//------------------------------// // Ch.4: The Pack [EDITED] // Story: New Life // by Apollo and Artemis //------------------------------// Alex and Aria were almost late for the meeting, but they managed to cut it close. Thanks to their enhanced hearing, they heard the meeting proceeding. "Aw shit, they started!" Alex motioned for Aria to follow as they sprinted from the fields to the town square. Alex could almost hear the words that would signal their appearance. ".... Alex and Aria!" Alex cursed silently, grabbed Aria (bridal-style) and jumped towards the town. They landed right in the middle of the stage, Alex shifting his weight so he would not damage the stage. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celestia had called for a meeting in town square about the two viral embodiments. "My little ponies, I'm sure you all heard the talk about the humans in Ponyville. I have come to say that while they are dangerous, they mean well and will not harm any of you. If anything, they are looking out for your safety. So, here they are. Alex and Aria!" The curtains parted to reveal nothing. The ponies were confused, until some of them looked up. They saw a figure holding another as it came crashing to the stage. Some of the ponies stood back, while others simply stared in fear. The object crashed into the stage, surprisingly not even cracking the wood. The figure stood up and put down the other one. "What? Too much?" The figure with the hood said with a smirk. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Alex put down Aria, she whispered to him. "You could have warned me!" Aria hissed with a blush on her face. Alex let out a small chuckle and looked to the ponies on the stage. "Y'all sure know how ta make an entrance." Applejack complimented with low whistle to accentuate her point. Alex moved up to the front of the stage and began the meeting. "As you all know, we are the fabled humans. Our names are Alex" Alex gestured to himself. "And Aria Mercer." He gestured to Aria. "We will be answering your questions to the best of our ability." For the first hour, they answered the same questions they were asked when they first got here. They even told the ponies the story of their lives. The ponies then asked if they were a danger to them. "Yes, we are a danger. But, we only wish for all your safety. Therefore, we are only a danger to anyone who will try to hurt you." Alex responded. Some of the ponies were still skeptical about this, but all their skepticism was assuaged by the presence of the Princess and the trust that she would never put them in harm's way. Then came the questions about humanity. The questions seemed endless. After another hour or so of answering normal and strange questions (strange being Lyra's questions), the meeting ended and all the ponies went about their day as they always did. Only one pony remained, and that was, of course, Lyra. "Hi!" Lyra greeted in a cheerful tone. "Hi. You must be that unicorn that kept asking weird questions about human anatomy." Alex said as he knelt down to the ponies' level. Aria had always loved this pony. Aria scooped up the mint green pony in her hands and pulled her into a bear hug. "You are so awesome! Lyra, right?" Aria recomposed herself and put down the pony who then gasped for air. "Yeah! I was just wondering if we could hang out some time." Lyra really wanted to become friends with these humans. "Eh, sure, why not?" Alex shrugged and got a face full of mint green as he was nearly tackled to the ground. If it weren't for his powers, he might've budged further than a step. Alex pried the unicorn from his face and stared into her eyes full of guilt. Alex just sighed and put down the unicorn. "We'll hang out some other time." Alex said as he and Aria waved the pony off. Lyra was ecstatic about meeting humans. She couldn't believe it! Real live humans! She couldn't resist running up to BonBon and rubbing it in. BonBon couldn't help but roll her eyes and continue with her day. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deep within the Everfree forest, low, inhuman growls emanated from the forest. Roars, animalistic yelps and grunts came from the forest along with the sound of tearing flesh and roars of victory. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aria was taking a walk near the forest, when she heard the growls and roars coming from the forest and immediately began to worry. She stood at the entrance and contacted Alex with the Hive mind. Dad! I think you should get over here!" Aria shouted mentally. "Why? What's wrong?" Alex asked. "I heard something in the forest, something very familiar." There was a short pause and Alex spoke again. "Should we bring the ponies?" Alex wanted to let them know. "Yes, go get them. I'll be waiting." Aria sat down facing the entrance of the forest, thinking to herself. What the hell did we bring with us...? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alex pounded on the library door, somehow not breaking it with his godlike strength. "Twilight! Open up! It's Alex!" Alex was immediately answered. "Alex! What's wrong?" Twilight was startled by Alex's behavior. "I need you to get the girls. There's something wrong with the forest." Alex said as he sped off to find Dash, Applejack and Fluttershy. Alex and Twilight had gathered the ponies near the Everfree forest. "Alex, what happened?" Applejack was confused. "You'll find out when we find Aria. There she is!" Alex ran to Aria, the ponies following. "Aria! What happened in the forest?" Alex asked, dreading the answer. Aria gave a look that confirmed Alex's fears. "No. No, they couldn't have!" Alex shouted. "They did." Aria said with a sad look. "Alex! What is going on?" Twilight was out of breath as she asked. Alex gave her a worried look. "The Hunters are in the forest." Alex dreaded this. Some of the most deadly infected in the NYZ had come to Equestria with them. "Y-you mean that thing that Aria turned into?" Twilight was on the verge of breaking down and crying. "Yes! We are going in there to stop them." Alex said as he and Aria made their way to the forest. "Wait! We'll-" Twilight was stopped by Alex's steely glare. "Stay. Here." Alex said, his gaze not leaving Twilight's. Twilight gave a fearful nod and Alex ran into the forest with Aria. Twilight broke down and just sat there, motionless. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alex ran through the forest, all the while speaking to Aria and the sounds of death growing louder. "How in the hell did they get here!?" Alex shouted as they jumped from tree to tree. "They probably came in with us." Aria shouted back as they reached the source of the sound. They saw four Brawler Hunters that were tearing up Manticore corpses. The Hunters got into a combat stance, but they softened at he sight of the virus and his daughter. One of the Brawlers charged at Aria, knocked her down and started licking her face, much like a dog that sees their master after a long time. "Biscuit! You followed us? Diana, Ragna, Nugget! You all followed us?" Aria asked the Hunters. They all nodded, except for Biscuit. He just kept licking Aria's face. Alex just laughed and eased up his stance. "Looks like they didn't want to stay away for long." Alex gave another laugh. With their little Hunter pack, they felt like a family. These Hunters were different from the regular Hunters back in the NYZ. Biscuit was much like the regular Hunters, in terms of body build. But he was fast. Very fast. He could keep up with Alex and Aria if they decided to race. He was no slouch in the attack power department, either. Problem was his defense. Biscuit traded defense for speed. He had less armor, but still more than most Hunters. Ragna was hunched over with his claws out. It was an evolutionary feat when he stood upright. He could match Alex in terms with his skills with the Claws (Yes, that includes Groundspike). Ragna was very powerful, indeed. He had longer and more powerful claws. He had very good armor, enough to deflect .50 caliber rounds from a gunship. His speed was average among the Hunters in Alex and Aria's pack. He could run upright. There really wasn't much wrong with him. Nugget was hulking mass of death. She was almost as big as a Juggernaut. She had astronomical power and defense. Of course, that power and defense comes at a price. She had speed that was slower than a normal Hunter, and she was a little slower climbing buildings. Her strength allowed her to crush tanks with her bare claws. Her defense could deflect tank rounds, literally. Alex once saw her deflect a tank round and crush the tank. Her claws were much like the Supreme Hunter's claw, except it's on both arms. Diana was like a slightly bigger version of the Leader Hunters: bigger claws, chitinous spiked armor, superior speed, power and defense. She was the leader when Alex and Aria weren't around. She may have had everything better than any other Leader Hunter, but she was not as good as the others who specialized in their respective fields. Alex was leading them out of the forest, Aria all the while happily talking to the Hunters that she loved like family. "Aria, how the hell are we going to explain this?" Alex really wanted to bring the Hunters with them everywhere, but he knew that would not be possible. "I dunno. We'll just explain it like we always do. Bluntly!" Aria shouted with a smile on her face and her fist in the air. They eventually reached the treeline and Alex was starting to doubt himself. I hope this works...... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight had just recovered from Alex's little outburst. "How did those things get here?" Twilight was terrified that those things would kill everything in their path, which they always did in the Red Zone. "I don't know, but Alex and Aria seem to have it under control. They can take those things out no problem!" Rainbow Dash answered Twilight. Soon, the sounds of footsteps permeated the air. Everypony was waiting with a hopeful look on their faces. They hoped that Alex solved the problem. When Alex emerged from the treeline, their initial response was to go and ask him if he took care of the Hunters. Then they saw his pack. Their blood ran cold and their first instinct was to run away, but Alex stopped them. "Wait! Don't run! We need to talk to you about this." Alex waved the terrified ponies over to him and his little family. "A-Alex what are these things doing here?" Twilight was terrified out of her mind for standing so close to the Hunters. She stared at Biscuit as his saliva dripped down onto the ground, splashing a little on her hoof. She could feel her legs about to give way and she fought with every fiber of her being to stay conscious. "These Hunters are different! They're like family to us, and we promise they won't hurt the ponies!" Alex wanted to convince them that their family wouldn't cause any trouble for the ponies. "C-Can you promise they won't eat any ponies?" Twilight asked as she stared a Ragna's blood-soaked claws in absolute fear. "Yes. I can infect them with my strain of the virus." Alex was proud of the plan he thought up just at that moment. "What's that gunna do?" Applejack asked as Ragna licked his bloody claws, causing her to shudder. What good would come out of increasing their overall strength and speed? "It'll make them faster, stronger, allow them to consume and break down DNA. But most importantly, It will allow them to control their primal instincts." Alex and Aria approved of the plan. All the ponies agreed except Twilight. Being the skeptic she is, she couldn't simply drop this topic. "How do we know that they won't try to eat us in our sleep?" Alex just laughed. "Normally, they would. But after being infected by my strain of the virus and being told not to eat any ponies, they won't." Alex stated. "Alright, fine. I still don't like this idea." Twilight huffed. Alex put a smile on his face and proceeded to jam his claws in the Hunters to begin infecting them. The Hunters didn't even flinch. They were used to pain. All the Hunters got boosts in their already tremendous strength, power and defense. Biscuit got armor similar to Alex's Shield power. He could now deflect .50 caliber rounds from a gunship. Alex and Aria could still outrun him, but he was nonetheless faster. His claws extended and grew bulkier. Ragna now had claws similar to Heller's claws (Third power upgrade). He got the same armor as Biscuit. He could now deflect tank rounds. His overall leg strength increased and he could now run faster than Diana. Nugget got even more armor and her musclemass compressed to look much more like a regular Hunter. The only thing that gave her away was her armor. She could now effectively survive thermobaric tanks. Her speed improved so she could run as fast as Diana. Diana looked like an elite version of the Leader Hunters back in the NYZ. Improved speed, power and defense. "Alright, I need you all to do a favor for me and Aria." Alex said to the Hunters, who listened intently. "I need you all to not hurt any ponies. Oh yeah, don't build any hives, either." Alex said. Diana had a guilty look on her face as she communicated with the Hive mind. "Alex, Aria. I have something to tell you." Diana said with a guilty look on her face. "What is it?" Aria asked. "I think we already started a hive." Diana looked away in shame. "You did WHAT!?" Alex shouted. "I'm sorry! It was an instinct!" Alex was quick to forgive. "How many are there?" Alex asked. "10 Brawler Hunters, 4 Juggernauts, a lot of Flyers and a couple of Hydras. If you want them to not infect anything, just tell them through the Hive mind." Alex did as he was told and sent a mental command to not infect anything. Alex and Aria broke the link and looked at each other. "Alex? Aria? What are you thinking?" Twilight asked. "We gotta go. We'll see you before dark." Alex said as they all ran back into the forest. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- They soon reached the hive, which thankfully, wasn't fully developed. The entrance was just a hole in the ground. They entered the hive and issued their strain of the virus with only one goal in mind: stopping their need to eat and infect. They placed the hive in a form of hibernation, one that would probably last for the next thirty years and they sealed off the hive. "Just another extension of the family, I guess." Aria said with a shrug. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- High atop the frigid crags of northern Griffonia, King Alden sits upon his throne in quiet contemplation. It had only been two days since that... creature had crashed into the cliff face behind the castle. It came from a rip in the sky that disappeared just as quickly as it appeared. With it came a shower of what appeared to be red, gray and black dust that tasted of iron, as reported by one of his soldiers. It was strange, to say the least. It appeared like a much thinner ape that stood upright, wearing strange clothes to cover what its black hair couldn't. It spoke strangely, calmly as it seemed to look down on Alden's soldiers as they took aim with their rifles. The creature was a blur of violence as it quickly ripped through the contingent of soldiers assembled to investigate it. It took some bargaining to get the creature to calm down, but it was not a hard request in the end. Simply find a fellow named Alex Mercer.