few minutes of rest couldn't harm anyone, right?
Memory Sequence
Suddenly, a memory occurs. The burning shore on the Hudson River comes up. What's going on? James?
“Alcatraz. This is all I can do. It's all I can do for any of us.”
“You're my last shot here. Gould's last chance. Last chance for all of us. I'm used up. I'm a dead man walking. I'm contaminated.”
My surroundings changed and now I was inside a dockhouse. The man in the suit typed in a few things using the HUD.
“But you... you can finish this thing... you have to!”
He took off his helmet, revealing the face of Black man. Suddenly, my vision was filled with images of a battle.
“Welcome to the future son. Welcome to the war.”
The man said as he looked out the window. My vision flashed a limp James on the floor with the suit.
“Oh yeah... one last wish.... It won't let me go that easily. Symbioses. Gotta break the link.” The man said as he picked up a M12 Nova.
“I give you the suit. I give you my life. Promise me... Find Gould. It's all I can do now. You are all I can do.”
The gun was now raised up to his temple.
“They used to call me Prophet. Remember me.”
He fires.
I awoke from the memory to the sound of birds chirping. Opening my eyes, I saw that Twilight hadn't moved from her spot at all. I stood up and stretched before heading towards the suit and started to put it back on. In but a few moments, I was fully suited up and walked towards the sleeping mare with an MRE in hand. I shook her a few times, only managing to get a few incoherent mumbles from her. I rolled my eyes before shaking her even vigorously, finally earning the reaction I was trying to achieve.
She awoke with a startled yell before seeing me and screaming in fear before I clamped her mouth shut. I let go of her muzzle then unwrapped the MRE.
“Eat up.” I said, handing her the MRE. She hesitated before her stomach rumbled and took a bite.
“Eww, what is this!?” She yelled, spitting out the bits in her mouth.
“Supposedly it is Macaroni and Cheese.” I answered her. She looked at me before looking at the bar.
“This tastes nothing like Mac and Cheese.” She said in a slight angry tone. I chuckled before grabbing the SCARAB and checking it for ammo, seeing a full clip of forty rounds.
“I know but that's what they had to eat back home.” I mentioned before placing the SCARAB on my back along with the J.A.W.
Twilight looked at me as if I had revealed something important to her, is she really that type of person-er pony? Before she even had a chance to say anything, her stomach rumbled again.
“Eat it, it's the last thing of food I have.” I said as I picked up the Hammer and placed it in the holster on my left hip. Now that I'd started taking inventory, I had only four grenades and three rockets for the J.A.W. I also had only one extra magazine for both the SCARAB and the Hammer.
She looked at the MRE in disgust before shuddering and devouring it as fast as she could. She let out another shudder of disgust after she swallowed. I shook my head with a faint chuckle before opening my hand, activating the holo screen. I typed in a few things before the suit responded.
“What are you doing?” I heard her ask. I didn't answer, letting the suit boot up.
Systems Booted up Nanosuit V2.0 Accessing S.E.C.O.N.D Vital Signs: Nominal Injuries: None
It's good to be back, Marine. A shame we ain't going to be able to fight off the Ceph
“Prophet.” I muttered to myself. That voice, it sounds exactly like the man in the vision or memory I saw, Prophet. I turned around in time to see Twilight examining me.
She noticed me looking at her and took a step back, afraid of what I might do. I walked passed her, making her flinch as I did and stood in the exit of the cave, seeing the morning sky.
“Where am I?” I heard her break the silence.
“Don't know. All I do know is that it's a forest with weird creatures.” I answered. I turned my head slightly to look at her and saw her grasping her head in pain.
Scan Complete Designation: Twilight Sparkle Suffering from Extreme Fatigue Further Scanning required
“You look exhausted, why's that?” I asked her as I grabbed her arm just before she tripped.
“I can't use my magic, the invasion took a lot out of me and I guess teleporting here while suffering from Magical exhaustion could be the cause of my fatigue.” She said in a matter of fact tone, while I pretended to understand by nodding my head.
“Hey, why don't you take off your helmet?” She asked out of the blue. I let go of her arm, making her fall to the ground.
“I don't feel like it.” I said as I walked over her as she stood.up. I could tell she was glaring at me but I ignored her like I did Lockhart. I walked out of the cave and slid down the small slope, then looked back up to see her looking down at me.
“You coming or what?” I asked her. She closed her eyes before sliding down the slope rather uncontrollably. Once the slope stopped she almost tripped again but like last time I caught her.
She pushed me away as soon as she had gotten her balance. I rolled my eyes before walking towards the end of my map. While I walk, I could hear Twilight talk to herself while I heard fizzles behind me. I ignored any and all of her attempts to strike a conversation before finally arriving at the end. The suit emitted another pulse to scan the next 100 miles and showed an edge of the forest just in front of me, 20 miles away.
So the walk was spent in utter silence, most of the time. Twilight would at some point have a one sided conversation with herself. I made an immediate stop and had to grab to Twilight again before she fell into the large chasm. When she saw what she almost walked into, her face paled and wouldn't let go of my arm. After a few attempts, I had finally regained my arm from her clutches and ran towards the chasm.
As I reached the edge, I got ready and when it was time, I jumped. Flying over the chasm and roughly landing on the other side, I stood up and dusted myself off.
“Hey, what about me!?” I heard the annoying mare exclaim. I groaned before walking over to an oddly tall tree and took a firm hold of the bottom of the tree.
Maximum Power
I pulled up as hard as I could, earning snaps and cracks from the tree itself before I managed to lift it up from the ground. As I held it up, I had to balance myself before moving closer to the chasm. Once close enough, I let go. The tree fell and the top of it landed on Twilight's side while I held it in place. She carefully walked across, repeating to herself not to look down until she did, making her lose balance and fall onto the trunk of the tree. She closed her eyes as she screamed in fear of falling.
I carefully move my hands away before hopping onto the tree and walking over to her before getting her up and taking her across. Once we touched the ground, the tree slipped and fell into chasm. It took a while of Twilight having a nervous breakdown, but we eventually started walking again while she kept blaming me for everything that had happened. I have half the mind to give a slap but I'm better than that.
Another thirty minutes of silent walking, we finally made it out of the forest and was greeted by a very colorful town.
“Here's your stop. I hope you learned not to follow me.” I said as I turned back around, wanting to walk back into the forest.
“Wait, where are you going?” I heard her ask. I stopped and sighed.
“Don't know.” I answered. She took this as an opportunity, I'm sure of it.
“Then why not stay in town?” She asked. I thought about it and finally sighed before turning look back at her.
“No.” I said to her.
“Why not? It's certainly a lot better than the forest.” She said, trying to convince me. I narrowed my eyes under my visor as it scanned her.
“I have my reasons.” I said before back around. She stood in my way, making me growl at her to no avail.
“I'm trying to thank you for bringing me back safely and you're just straight up denying my gratitude.” She said with an angered look. I got closer to her face and I'm sure she could see my eyes through the crimson red visor.
“If you want to thank me, then leave me alone.” I said before pushing her out of the way.
Cloak Engaged
With that done, I quickly left the vicinity and just time too. I had noticed a group of mares getting closer as me and Twilight argued. I'd rather not have anymore people chasing me for anything, I've had enough back in New York.
In the forest of the Everfree all seems calm, the birds were chirping, the timberwolves were snoring and the sound of an arrow being launched into a poor innocent rabbit echoed through the forest. The arrow, while embedded into the rabbit's chest and stabbing its lungs, did leave a bit of a mess due to it being a little blunt.
Jumping down from a tree was a tall robotic stallion with a bow over his shoulders. He smirked at his messy work before picking it up by the arrow, taking the little corpse along with it.
“Sorry little guy but today you're my lunch.” The voice of the stallion muffled by the helmet he wore. Sentinel, as he now calls himself, had been in Equestria for a week and a half and spent those days finding out what his diet was, it was rather lucky that even changing species he stayed omnivore.
Though his week was mostly spent in the forest, he had actually paid close attention to the town nearby. He acted like a Guardian of the Forest, making sure that no one goes into the forest without actual survival skill or knowledge of the forest.
The mare, Twilight Sparkle, had proved to be a bit of a nuisance. She travels into the forest in search of him as well as getting into trouble by doing so.
Ranging from Manticore attack, Wooden wolves and even a weird chicken snake that had almost turned her into stone. Each time, Sentinel came and rescued her before leaving her again.
But there was one occasion in which Sentinel had found her in the forest, tired and weak. Sentinel always believed the safety of civilians lives matter more than his own and had taken her to another resident of the forest, Zecora.
During his stay in the forest, he and Zecora had managed to bump into one another and almost fought if weren't for Sentinel revealing himself. Since then both parties were acquainted with each other and treated one another like good neighbors.
When Twilight had awoken inside Zecora’s hut and asked how she got there, Zecora kept it a secret and answered with a lie. The same day Sentinel had noticed a large dome around the town outside of the Forest but ignored it before heading back.
Today was more like any other day of the week but the sun was blocked out by clouds, rain had started pouring down from the sky as soon as he entered his makeshift home.
The left wall of the cave had small holes in them, big enough to place his Hammer and C4’s. His weapons were neatly placed against the wall and on the right side of the cave were marks on the wall.
Each mark signified the days Sentinel has been trapped in this world. Thoughts of home where quickly leaving him and it worried him, he just wants to see his sister again. If for nothing else, than to make sure she's safe.
On the floor was the top half of the Nanosuit along with the helmet. Sentinel had taken it off with the intentions of resting after having lunch and speaking of lunch, the rabbit he caught was slowly being spun around above the fire by Sentinel.
A sigh escaped his lips, the meat was done cooking and it was ready to eat. Using the stick to hold the meat, he started eating like if it was a kebab. The meal only lasted ten minutes before it was all gone.
Sentinel walked out of the cave before sitting down on a large rock while the rain poured onto him. He didn't care if this would get him sick, he didn't care anymore.
His dark brown mane and coat soaked by the rain. He stared off into the distance as lightning sparked the skies, creating an electrical light show for all to see.
Ponyville, a town full of friendship and home to Princess Celestia’s personal student, Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Though a large invasion had occurred a week ago, the residents of the town hadn't panicked and even readied themselves for the worst but when news of the invading army surrendering reached them, life had returned to normal for most of the residents.
Twilight wasn't one of them. A week went by with dreams about the stallion. Everything about him had intrigued the librarian to the point of actually setting out to find him.
Having already attempted three times to find him, she had given up. Then Trixie showed up, demanding Twilight for a duel of magic.
She had lost and was forced to leave Ponyville. Twilight had ran into the forest while Trixie had been firing spells at her as she ran. She had ran into a tree, knocking her out cold and leaving a rather large bruise above her eye.
Today had been interesting to say the least. Nothing extraordinary, weird or dangerous has happened and it was an oddity in this town. Twilight flinched from hearing the loud thunder clap of the storm.
Looking out of the window, she saw the rain had poured down her window. She looked back down at her note book and saw the sketch she had been working on.
It was a sketch of Sentinel. As embarrassing as it might be to draw a stallion she barely even knows but she had a strange attraction to the stallion. Everything about him makes Twilight wonder what had the stallion been through.
And the suit. Knowing next to nothing, Twilight had wanted to know what it is made of and its prime directive. As far as computers for Equestria’s go, that suit can put it all to shame and more.
Another clap of thunder booked through the skies as lightning sparked the clouds. Twilight grumbled a few intangible mumbles as she stood up and closed her notebook before she stood up from her chair.
She looked over to her bookshelves filled with Astronomy books and her own personal notes. She walked over towards the shelf with her notebook in hand before placing it atop the shelf.
She knew Spike wouldn't dare read her personal journals or even her sketchbook but it never hurt to be sure. She then let out a loud yawn, feeling the after effects of the feast she had with her friends.
It was Pinkie’s 23rd birthday and she, along with the rest of her friends, had made reservations in the new five star restaurant in town. Of course the fun hadn't lasted long due to the coming storm but they've all had fun and even promised Pinkie another party in a few days to properly celebrate.
Shaking her head she walked out of her room, leaving the door open behind her and walked down the stairs. Arriving at the main room of the library, the library itself, Twilight saw Spike sitting cross legged on the floor with a Chessboard in front of him. His opponent was Owlicious - and by the looks of it, Owlicious was winning.
Twilight smiled lightly before making her way to the kitchen for a glass of water. As she made her way through the small hallway, her thoughts were back on Sentinel.
Arriving at the kitchen, she picked up a small glass cup before walking towards the sink. Turning it on, she poured water into the cup before turning the water off.
Taking a sip and sighing, she walked back out the the main room. She then walked past Spike and Owlicious once more before heading back upstairs to her room.
The skies were darkened by the dark clouds, lightning sparked the skies followed by thunderclaps. Celestia and Luna hadn't expected a storm of this magnitude.
Though one might hide at the sight of lightning, Celestia had found that watching the lightning spark and dance in the sky was quite the pass time on a rainy day like this.
Day court had been closed due to the storm and quite frankly, Celestia thought of this as a small blessing. She always hated attending the day court by the fact that most of the ponies who come for aid are selfish nobles asking for more wealth and such. The only times she enjoys the Day court are the times she sees a pony with an actual request.
Ever since the wedding more and more ponies came in asking for funding to help them repair their shops or homes. Blueblood had went ahead and helped Celestia with requests before setting out to help with the repairs.
Celestia stood on her balcony as the rain continued to pour down, soaking her dress, coat and mane but none of that mattered because she didn't have any meetings scheduled for today and had the rest of the day to herself.
She looked up at the clouds just a peculiar colored lightning bolt sparked out of the clouds. Narrowing her eyes, she paid close attention to the clouds before another strike of lightning sparked the skies, revealing the silhouette of a large Dragon.
Alarmed, Celestia then noticed another bolt of lightning spark out of the clouds, this time, striking a random building in Canterlot.
Running back inside her room, she quickly summoned a scroll and quill before writing an urgent letter to her faithful student.
Signing her name, she rolled up the scroll before sending it away in a green aura. Running back out to the balcony, she saw that the previously struck building was now lit a blaze.
Spreading her wings, she took off with a powerful flap and headed towards the beast.
‘Wet again, at least this time it isn't sewer water.’ Sentinel thought as he was now drenched in the rain. He had gotten tired of being outside and entered the cave again, noticing that the fire was burning out the wood.
He had been sitting down on the floor again near the fire as the storm raged outside. He took hold of the hand belonging to the Nanosuit before dragging the other half of the suit towards him. The suit opened up, ready for him to put it on and he did but left the helmet on the floor. As the last of the suit closed up, a loud thunderclap was heard through the cave.
Sentinel had stood up and walked towards the cave opening again, this didn't sound like normal thunder. Walking out, the only thing he could see were the clouds along with the occasional lightning.
Sentinel felt the suit do its magic as he noticed his vision slowly perfecting. With his perfect sight and another lightning strike, Sentinel caught a glimpse of a large silhouette as it came down.
Whatever it was, it landed somewhere in the forest and caused quite the tremor. After Sentinel felt the ground stop trembling, he quickly went to get his SCARAB and J.A.W before heading out of the cave.
If this was as interesting as Sentinel thought, then he’d be in for a wild ride.
Running and jumping through the forest as it continued to rain, Sentinel was getting closer with each leap and step. When he jumped off the last tree before a clearing in the forest, Sentinel saw a beast of legend. A Dragon.
Gun primed and ready he walked closer to the downed Dragon as mumbles and silent pleas were heard. As he reached the head of the dragon, he saw the face of great pain.
“Make it stop, silence the voices in me. Evil, pure evil bent on our demise.” The Dragon said, surprising the armed marine. Sentinel looked down, seeing its head laying on the ground.
“Explain.” Sentinel simple said. The Dragon complied, wanting to be free of the voices.
“Creatures of old. Technology more advanced than any of other country. Gelatinous beings will soon awaken and the world will burn to wipe all life.” The Dragon said as he winced his eyes shut. Sentinel was shocked, hearing a familiar description of the Ceph.
“It will begin with a plague, then the tremors and afterwards...death.” the Dragon said as it wheezed. Sentinel placed a hand on the dragon's forehead.
Alien pathogen found Containing...Containment Complete Assimilating Pathogen...Complete Alien Pathogen eradicated
He let out a sigh as the dragon's breathing was slowly going into a steady rhythm. The beast closed its eyes, wanting to rest as it already knew that this pony had helped it.
Sentinel stood up as he heard the sounds of wing flaps above him. Looking up, he saw the familiar figure of Celestia as she landed on the grass.
“I didn't expect to see you out here.” Celestia was the first to break the silence. Sentinel sighed and shook his head.
“I prefer to be at my peak and what way to do that then being out here.” He replied, turning around to face the princess. Celestia walked up to him and looked down at the resting Dragon.
“He caused property damage, you know.” Celestia said. Sentinel snorted at this.
“It wasn't itself up there.” Sentinel said to the princess beside him.
“Calling him an it is rather rude.” Celestia said with little annoyance. Sentinel shrugged in response before turning towards the direction of his camp.
“You know, me and my sister would like to get to know you a little better, maybe even give you an actual home.” Celestia said to the Marine. Sentinel stopped in his tracks.
“How will I know you won't just throw me behind bars again?” Sentinel asked the princess behind him. Celestia sighed. She knew that would come up eventually.
“We didn't know if you were an enemy or ally. We wanted to be sure you weren't a threat worse than Chrysalis.” The Princess said. Sentinel turned around, facing the princess again with the SCARAB in hand to not swing while he turned around.
“And what do I get if I agree?” Sentinel asked, crossing his arms. Celestia thought on this question.
“Anything, as long as it is in my power that is.” Celestia answered, unbeknownst to her, she made Sentinel smirk under his helmet at the answer.
“Alright.” He answered her offer. Sentinel then turned back around, confusing Celestia.
“Tomorrow here at noon, sharp. Bring your sister and Twilight Sparkle, I plan to only do this once.” With that, Sentinel vanished into the forest, leaving Celestia along with the slumbering Dragon. Spreading her wings, she looked at the dragon before flying back to Canterlot in incredible speed.
Leaving the slumbering Dragon in the clearing of the forest while it rained, she hoped that the dragon can take care of itself.
Danger. Danger. Suit Integrity at Twenty five percent Energy at ten percent Danger. Danger.
My visor was glitching as it kept showing the error. Through the message I can see the cause of my suits problems as it tried to bite me again, but holding his lower and upper jaws apart made it difficult to do so.
It was becoming extremely difficult to keep its jaws apart. I looked on the ground next to me and saw my Hammer. Looking back at the beast on top of me, the suit used a high pitched frequency - which got the desired effect from the beast.
It roared in pain and had let go of me. Looking over to it, I could see it trying to cover its ears using its paws. Quickly grabbing my Hammer, I then aimed at the beast and fired.
Two bullets fired, and two hits confirmed. Seeing two bullet wounds on its upper body, I quickly stood up and fired two more times this time hitting in more critical areas.
I had shot it through the side of the head and it fell limp on the floor and allowed me to catch my breath. Once I looked at the corpse, I could fully see that it was similar to the beast that I had killed before. A Manticore.
Taking a single step was rewarded with surge of absolute pain, making me fall to my knee. The manticore had gotten by surprise earlier.
I had just finished eating another rabbit when I was suddenly pulled onto the floor by a scorpion's tail, before being forcefully dragged out of the cave. Because it surprised me I couldn't do much to defend myself until it tried to bite my head - that's when I had held its jaws apart, but because it had strong jaws, the more I held them apart the more the suit’s energy would deplete and damage the suit itself.
It had been a day since the storm had passed, and I could tell that the forest couldn't give less than damn as nothing in the forest damaged or destroyed by the storm. I had taken a quick inventory check of my ammunition, and I had realized that I was running low on ammo for the Hammer.
I looked up at the sky, seeing the sun close to the center of the sky, and guessed that it was at least eleven fifty in the morning. Of course I haven't forgotten what happened yesterday, so seeing that it was almost noon, I began to make my way to the meeting point.
It was a long walk and after almost being monster chow mere moments ago, it only made it much longer. Because the suit was spending the remained energy to repair itself, it left me with the injuries from the fight.
As I walked (well, limped, rather) towards the meeting spot, I could already hear the sounds of flapping wings above me. I managed to catch a glimpse of what I could tell was a chariot.
I decided to speed up, and as it turns out, it was the most idiotic thing I had ever done. Receiving an immense surge of pain, I started regretting my decision and chose to stop beside a large tree and heal before traveling farther.
Suit Integrity at Seventy Percent Energy levels stabilizing Stabilisation Complete Energy at one hundred percent
Hearing this, I let out a grunt of pain as the suit began to heal my injuries. To be honest, the healing process hurts more than my actual injuries.
It wasn't long before the healing was done, and feeling more energetic than before, I began sprinting towards the meeting point. The suit could possibly outrun a car with enough momentum, but that may also just be me overthinking it.
As I ran, I saw a large boulder in my way and jumped over it. Getting some air from the jump, I positioned myself for landing and it worked. I landed on my feet like a cat.
I ran out of the forest and into the clearing, seeing the chariot with a few guards. Coming to a full stop, I saw the doors to the chariot open before the two royals and their guest walked out of the chariot.
“We thank you for escorting us, but this conversation is one of a private matter.” Luna informed the guards. Looking towards Celestia, the guards saw her nod before flying off. As they flew off, I tagged them to make sure.
“Now that we are alone, we can begin.” Celestia said. Both her sister and Twilight Sparkle nodded before looking towards me.
“We'll start with the question we both have.” I told them. Nodding, Celestia began first.
“Are you here to cause harm to my kingdom and it's ponies?” She asked with a serious tone. I rolled my eyes under my helmet.
“No. I never even intended to be here, I was supposed to be dead.” I answered with annoyance evident in my voice. Luna looked at me with a questioning look.
“You've mentioned before that you have died, how?” Luna asked. Placing a hand onto my chest, vividly remembering the spire’s entry point.
“That's none of your business.” My answer didn't seem to satisfy her curiosity as she frowned. Shifting my gaze towards the schoolgirl lookalike, I waited for her question.
“How were you able to survive the fall from Canterlot mountain?” Twilight asked with notebook and pen in her hands.
“You're looking at the reason. The suit is your answer.” I answered her. Celestia noticed my vague answers and frowned.
“You're not answering us truthfully.” She said out loud. Chuckling, I looked towards her.
“I have no reason to be truthful. You don't have my trust.” I told her.
“We're trying to gain your trust but you're making it incredibly difficult to do so.” She retorted in a slightly angered tone.
“Who said it was easy?” I asked her. This brought her to silence. “Without my trust, you three only have a single question each to ask me. If I see at a personal question then you'll get no answer, same rules apply for the suit.” I told them. Both royal sisters frowned at me.
“We accept those conditions.” Luna said after a brief moment of silence. Celestia nodded in defeat before Twilight asked me her question.
“Who are you? I mean we know your name but you act like a soldier who's been through tartarus and back.” She asked, making sure to further explain her question. Not seeing this as a personal question, I answered to the best of my abilities.
“That's because I am a soldier, a soldier who's willing to go through Hell for his country.” I answered, earning a questioning look from them. They didn't ask about what I said, not wanting to waste their one question.
“Twilight has told us that you had declined her offer in staying at Ponyville. Why is that?” Luna asked. Another non-personal question.
“Because living out here has kept me in fighting conditions, and I'd rather be ready for anything than sitting around and playing nice.” I told her. Seeing that she hadn't frowned, I guess she accepted my answer. Looking next to Luna, Celestia patiently to the side, knowing she had already asked her question.
“Questions aside, you mentioned that I could request anything that is within your power, correct?” I brought up, earning a nod from Celestia while both Twilight and Luna looked at her in surprise.
“Yes, that's correct.” Celestia answered. Nodding with a smirk under my helmet, I pulled out my holstered Hammer before I ejected the magazine from the weapon, and removed three .50 Compact rounds from the magazine itself.
“First, I need you to duplicate these three little guys.” I said as I showed them the bullets. “Six duplicates to be exact.”
Celestia did just that, and duplicated six more in my hands. Putting them back inside the magazine, I then showed the magazine itself.
“As well as three more of these.” Without delay, Celestia duplicated the magazine three times, passing them to me before I put them away on the satchel of the suit.
“Will that be all?” The royal asked. Thinking about it, I nodded. I have more weapons, but I hadn't used them yet, so I didn't need more ammo.
“Will you be coming with us back to the palace?” Luna asked, gaining a nervous look from her sister. Narrowing my eyes at her, the suit’s visor displayed her vitals before I blinked.
Thinking about it, the more I deny them the more they'll keep pestering me about it. So, with a sigh, I answered.
“Alright, fine. I just need to grab my things and-”
“No need, we will have guards transport your belongings to the palace.” Celestia said, cutting me off. Confused, I then wondered what she meant before remembering the two guards I had tagged. I chuckled at the realization, they're smarter than they look.
“You knew where I've been the entire time.” I said with a smirk under my helmet. Celestia gave a nod.
“Yes, a tracking spell I cast yesterday during our encounter.” She said with a smirk. Twilight looked at Celestia in disbelief while Luna looked surprised.
I had no answer to that but to clap, I had to give her credit for that stunt.
“Let's not waste time, my guards should already be at the palace with your equipment.” Celestia said as she got back on the chariot. Following her were Twilight then Luna before I entered.
Once I sat down, both Celestia and Luna's horns shone their respective colors. The chariot shook slightly before I looked out the window, seeing that the chariot was going up.
Deep inside the dungeons of Canterlot, crying could be heard echoing through the halls of the dungeon. The cries were one of misery.
Those cries were from a lone changeling, though this changeling was unlike any other. This changeling was a female for starters, making her different from the invading drones, but what the guards didn't quite understand is why she had given herself up by walking into a patrol.
Her captors informed their officers and explained that the changeling was lost and utterly terrified of the guards along with the citizens. After bringing the female changeling in, she wouldn't speak to anypony.
What nopony knew was that the changeling wasn't always a changeling. She was a human, but fate has a weird way in saddening her.
The cries stopped and were replaced with silence. In the cell stood the changeling. She looked onto the wall before thinking out loud.
Dark, cold, and damp were the only things the lone changeling felt. She laid on her cot quietly, not sleeping or napping - just laying there. It has been hours since she was brought into this cell with no clue why.
Her vision was blurry from the tears she held in. She was tired and sore from the lack of sleep, but the guards don't seem to care what condition she is in - nor how many times she has tried to ask why she was locked up. Their behaviour around her doesn't help either, calling her an abomination and a demon from tartarus.
Hearing the sound of wings flapping brought her attention towards the small window above her. With curiosity taking the best of her, She stood up from her cot and peeked out. What she was met with was ripped straight out of some fantasy book.
What she saw was only the courtyard of the large palace of Canterlot. Guards walked by, conversing with one another. A few stallions were walking in and out of the large open doors.
The sound of wings flapping snapped her out of her thoughts and looked up as much as she could. She was able to see a flying chariot, this got a wide eyed stare from the changeling.
The sound of a cell door opening gained her attention. Looking back, the lone changeling saw a lightly armored stallion holding a tray of food.
“I… uh… I brought you something to eat.” The stallion awkwardly said before placing the tray onto the floor. Rubbing the back of his head, the stallion spoke. “I didn't know what your kind eats so I brought you a daisy sandwich.”
The changeling didn't speak word, afraid that whatever she might say would only bring her more trouble. The stallion took the silence as his cue to leave. Turning around, the stallion walked out the cell door and closed it behind him. He locked the cell door and placed the keys on the far end of the room.
“Thank you.” The changeling said, stopping the stallion in his tracks.
“It's... Uh, it's not a problem.” With that he left, leaving the lone changeling by herself. Looking down at the tray, the changeling stared at the sandwich.
‘It's better than nothing, I guess.’ Were her thoughts as she sat down with her legs crossed. ‘Ponies like daisies right? Then what's to say a mutant bug pony won't either?’ And with that she took hold of the sandwich and took a bite out of it.
-Ω-
Dazed and confused, I found myself in the middle of a familiar battleground. Grand central station. I looked down at myself, seeing nothing but the suit before wincing from the massive headache. I got down on one knee after feeling pain from the chest down.
The pain lasted as quick as it came and the only thing that greeted once I got my bearings were the claws of a Ceph grunt grabbing me and pulling me up. Its other claw raised and ready, it tried to stab me in the throat but with quick reflexes, I had grabbed the incoming claw and stopped it. The claw that held me up soon tried to push me away but the firm grip I had on its other claw kept close.
I felt the floor under me crumble and looking down I could see nothing but a swarm of the deadly spores. I felt the Ceph jab the side of my helmet before readying the killing blow but like the claw I held away from me, I took hold of it and prevented it from getting any closer.
With a powerful pull, I managed to get myself up and at the same time, sending the ceph to its death or so I thought. What was once a chasm swarming with spores was now the floor of the main hall of the Grand Central station.
Not wanting to let the Ceph get back up, I walked over to it and grabbed the back of its metal head before smashing it against the marble floor over and over and over again before it was reduced to nothing but a slime puddle. I couldn't help but smirk.
My victory was cut short by an ear piercing screech. Covering the the sides of my helmet on instinct, I was once again forced onto the floor but unlike before I never felt the floor only air. I landed on something hard.
I opened my eyes and saw that I laid atop a glass ceiling. The cracks and snaps of the glass surface and frame brought me out of my daze just before it gave in and shattered, sending me farther down.
With a thud I landed on some debris next to a broken down taxi. Weakly standing up, I looked around my surroundings.
I stood in the middle of a deserted street somewhere in Manhattan. I felt extremely weak but chose to ignore it and walk down the street.
From the sky above me, a Ceph gunship flew passed and was soon followed by two C.E.L.L attack helicopters and the ship was shot down and crashed just around the block. It was a painfully uneventful walk towards the crash site.
Once I arrived, I was once again greeted by a deserted area. A familiar office building was to my left but to my right was nothing but white. Limping towards the office building, I could feel myself dreading my decision.
After walking up the emergency staircase, I had reached my destination and found then one thing I hopped to always forget. There on the wall was the body of James wearing the suit without the helmet. I limped towards him, tears blurring my vision.
Once I was close enough, I plopped down onto my knees and took off the helmet I wore but instead of seeing the Nanosuit V2 Helmet, I saw a marine helmet in urban camo.
I tossed the helmet away in anger before looking back at the unmoving form that is James. There were roses around him and an M12 on his lap.
“It should've been me that died out there.” I said, taking hold of the gun on his lap and checking if it had any ammo only to find that it had one bullet left. So cocking the gun, I looked back at James as I felt the cold metal end of the M12 on the side of my head. “I'm sorry, James.” With that, I pulled the trigger without hesitation and willingly. My vision went black before being assaulted by images of certain parts of my life.
“Prophet?”
“SEnTinEl.”
“Sam!”
I felt myself being shaken vigorously by someone beside me. Groaning loudly, I opened my eyes only to see the worried look of the purple mare, Twilight Sparkle.
“Stop shaking me.” I told her as I swatted her hands away from me. She frowned slightly but kept quiet.
“Good, you're awake.” I heard the voice of Celestia. Looking in front of me I saw the mare herself just sitting across from me. “Just in time too, we just arrived at Canterlot palace.” With a smile, the door beside me open and she was the first to step out of the carriage. Luna followed suit as well as Twilight before I finally exited the flying carriage.
Once I was out, I looked down at myself and saw that I still wore the suit. I looked back up, seeing the two sisters waiting for me.
“We mustn't waste time standing around.” Luna said. Giving a quick scan of the area, I nodded soon after.
“Remember our agreement, earn my respect and trust then I'll answer with complete truthfulness. Not before and certainly not now.” I said to them. The two sisters nodded in understanding while Twilight gave me a suspicious look.
“We'll take to the room you'll be staying in, you seem to be rather exhausted on the way.” Celestia said as both her and Luna turned towards the large doors and opened them with a wave of their hands. Once the doors fully opened, they walked through the open doorway with me in tow.
The walk through the large halls were confusing. It seemed to be built more like a maze than anything else but like always, I let the suit scan the area and created a map as it did. Through the trek down the halls, I caught the whispers and murmurs from the guards and staff. It seems I've made a sort of reputation the day I jumped off the mountain.
After a few more twists and turns, we stopped in front a medium-sized double door with a gold frame. Another wave of Celestia’s hand made the door open, and revealed the room inside to be a cozy guest room. Though, it was a bit larger than any other guest rooms I've seen.
“This is where you will be staying until further notice.” Luna said just as I walked in the room. “Your belongings will be kept in a secure room, if you wish to have them back just let us know and we'll send somepony to bring them to you.”
“You're being oddly kind to a person you barely know.” I said outloud as I walked over to the balcony door. This room looked more like a hotel penthouse than a guest room. Not only larger than normal rooms, it was also fitted with a fireplace that, strangely enough, doesn't connect with any chimney. Just in front of the fireplace was large love seat which I could only assume are for couples to enjoy a time near the fireplace.
“We have no reason to do the opposite. The only “crime” you committed was property damage but it was justifiable... in some way.” Celestia replied, adding the last bit in a quiet tone.
“It was of course our fault for wrongfully accusing you of being something you aren't and throwing you in the dungeons. We do still feel sorry for that.” Luna spoke afterwards. With a silent nod, I opened the balcony doors and stepped outside.
The first thing that greeted my ears was the simple sounds of the wind. I looked down at the city below and my eyes grew wide. It was quite the sight to behold, a city straight out of fiction was something I never thought I'd see but then again, I never thought of fighting a war against aliens while wearing the suit of Jam-
I winced at the sudden pain while the sight of the city below changed into a horrific version of it. These images were brief, showing burning buildings, dying Guards and the palace falling but what stood out the most was that each vision had something in common. The Ceph. Grunts, Stalkers, Devastators, the vision showed them and only them as they brought devastation. I looked up to the sky, hoping that the vision would stop but to my dismay it just made it worse.
The once blue sky was now yellow, make it appear to be the sunsetting but what stood out the most was the large gaping wormhole in the sky. I clutched onto my head as another jolt of pain was felt.
“Make it stop.” I gasped, out of breath. Focused on trying to deal with the pain, I was felt a hand on my right shoulder and was relieved of the horrific sight.
“Are you alright?” The voice of Celestia brought me out of daze. When I gathered my bearings, I was on my knees and holding the mask as if it was my own face.
I looked up at the royal sister and saw the look of worry on her face. Once I stood up and dusted myself off, I then looked at her and answered.
“I'm fine.” I told her with a single nod. “Just a simple headache.” I added to the lie. Celestia gave me a questioning look before nodding.
“Alright then, we'll leave you to relieve yourself. We'll send a servant to escort you to the dining hall in an hour.” Celestia said as she turned towards the door and walked passed her sister. “We hope you enjoy your stay.” With that they walked out the door and closed it behind them. I walked back inside the room soon after they left.
I let out a sigh as I raised my hand and began typing down something onto my wrist, deactivating the Heads up Display of the mask before removing it. I then placed the mask on the queen sized bed before walking back out to the balcony.
Scanning Nanosuit host; Complete
Alien pathogen located in bloodstream[b/]
Danger. Infection percentage: 10%
Containing… Infestation Contained
Alien tissue Vector Isolated Contained in Deep layer
The Lone changeling woke up with a jolt. The voice of her brother echoed through her mind. Standing up from her cot, she then proceeded to look out the small cell window before setting her gaze above, to a stallion leaning on the railing of a balcony.
She narrowed her eyes at the stallion, feeling a strong sense familiarity towards him. The sound of her cell door opening brought her attention back inside. There standing in the doorway was tall woman in white with both a pair of large folded wings and a long horn. Atop her her head laid a tiara with a magenta colored gem.
