Chapter 21-Omnia Vanitas
After waiting for a few seconds, Snake narrowed his eyes. If the codec was not working, he should at the very least be getting static. He was getting nothing, not even access to the radar map. "Otacon, come in!" Snake tried again. Once again, silence. Not even a single burst of noise or snow. Even jamming signals left some sort of noise feedback. The stealth agent lowered his hand and moved to kneel and look around the forest.
Why a forest? Last he remembered he was at a tanker that had been carrying the latest Metal Gear- Ray. Revolver... Revolver Snake? Liquid Ocelot? Whatever he called himself- Managed to sink the tanker and steal Ray. He had been swept up in the water, and next moment he was here. Completely dry out of all things. Had he fallen unconcious and somehow dragged here?
He quickly did a weapons check. A pistol, his M-9 tranq gun, a few adult books, spare ammo, a few rations, camera, and a carboard box. They were all dry, making Snake frown. None of this made any sense at all. The tanker carrying Ray was close to a large city, one that shouldn't have this kind of forest even remotely close. And the noises being made were like nothing he had ever heard before. Even the smells were off- The grass was almost as clean as Alaskan flora, one untouched by humanity in hundreds of years.
For the first time in his life, Snake felt truly alone. Past missions he always had someone to contact via radio or codec. Even in Alaska he had his dog sled team. He rose to stand and begun to walk. Without a compass, he simply decided to walk in a straight line and hopefully come to a river to follow. This dense canopy made it hard to spot the sun in an effort to use it as a guide. For all he knew, he could have been out for days. But who would go through all this trouble, and not even remove his weapons?
He picked up his head, hearing the sound of howling. More than one howl. Wolf pack... And on the hunt.
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"Well, your head looks fine sir," Cherilee said, moving to get off her teacher's desk. Ralf had taken off his bandana and sat down on the ground to let the school teacher inspect his head.
"I was afraid of that. I can survive pretty much anything, even nukes!" Ralf said with a cocky grin.
"Nuke?" Cherille asked, moving to stand at the human's side.
"Um.. Nuke? Big bomb? Makes a giant cloud mushroom?" He asked, making the mushroom ball motion with both hands. The blank look on Cherilee's face made him stop. Why would anything make sense when he was talking to a horse that had been colored by the reject section of a crayon box?
"Mr. Jones, maybe your head is fine, but I'm not prepared to rule out the possibilty of past mental trauma," the school teacher said. She released a sigh, glad school had been closed for the day.
"Hardy har har, very funny," Ralf said to stand up and tie his headband back over his head. "You got a radio or phone?" He had no communications equipment on him due to the tournament rules.
"Um, radio yes, but not at school. I have no idea what a "phone" is. Is that medical equipment or food for humans?" Cherilee asked. This human was odd, evern more so than the humans from the feast. "Maybe one of the other humans have one on them..."
"Other humans? Here? Could you take me to them Teach?" Ralf asked.
"Its Ms. Cherilee, not Teach Mr. Jones," she said, using her lesson voice.
"Mr. Jones is my dad. I'm not that old.." the soldier said with a frown.
"Very well then... Ralf. Lets take you to the other humans then. I have to talk to Twilight about getting a school desk replaced," Cherilee said, moving to the exit. "You seem awfully composed by the way. From what I have been told, all the other humans were caught off guard when they found out this country is filled with talking ponies."
"Are you kidding me? I've seen psyco soldiers, fighting pandas, espers, androids, supernatural fighters, clones, aliens, and who knows what else. At this point, there is almost nothing that could surprise me. I bet even right now, I am in some bizzare VR misson gone wrong," Ralf said to follow the teacher. "Just wish I knew why ponies of all things..."
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Lyra followed behind this human slowly, wondering if she disclose that there were more humans in the town. Sephiroth had said nothing, merely looking around for a moment to walk away. He said nothing, even though a few other ponies greeted him. That giant long sword on his back made her worry though. The wing she dismissed, she guessed the fellow was half pegasi.
The one winged Cetra was deep in his thoughts. As much as he tried, he could not feel his connection to Mother. He could not even feel the lifestream of the planet. The power and magic he had commanded over was slowly drifting away with each step he took. He ignored the ponies, they were of no concern to him. They were not human, and he had no wish to drain the remains of his power unless he could collect more. Humans betrayed the Cetra, not these- Things, whatever they were. Survivors of Dr. Hojo?
As he walked, he did take the time to look back and forth to inspect the area. No lifestream meant the planet had not been mined over or poluted. The pain he could feel the planet give was no where to be heard. It was all- Too quiet.
"Um... My name is Lyra Heartstrings. Welcome to Ponyville. Can I have your name?" Lyra asked. She decided to move up to the side of the human. Although he has said such a terrible things about killing humans, she had no idea if it was a sick joke. She could at least try to be polite.
"My name is of no concern," Sephiroth said. He came to a stop to inspect this creature more carefully. Why did the tiny beasts have such branding marks on them if there was no humans to own them?
"Oh... I see. May I aske where are you going? I can recommend a good spot for a daisy sandwhich," Lyra asked. She knew humans had odd tastes, but all she could do was try to engage this human. She would not waste this chance!
"Where I go is of no consequence. I posses no desire for food," the warrior said. He turned to once again to walk. Lyra was starting to wonder if this human was a changeling. She better follow him and investigate. Something about this human intrigued her. He was like nothing she imagined a human would be like.
"Do you want to meet with the other humans?" She asked, trying to see if that would get a reaction.
"I am no human. But take me to them..." Sephiroth said. His face was unreadable, but the gears in his mind started to turn. He was no longer home. Mother could not be heard. Humans were around. Thus, they were responsible and would have have to pay. A disturbing thought occured with this train of thought. What if he could never hear Mother again?
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"So I'm in a place called Equestria," Travis said, keeping his beam katana off, the baton hilt clipped to his belt. "You two are the rulers. You need help, so you called on the number two ranked assassin. What, number one too busy?" He moved to cross both arms on his chest.
"I do not know," Luna said. She had lowered her head. Her champion- her supposed knight for life- Was an assasin. Not the noblest of trades. This human didn't even look like what she expected. Bit lankey and outlandish to say the least by how he was dressed. "But the spell that brought you here thought you were the best for the job, not whoever first rank is." Travis took a moment to think, lifting his head to look at the roof.
"I'm currently without a partner. And I need to go back. What else can I do but to move on," Travis said, moving both hands back down to his side and look at Luna. "It's gonna be a long, hard road. But who knows? Could kick ass. Could be dangerous. Could totally suck. Whadaya say? Join me. Let's see how far we can take this," he said, moving his right arm out to the dark alicorn with a grin. Had he found a way out, a way to paradise?
Luna stepped up to Travis and held out her left front hoof to shake his hand. In a way, it made sense. Her sister's partner was a doctor, an agent of light. Was it really that unexpected that she should get an agent of dark? He took her hoof and shook it once. He could care less. How different was this from one of his beloved animes?
"What do you need me to do?" Travis asked, moving his head to look over at Celestia. Something about her rubbed him the wrong way. Must be the hair.
"I think we need to make you meet with the other humans..." Luna said to walk to the door.
"So I'm not the only mercenary? Please tell me these guys can fight," Travis said to follow behind her.
"You have no idea," Luna said with a smile.
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"Incoming again!" Spike said, lifting his head up. He coughed out green fire that carried another scroll. This time, Twilight raised her head to catch it right away. The group turned to look at the purple unicorn and waited. Without wasting time, Twilight opened the scroll with her magic and begun to read.
"Dear Twilight Sparkle and the rest, Good news. Luna has succesfully summoned her champion. Although she is not an element, its still possible to summon other heroes to join. At the moment, we have no idea how many other champions may be show up- So please be on the lookout. We are on our way there with the Elements of Harmony and the new human." Twilight lowered her letter and then turned to look at the others.
Pinkie Pie jumped up and down, clearly happy that Dan was not leaving. It also meant another welcoming party. Applejack released a sigh, clearly relieved. Fluttershy smiled, moving over to hug Rarity and Rainbow Dash. Both of them laughed a bit, glad over the news as well.
"Great. More humans," Dan said, moving to look at the others. Nate raised both eyebrows.
"You make it sound like a bad thing," Nate said, putting his journal away. He was running out of pages fast, and he was going to need a new one soon.
"Call it foreboding. Look at all us us already. Part Dragon. Super Lawyer. Dark Lord Reincarnate. Treasure Hunter Historian," Dan said, releasing a sigh. "I can only imagine what other kind of humans are coming."
"But we got along just well. Surely the newcommers will be hereos like us," Phoenix said. Still, Dan brought up a valid point. The more diverse and larger a human group, the worse things could get. Only reason they were all together was because they were the only humans left.
"I'm still not convinced," Dan said, moving over to others. "Alright, don't mention anything about us to the new guys. Lets see-" A loud knock at the door made Dan stop, turning to look at the doorway.
"I will get that," Soma said, moving faster than the others. He opened the door and turned to look up a bit at the human. With one black wing. "Uh... Hello?" Soma said, taking a step back from the doorway to let the others see. Soma immediately picked up something from this man. Something dark. But it was faint.
"Oh, hello everypony," Lyra said, moving her head to step inside the library.
"Lyra?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Is this your partner?" The other mares turned to look at the new human that stepped inside. That wing... It made the pegasi nervous. Rainbow Dash lowered her head a bit to narrow her eyes. Fluttershy had moved to join Soma, but decided to stand behind Twilight.
"Partner?" Lyra asked, lifting up her head to look at Sepiroth. So far, he had yet to react to the other humans. All the gray haired fellow do was look around the building and then inspect the other humans. "What do you mean?"
"Oh apparantly, whenever a human shows up, the first pony they meet turns out to be their partner," Rarity explained. This human wore too much black for her taste. Had he been attending a funeral? Lyra raised her eyebrows in shock. This guy was her own human?
"Pardon me, but is it to my understanding that somehow these quadrupede creatures brought us to this... Realm?" Sephiroth asked. He turned to look at the other humans and speak to them formally. For now he needed answers, so he could play along. These humans were nothing like the ones from his planet. Only Phoenix seemed familiar with his spiky hair. Sephiroth's gaze came to stop on Soma. This boy... This boy has the same gaze as that man. Him.
Soma had his eyes closed a bit, not quite narrowed, but far from relaxed. Something about this man made the hairs on the back of his neck stand.
"Um, welcome to the group. And yeah, and it seems so Mr. Angel," Phoenix said. That wing made the former lawyer approach closer. "I'm Phoenix, and you are?"
"My name, is Sephiroth," the ex-SOLDIER said. So these humans were not responsible for taking him from Mother. It appears that he would have to destroy the ponies along with these humans. If these creatures could summon him, there was no telling what else they could do. He turned away from Soma to face the other mares for the first time. How odd. All the humans had been male. Were all the "ponies" female?
"Well, Mr. Sephiroth," Dan said, moving over to step up to the man. "Tell us, that giant sword on your back a way for you to overcompensate for something?"
"Dan!" Nate said, shaking his head at the fellow. Even he did not want to throw a joke at a possible fallen angel. Dovahkiin was part dragon. This guy could very well be part bird or angel.
"What? I am just trying to see if this guy will be any good to us," Dan said to frown at Nate.
"Forgive me for saying so," Sephiroth turned to look at Phoenix, ignoring the others. "But am I right to assume that this human collective is a strike force?" Soma moved to close the door slowly, keeping his eyes trained on the one winged fellow. The mares stayed quiet, letting the humans take care of this. It would better for a human to tell the news to another human.
"Well, for the lack of a better word, yes. The young man is Soma. The black shirt fellow is Dan. The guy in the hood is Dovahkiin. Nate is the guy in the back," Phoenix introduced the others. They all nodded their heads at their names. Phoenix took a step back, moving his hands into his pockets. This Sephiroth fellow was some kind of warrior.
"None of you were from the same realm, I take it. Nate is dressed in similar clothes as Dan, but Nate's boots tell me he is traveler while Dan is more a creature of habit. Dovahkiin is clearly not from their worlds, his clothes and weapons are not related at all. And Soma.." Sephiroth stopped to look at the youth and smile. Soma picked up his head at the gesture. It felt wrong in all kind of ways. "This boy clearly belongs with neither. I'd wager he has more in common with you Mr. Phoenix."
"Observant," Dovahkiin said, moving to stand up straight. Clearly this Sephiroth was a soldier. He had the same reservations about the others, but he had no idea Phoenix and Soma may have been from the same place.
"Could you tell us about yourself?" Phoenix continued with the interview. Sephiroth turned to look back at Phoenix and shook his head to the sides.
"Are you the leader of this group?" Sephiroth said. "I would feel more comfortable speaking to the leader alone at first."
"Get Back!" Dan said, jumping back from Sephiroth. He drerw his axe up as fast as he could.
"Dan! What is wrong with you?!" Nate said, quickly moving to try and restrain Dan's shoulders. Twilight raised her head at Sephiroth, lowering her horn to charge her horn with magic. Paranoid or not, Dan was usually right.
"Don't you get it?! This guy has only been asking questions and giving nothing back! He's going to attack one of us the minute he knows who the leader is in order to take over!" Dan shouted, trying to struggle against Nate.
Dovahkiin jumped back, moving his hands to bring forth his sword. So far, he trusted Dan more than the others in the group. He was conniving and shrewd, but smart. Soma immediately moved to get in front of the girls, moving both arms out to his sides. He would not draw a weapon yet. Soma merely acted out of his own instinct.
"Dan, are you crazy?" Phoenix said. "The rest of you, put your weapons down!"
"You would do well to listen to the small human. He's right," Sephiroth said as he moved to cross both arms on his chest. Lyra bit her lower lip. Oh crap, brining him here had been a bad idea. Rainbow Dash lowered her head and snorted, getting ready to tackle this guy. Applejack moved to stand in front of her friend and shook her head to the sides.
"Why, why would you want to do that?" Fluttershy asked. She moved to step up from the others, looking up at Sephiroth. Soma raised his eyes and immediately moved to get to her side. Sephiroth smiled again, now knowing why Soma had perked his interest. Looking at these two reminded him of Aerith and Cloud.
"Actually, I did not plan to attack your leader. I had planned to challenge them for leadership of the group," Sephiroth said. He turned to look at the others, loosing his smile. "You may be fighters, but clearly lack organization. The fact that one of you saw my true intentions and seeing how the group was split between listening to him and making peace indicates strife within the group."
"This guy is almost as bad as Dan is," Nate said, letting go of Dan. In turn, Dan drew his shoulder back from Nate and narrow his eyes at the others.
"I told you. Now I know why this angel had black for a wing instead of white," Dan said with a sneer. Pinkie Pie moved to Dan and narrowed her eyes up at Sephiroth.
"You are soooo getting a small party," Pinkie Pie said. Twilight relaxed the magic she had been gathering and turned to look at the humans. Sephiroth was right though, while she was more or less the leader of her friends, the humans did not have one. Was her champion supposed to take care of that role?
"I take it by the silence, there is no leader?" Sephiroth said. Phoenix had narrowed his eyes, staring at this guy. Dan was right again. This guy could be a champion, but clearly one that took charge and not want anyone else with the position. Soma lowered his form to hug Fluttershy around her neck to keep himself calm more than her. Something about this Sephiroth kept getting under his skin. Fluttershy blinked, noticing Soma's reaction. Was the same thing that happened with Dan when they first met happen again?
"No, there isn't one. So far, we've been a democracy," Nate said, moving to stand by Phoenix. His left hand had moved to rest over the holster of his silver gun. "America! ***k yeah!" begun to play in his head.
"I see. I am a soldier, a former commander in fact. I wish to establish a formal liason with the creatures of this land to go back home as soon as possible," Sephiroth said. Applejack had no idea what to make of this guy. He was telling the truth, she was picking up all other kinds of things.
"Uh, we already got that covered. We get to go home when we help the ponies," Phoenix said. The former lawyer moved to start folding the sleeves of his shirt over his arms. He was going to have to fight Sephiroth if it came down to it. They could not affored to let Dovahkiin get hurt, they needed him for weapons and armor. Dan was no good either, they needed him for planning. Soma was a heavy hitter, and they needed all the firepower. Even Nate had languages, history, and firearm training to contribute. If anyone was expendable, it was him.
"You fools. We are being used. Each moment we spend here, the less we want to go home. Or have you not noticed?" Sephiroth said. Each moment he was not with Mother, the worse his point and mission got more obscured. With no materia or access to the lifestream, his own powers were getting weaker.
Phoenix opened his mouth to say something, but found no words coming out. He had his daughter to get back home to! But he found that the urgency he had yesterday was not there. Soma had actually questioned if he wanted to go back. If he stayed here, no one would be able to summon Dracula back. And no one would be able to entice him to turn into him here.
Nate lowered his gaze to look at Rarity. He had always been a thrill seeker, a hunter of fortune. This was the ultimate adventure, and who knows what else this place had to offer. Up to this point he just scratched the surface. He couldn't go back until he saw it through. Dan turned his head to the side, not wanting to meet Pinkie in the eye. Both of their names was on the house deed. Did he want to stay?
Applejack moved to Dovahkiin, lifting her right hoof up to snap him out of his reverie. Dovahkiin turned to look at her and moved to put his hood back on. Yes, only he could stop Aldiun. But did he want to anymore? The Nords were racist and set in their ways. Hardly thankful, he always had to do something for them to even consider him useful. These ponies had shown more sincere thanks than most in Skyrim were capable of.
"Your silence once again confirms my answer," Sephiroth said. Lyra turned to look at her friends and then back to the winged human. Was it because he did not want to be her partner?
"So let me understand, the other humans only got here yesterday?" Ralf said, opening the door to the library.
"It seems so, but already they helped saved the town twice-" Cherilee said. She stopped talking, looking at all of the others inside. The atmosphere felt heavy. "Did we come at a bad time?" She asked. The fuschia earth pony blinked to look at the others. Ralf closed both eyes a bit, looking at the other humans. The hell was all this?
"Ms. Cherilee? You too?" Lyra asked, moving side to let the other two in. Ralf raised an eyebrow, wondering what 'you too' meant. He instead begun to walk to each other humans. Not wasting a moment, he reached out to take Soma's hand.
"Hey there, name's Ralf Jones," he said to introduce himself. One by one, he went to each person and introduced himself with a handshake and smile. This snapped the others out, giving their names in return. Ralf stopped at Sephiroth to study him. Instead of shaking his hand, Ralf moved to hug him and lift him off the ground. "Hey buddy! Why so serious!" Caught off guard, Sephiroth stuggled and finally displayed an emotion. Annoyance.
"So that's why people laugh when it happens to me..." Dan said, moving a hand to hold his chin.
"Release me human!" Sephiroth said, feeling his wing get crushed. The other humans, even Dan, laughed at the scene. Unable to escape, Sephiroth growled. Ralf either ignored him or didn't care, simply shaking the one winged angel once before setting him down on the ground. Sephiroth looked ready for a fight. If only he could access the lifestream! He would so crash a moon into his planet and end them all. He was about to draw his sword when another noise made him turn to look at the door. "More?"
"Welcome to my world," Dan said, rolling his eyes. "Sometimes I even wonder why I bother."
"Twilight Sparkle, I present you Travis Touchdown," Luna said, moving inside the library and stepping to the side to present the man in the red jacket. After a trip on a damn chariot in the air, Travis was glad to be on stable ground again.
"I am never getting on one of those things again!" Travis said, fighting back the urge to vomit. "And who are you guys?" Travis asked. He looked around, seeing the cramped library. "How many of us are there?"
"Maybe we should head to an more spacious place," Applejack said.
"Your farm?" Rarity asked. She was afraid of the answer.
"A farm? Yeah. Good place for the tournament," Dan said.
"Tournament?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah, tournament. Winner gets to be leader," Dan said as he walked out of the library.
"I missed something," Travis said to look at Luna. She shrugged.