Short Hand: Crystal War 2 · 3:31pm Nov 18th, 2020
Twilight saw her other friends. All of them twisted and changed by the harsh war. It was heartbreaking to see them all like this. Fighting for their lives to save Equestria. And there was Shepherd...
He walked to a shack, and Twilight followed him. He looked over his shoulder at her.
Shepherd: "Something I can help you with?"
Twilight: "I... You're human."
Shepherd: "And you're an alicorn."
Twilight: "What?! How did you-?!"
Shepherd: "I've learned how to look through glamours... Though yours is very good. Top notch. Only students of the Princess can do that."
Twilight: "I... Yeah. I am."
Shepherd proceeds into the shack. An old unicorn with fading red mane and mustache is waiting for him, by a metal chair surrounded by tools and electronics.
Shepherd: "Doohickey, the left arm was half a second too slow on the draw for the shotgun. You'll need to fix that."
Doohickey: chuckles "That's what comes from you using too high a charge on your shotgun rounds! Sit down, I'll take a look."
Shepherd began to pull his armor off. Twilight blushed briefly, considering how modest Shepherd was... But her eyes widened as she saw what his body looked like.
Twilight: "By Harmony..."
His arms and shoulders were metallic. His legs were the same, and his torso was striped with flesh and organic-looking metal. He slowly turned and sat down in the chair. Doohickey attacked cables and cords to his torso, as Shepherd leaned back in it. He raised an eyebrow at Twilight.
Shepherd: "Mind closing the door? It's freezing out there."
Twilight shut the door behind her, and continued to gawp at him. Doohickey shuffled off to another room in the weird shack.
Twilight: "What... What happened?"
Shepherd: "... Don't know the details, do you? I'm sure the Princess would have told you-"
Twilight: tears came to her eyes as she trotted up to him "No! I... I don't know... I don't know any of this... I'm so sorry..."
Shepherd: "..." sighs "I got yanked away from my world into the middle of a terrible war. I lost... I was injured trying to save some ponies. Doohickey here... He found me. He saved me. He made me... Into this. To try and save this world."
Twilight: "... You've lost so much."
Shepherd: closes his eyes "... The only alternative to fighting is to surrender to death and despair. And I can't do that. I'll never do that." He opens his eyes "... Least I'll get the veteran discount, if I ever make it home."
Twilight: "..." She rested a hoof on his artificial knee "I swear... I will make this better. I will make all of this better. I promise, Shepherd."
Shepherd: "..." He smiled at her "You know... I can't help but believe you. Have we met before?"
Twilight: "In another life."
Shepherd: "Must be a nice one."
Twilight: "It will be."
After the timeline is fixed...
Shepherd: "So, wait... In that other timeline, I was a cyborg super soldier?"
Twilight: "Y-Yes... You were. You had given up so much of your body, to become stronger, faster, more powerful. The greatest warrior of Equestria. But the terrible cost... I saw in your eyes how the war had worn on you. You were still kind but so... So sad. So broken."
Shepherd: "... So I was a cyborg super soldier? Did I have a cool sword?"
Dash: "Ooh! Ooh! Was I cyborg too? Did I have a cybernetic eye? Did I have laser eyes?"
Shepherd: "Oh yeah, laser eyes would be awesome."
Twilight: sobs and hugs them both "YOU IDIOTS!"
The fact Dash is a cyborg in the Crystal War timeline makes the ending that much more wonderfully ludicrous.
"Wing, actually, and I didn't see you slash her in a fight so I don't know what was added. Probably an integrated wingblade at a minimum, though"
I need more of this
I got to ask is this spoilers for future chapters or ideas or something else they good don't get me wrong but I was wondering what was this all about
If this become long story, it will be complicated one to write
Yes, but they're your idiots.
Can we get back to Twi and Dash having a thing for each other but needing Shep as a bridge?
This reminds me of something funny you could do. Remember that one episode with the Tantabus and the dreamscape? You can do anything in a dream so Shepard could summon a whole bunch of Human pop culture or historical icons to fight it. So he could make himself a cyborg or something like that. Or something more along the lines of “EQUESTRIA WILL NEVER FALL TO COMMUNIST INVADERS” (in the theme of the Crystal War being inspired by the Fallout: Equestria fandom).
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"That is so cool!" Rainbow Dash shrieked.
"It means you got your wing torn off, you know," Twilight remarked dryly.
Rainbow Dash frowned, threw an uncertain look at the spot where her wings attached to her body, and shuddered briefly. Then her grin reappeared. "Still! So cool!"
Twilight just rolled her eyes.