//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 Which one? // Story: The metal HAWKEN // by NinjaTurtle //------------------------------// Chapter 11 Which one? I woke up to the morning sun, once again, trying to blind me. Like every other time, it does temporarily but not for long as I turned from it. I got out of bed and put my clothes and holster on. I then put my handgun in its holster and a mag in my pocket. The miniguns, rest of my mags and clothes were put in a bag that they had gave me. I walked out to see my personal escorts outside the door. Blocked had his sheathed sword and a nicely made shield. Blade had her bow and a quiver of arrows on her back. “Morning. Ready to go? “ I asked. They both turned to see me. “Yep, just waiting on you and your partner. “ Blocked said. We continued to talk as we passed through the halls. At one intersection of the halls, I saw Luna, still with the paintball marking from yesterday's fun. She gave me a mix of a smile to look happy to the guards and a glare that was aimed at me with intent of harming. We left her to her doings as we resumed our walk to the exit. As we left the castle doors, we saw lots of ponies around. I turned and new to the courtyard, here DB had resigned. His body seemed to have been polished, as the mechs surface was now shiny and clean. I could see my own face on it. “Hey! DB! Time to go! “ I said quite loudly to him. The machines woke up similarly to a human. First comes motor control, then thought, then speech. DB's motors number as he moved. His passive blue monitor, or his equivalent of an eye, blinked on softly. Then came thought and speech. “Morning rider. “. I gestured him to follow and then walked, following the guards. We walked through the city to the train station. More stares greeted me as I looked around at the crowds. I gave them not a thought as I wasn't worth it. We arrived at the train station. The train had a flatbed cart on the back for DB, as expected. I carried my bag onto the train and sat on the weird chairs and looked out the window. The train finally starts of back to ponyville. -------------------- Ponyville train station. --------------------- Twilight sparkle and her friends, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Rarity. The train was expected to arrive soon and they all wanted to welcome Connor and his machine back. “I can't wait for Connor to get back. Maybe I should throw a 'welcome back’ party. “ Pinkie said excitedly. Twilight looked at her. “Don't make it a surprise party. You don't want a sore nose again, do you? “ she warned. “Yeah...that wasn't very nice…” pinkie said, rubbing her nose. “I'd be mighty nice of him ta help with the final trees in ma farm. “ Applejack said. “And I would love to make more clothes for him. His fashion is so unique. Practical and simple, but stylish. “ Rarity added. The train started to become visible in the distance and was heading towards the station. It slowed down as it neared the station. The brakes let out a quiet screech. The train then stopped and the passengers got off. A few seconds later, two royal guards got off. A step behind them was then filed they were waiting for. He was dressed in a black hoodie, black joggers and had a belt with a pouch for his weird L-shaped devise. He had a bag with a multi-tubed device and his other clothes on his back. “Hello. Good to be back. ” Connor said. He walked towards the group of friends. “Hey! Your finally back! What took you so long? “ Rainbow asked. “Either your short patience or the speed of the train. I guess option one. “ he said as he turned to go and get him mech. He came back after a minute with DB. As he and the ponies walked of, DB we to the farm. The two guards stayed at the train station. They talked about what they had done while he was away. As Connor retold his side of the story of the paintball trick he pulled on the princesses and how they would have a bright boost green mark, which earned a few gasps and laughs. They were about to enter the library when something happened. Something's jumped from behind the house and tackled Connor to the ground. The group turned around as three Connor's got up. They looked at eachother and froze. One of them spoke up. “What the fuck? “ said the middle one, which Twilight mentally labeled C2. “Your a fake! “ C1 said, pointing at C2. “I'm the real one. You two are the fakes. “ said C3. “Only one way to find out. Copy everything I do. “ C2 said. He, and the others, raised his right arm and the made a fist. They then put it down. The second action was to move the left arm over his stomach, clench a fist, then drop his arms again. They then all quickly used their right arm to swipe their side and hold their arms out straight at each other. As they did so, they noticed a difference. C3 was holding the black, L-shaped devise. “There can only be one of me, sorry. “. BANG...BANG C1 and C3 fell down after the device went off. They then erupted into green flames. A second later, as they touched the floor, the flames suddenly died, leaving two changelings. Both had a hole leading to the brain on their heads. “First day back and I've already done something. Great. “ the real Connor said calmly. He put the device away. His clothes were now covered in dust and dirt. Connor grunted and held his side, a little pain evident on his face. All the ponies starred but couldn't say anything. Two thuds came as Rarity and poor Fluttershy fainted and hit the ground. “We should get you to the hospital. Applejack, Pinkie, could you carry them since you two are the physically strongest here? “ Twilight asked after here snap back to attention. “Sure thing, Twi. “ Applejack said in the accented voice. “Okie, dokie, lokie. “ Pinkie enthusiastically said. “I'll go tell them your coming. See ya. “ Dash said before zooming off. --------------------- Connor Irons, ponyville hospital --------------------- We walked to the hospital. Fluttershy and Rarity were still out for the count. I held my side where I'd been tackled and landed on a stone. It hadn't done much but bruise but they insisted I went, even if it was nothing so they know what a healthy human looks like compared with a damaged human next time I arrive. We walked in. The place looked like old 20th century hospitals back on earth. There were desks, waiting chairs, a little area to entertain children and a bookshelf for adults. The walls were white with plants spaced around the room. We walked up to the receptionist and she looked up. “Hello, how may we...help...you…?” she said as her eyes fell upon me. When stood up, I was almost double the size of the ponies. So when she saw me look over her, I might have scared her. “We’re the ones Rainbow Dash said were coming. Fluttershy and Rarity have fainted and Connor, here, has hurt his side when two changelings attacked. “ she explained, while the receptionist nodded worriedly and pressed a button on her desk. Two doctors came out the double doors and took the fainted ponies. A nurse came out and looked at me. “You must be the human we were expecting. If you would kindly follow, please? “ she said. I did as told and followed. We entered a room with a window and a simple medical bed. Having done this before, I sat on the bed. “What has seemed to have happened? “ the nurse asked. “I was with Twilight and her friends when two things who looked like me tackled me. Apparently, they are called changelings, according to Twilight here. I fell on my side on a small stone on the ground. I've dealt with them, so don't worry. “ I simplified. “Ah, well, let's have a look. “. I lifted my shirt to show the forming of a lovely bruise. There was also my only scar as well. Although I was still a child, inad some muscle here too, but they didn't seem to have noticed. “Hmm...looks like it's just a bruise. While your here, I would like to examine you, if that is okay with you? “ said the nurse. “Fine, but no super detailed examinations. I don't feel comfortable giving all the information just yet. “ I said. She pick up a quill and started jotting stuff down. I told her important details and facts. Stuff like species name, appearance, diet, gender and common traits. Twilight was also copying the work for herself. Then came the thousand pound question. “How did you get that scar? “ Twilight asked. Ding, ding, ding! Well done, you get the thousand pound reward. “That's actually a funny story. I guess you have time to hear it? “ I said. The nurse looked at her clock on the wall. “I suppose so. ” she said. “Okay then. So I was at home… “... --------------------- 2 years ago. --------------------- It was a Saturday as I lounged on my bed. My brother was playing a game on his console. He was losing and was getting anger because of it. With his anger came cursing. I was getting annoyed as I couldn't hear what I was watching. “Ginge, do you mind being quiet please? “ I asked nicely. “Oh, fuck off Connor. Urrr...this game! “ He said loudly. “If it is that bad, play a different one. Just be quieter. “ I said again. “Fuck sake, this game is so unfair...I SHOT HIM. Urrr!. “ Haydon pretty much shouted. Before I could continue to moan at him, he through his controller. It then shattered against the wall near me. A few shards fell on me harmlessly. Then the clock that was there, fell. It landed on the sharp shards and cut my side. “AHHH! HAYDON YOU…”... b]--------------------- Connor, present day --------------------- “I went to the hospital that day, had stitches and am left with a scar. It looks epic to the other soldiers until they hear the story. “ I finished. They had paid close attention and only scribbled when necessary. “That was an interesting story. Looks like our time is up. When are you next available so I may schedule another examination of you? “ the nurse said. “Any time Saturday or Sunday between 11am and and 4pm. “ I replied. “Hmmm... I shall see you Saturday at noon. “ she said. “OK. “ I said as I got off the table and walked out the door. I walked back down the corridor to the waiting room. My side still hurt but it wasn't too bad. I entered the waiting room again to see Rarity and Fluttershy awake again. I decided to leave them and go back to the farm to meet up with DB and tell Granny Smith and Big Mac I was back. I walked around town, in the open, so no one could tackle me like earlier again. I also kept an eye and an ear out for any suspicious activity. I kept this up all the way to the farm. DB was pulling multiple carts of apples with Big Mac behind, pulling one cart. It was quiet funny to see the strength difference, even though he knew it would be way stronger anyway. I saw Applejack giving the tree a hard kick on a worn part of the tree, under where the branches spilt from the truck. I noticed that all the trees had this spot on there truncks. He judged the strength of the kick to be harder than his normal kicks, but if he used a round house kick from either leg to get something close. Can't hurt to try. He walked up to a tree with some apples left on it, baskets under it and looked for the spot. After locating it, he got into a quick fighting stance with his left leg forward. He threw his back leg around and pivoted on his left foot, resulting in a good kick. Only an apple fell from the tree, which he caught as it fell next to him. He looked after the tree again. He looked at the farm mare again. He then kicked the tree harder than last time. More apples fell I to the basket, but not anything major as the tree still had a lot on it. He gave up with that and continued on his job of finding Granny smith.o End of chapter 11