//------------------------------//
// A Face From The Past 
// Story: The Quiet Kid: Day by Day 
// by aegishailstorm 
//------------------------------//

William, Joey, the six, Starlight, and Spike sat in a semicircle in Twilight's office, and for once, while everycreture else seemed to know what was going on, William was left in the dark, both literally, and figuratively. He resided in the dark corner of the room, having intentionally pulled down the curtains. And he hadn't exactly been briefed on his reason for being there. The only reason he hadn't abandoned them in favor of some nice target practice on the outskirts of the Everfree forest, was because, as usual, he was bored, his tailing an investigation  of that so called 'Cozy Glow'  had grown cold, and he needed a respite from town anyway. This was the only thing they had told him. Finally, he decided to speak up about it.

"Why am I here?" He asked them, having lived here for several months now, he expected something more than "We're going on a retreat." But go figure. He stood up, and approched the group, standing in the center of their gathering.

"Where? And why did you drag me out of my bed at 5:30 in the morning!? I thought I had made it more than clear that I value my sleep.

"Why, the Everfree forest of course!" Rarity spoke up. William scratched his head out of a mixture of both frustration, and confusion, "And why, I thought you ponies hated that place."

"Well, I wouldn't say...hate," Twilight told the angry armored being towering above her, "More like avoid. We decided to bring you along because;1. Zecora wasn't available, and, 2. You spend most of your day out there, what are you doing out there anyway?" William's response was instant. "I like silence, and recreational violence. No, I'm not explaining that last part to you." Twilight gave him an awkward smile, and a nod of, "What's wrong with you?" He shrugged. And turned his attention to the olive green unicorn mare which had just barged into the room, a camera slung around her neck.

"I'm so sorry! Can you forgive me? I don't expect you to forgive me- Forgive me?" The mare gave her best sympathy smile, and Twilight groaned in annoyance. 

"Hold on, who are you? And why are you here?" William demanded, setting his left hand on the M45A1 pistol lying dormant in a thigh holster. As  son as the mare turned to look at him, her enthusiasm seemed to fade, and she took a step back.

"I- It's you, hehe." She blurted out, momentarily breaking character. William knew that this equine wasn't telling whole truth. So he pressed further. "Who are you really? How did you recognize me?" The mare had began rushing around the room, grabbing photo's of the six, and snatching little strands of their mane as she did, ignoring both Starlight, and Joey. William noticed that her magic glowed a dark green, it was vaguely familiar, yet he couldn't quite place it.

"Hey, I asked you a question damnit!" He repeated as the grip on his sidearm tightened as he ran his gloved fingers over the hard plastic of the holster, his trigger finger tapping the safety as he did.

"Uh, thanks for the pictures princess!" The mare said, excusing herself, she turned and galloped out of the room. William rushed out the door to chase after her, but by the time he got to the doorway, she was already gone.

"Who the hell was that? He poked at Twilight. Who pulled out a golden pocket watch, and flipped it open, before snapping it back shut a moment later. 

"That, was the photographer I hired-" Twilight hadn't finished he sentence before William resumed interrogating her. "Why did she recognize me? Why was she scared of me? And why did she take stands of your manes? And why did she leave Joey and Starlight alone?"

"You're not exactly that discrete, "Joey spoke up," You walk around in armor, carry loaded weapons around like a toddler with their blanket, and you just...how do I put it? Ah yes, stick out like a sore hoof!?" William pulled  down his ski mask and gave the group a wicked grin. "I've read the paper's, it's not like this is the first time I've been told this." Starlight's horn lit up, dragging an old newspaper off the shelves.

"You've made the front page multiple time's, and most often or not, it's not for a good reason. "William laughed, and pulled down his ski mask, taking his hand off his sidearm as he did. "That's for damn sure, but then again, why should I care what a bunch of colorful equines think of me?" He turned, and waved at the doorway, "Well, are you all packed? Let's go!" The group looked at one another, then back at the overly enthusiastic soldier in front of them.

"Should we be worried he's to excited about this?" Starlight aske the group. Joey rolled his eyes, "I know William, or at least, I think I do-" He was interrupted when he looked over to see William jumping out of the office window, followed by"QUIET KID GET'S WHAT QUIET KID WANTS!!!" Echoing though the building.

"Well, I suppose that's our call to go?" Twilight said nervously, in her mind, she knew that this would most likely be a mistake, still it was William. And she knew that she really couldn't stop him, even if she wanted to. Deep down, the last thing she wanted for her, the royal sisters, and her friends was to be on the wrong end of one of William's 'firearms' as he called them.


The group of ponies walked through the Everfree forest, With William leading the way, well, not so much as leading the way as going on ahead as far forward as he pleased, and yelling for the group to catch up the whole time. Much to the bain of the rest of them, who where stuck at Starlight's pace, being that they had near overburdened her with 'camping supplies' something William found laughable, Applejack was lugging a cart being her with twice the weight in cargo, and showing no signs of fatigue. Some things in this world would just never make sense to him, no matter how hard he tried tried to rationalize it.

"Yo, Twilight, where exactly are we going?" He called out from ahead of the group, he could hear stumbling behind him, most likely the group still trying to get themselves in order, he finally heard her call back, "You're supposed to be the one guarding us!" he rolled his eyes, they had made him come with them, he wanted a better response than that.

"Answer the damn question! "He repeated, trying to resist the urge to rush back there and waterboard Twilight for the information. At last, after hearing the group mumble to themselves for a few moments, she responded; "We're headed for the cliffs at the bottom of the ravine near the castle of the 2 sisters! The tree of harmony to be exact!" This response made him stop and ponder for a moment, "Tree of harmony?" He repeated the phase to himself in his head several times, finally, he swallowed hard with the realization as to what it was, "Elements of harmony? Tree of harmony? Oh #### , must be where they originated from, actually..." He thought back to his time on earth, particularly, his 'closet brony' phase. And groaned, he could barely handle the six as where, but a whole trees worth of equally powerful gems? And a magical spirit to boot? No, it was to much for him. 

"Hey, Twilight, what's that 'spirit' you kept muttering on about?" He could hear rustling in the bushes, both around, and behind him, and rapid hoof steps that sounded a suspicious lot like Pinkie Pie, " How do you know about it? I just told you about the tree!" Being that he still wasn't in the mood to reveal his past to a bunch of candy colored equiods, at least, not this part, he lied, "Heard you mumblin' about it a few days ago! Didn't take long for me to put 2 and 2 together!" he let out a sigh, and continued marching on along. Slinging his FN MG68 squad automatic weapon back over his shoulder. While he could make it disappear and or reappear at any time, it was comforting to feel such power on his back, it gave him reassurance that he wasn't just a normal human, at the mercy of Equestria's magic. That, combined with his vast ego, made him a utterly terrifying foe on the battlefield, and an even more terrifying ally. Everywhere he went, he would get the slight feeling that creatures where scared, intimidated, or at the very least, stunned by his appearance. He shifted his gaze back to the group ponies he was currently "Escorting", grunting in frustration as he did. "Escorting? More like foal sitting."

"This was a bad idea, I hate trail hiking, sure, it's easier, but boring, this is the freaking Everfree forest, and I think I have just the thing for myself." With a confident look on his face, he ducked into the treeline, and as he did, breaking line of sight with the six, and his friend. Rustling his way through the lush foliage on the side of the path, until he burst out into a small clearing, the trees had blocked out most of the sunlight here. Which, considering William hated the sun, was only a bonus. He looked back at the trail one last time, but as he turned, he was ambushed by Pinkie. "Hey, don't be so glum!" She exclaimed. As was common in moments like this, William jumped back, and without a second thought, drew the sidearm resting on his left thigh from it's holster, sending one .45 caliber tungsten round over the ecstatic earth ponies head, doing nothing to deter her. As the smoking hot brass casing hit the corse, grass covered ground below him, he realized that he probably  shouldn't have fired on one of the six, and, that they would likely be on their way to investigate what had happened. Quickly, he reholstered the pistol and  threw a flashbang. Before making for the bushes just 3 meters away on the far  side of the clearing, just barely diving in before the grenade went off, and a moment later, he heard Pinkie's cry of pain as the noise and flash temporarily disoriented her, allowing him to flee deeper into the forest.

The hasty yet well executed escape had gone down  perfectly, and William had taken to congratulating himself on his small victory, "Keep on whinin' you little monster, keep on whinin'" After his initial escape, his pace slowed to a jog, and then a leisurely stroll as he went deeper into the thick, temperate jungle of the Everfree, his sight and hearing on edge, on the lookout for anything looking to snatch him up for a mid day snack, a scenario that was very, very, unlikely to play out in the attacker's favor, seeing as William had unslung the machine gun from his shoulder, instead opting to sling it around his front, occasionally raising it at the sound of twigs breaking, or the rustling of leaves. 

"I'm so bored!" The voice made his blood run cold, and for a moment, he froze in place, raising his weapon to his shoulder, franticly searching for the voice. It was Pinkie's, of that he was sure, but it was different. Less... enthusiastic, it sounded like himself after a long day, what with only wanting to go home, plop down on the couch, and fall asleep. "Oh what the hell, let's go see what's going on over there," He ducked down, raising the gunsight to his eye, he made his way forward in the direction of the voice, the foliage around him got slightly more dense as he got closer, ducking under a series of massive root's, he came to a opening in the forest, and there before him, was the six, or at least, something that looked like them. Unlike the six, they where oddly discolored, and their fur and manes appeared to be faded. Reminiscent to a blanket or plastic toy that had been left out in the sun for to long. Patiently, he watched from the treeline as the bickered away about something, and then he caught sight of her, a tall changeling. One that he knew all to well from a close encounter 4 years prior.

"Listen to your queen! We must retrieve the elements of harmony!" Heard her order, rolling his eyes at the sheer stupidity of it all.

"Chrysalis!? Damnit!" He cursed under his breath and bit his lip, there is only one reason she would be out in the Everfree, with clones of the six. He thought back to the real six, and Joey, still ignorantly hiking their way through one of the forest's few relatively safe paths. Either that, or they had gone looking for him. He didn't mind, he was used to being tracked in the forest, and over time, had learned how to evade others, if only for short periods of time. Breathing in in and out in an attempt to calm the adrenaline rushing though him, he set the computer assisted optics crosshair's right on her head, only to bring it down a moment later. With both eyes still watching the 'queen' of the changelings, and her minions closely, trying to anticipate any sudden movements they might attempt.

"Why not just go and talk to her?" A nagging voice in his head whispered to him, he slapped the side of his ballistic helmet, and went prone on this stomach, pulling some loose leaves off the ground, and throwing them over himself, at the same time, his forest green multicam pattern fatigues where replaced by a ghillie suit. He rolled to the left, propping his gun up on the edge of the tree. "I'll wait for her to be alone, I don't know how powerful these knew minions may be, and I don't want her flying off either." He lay in wait, watching as she was approached by Twilight's clone.

"Why didn't you just attack them!?" He heard her ask. This made him smile, he knew exactly where this conversation was going.

"Excuse me?" Chrysalis responded, William nodded at this, as he had seen, or at least heard many times before, she was prone to being ignorant. Expecting that just because of some fancy title, every sentient being was automatically expected to serve her, and every situation to go her way. He listened in closer, "You where close enough to pull hairs from their manes, why not just take your revenge then?" 

"They've defeated my army, and, they had that...that-" She paused for a moment as she appeared to have a flashback, before shaking her head and continuing. "That William! I swear, he's a one creature army. I know better than to strike alone, especially when he's there! I need..." William fought back a laugh, oh, how fun it was to hear other's acknowledge their totally rational fear of him. 

"The element's of harmony."

"And where are these, element's of harmony?" The clone of Twilight asked. For William, this was a good thing, if they didn't know what the element's were, that also meant they didn't know where they were. All the better for him.

"The location of the most powerful weapon in Equestria isn't something made known to just anypony."William risked snickering at this statement, "But I'm not a pony, and besides, those cute little rocks wouldn't beat me, only thing that has a decent chance of that is the uranium in a nuclear  warhead. He shuddered at the thought of Equestria possessing nuclear weapons. There were some things he was glad to keep hidden.

"I learned they where hidden somewhere in this forest." The changeling added. William clenched his fist, either Chrysalis knew about Twilight's so called 'retreat', or of that 'tree of harmony' the real Twilight had mentioned earlier. Nether where very good options. He doubted she would find either of them, especially with him nearby. "Yeah, but it's a big forest." The clone said, before going off with the rest. Finally leaving William alone with Chrysalis. Slowly, he rose up from out of the brush, he ghillie suit being replaced by his normal fatigues, vest, helmet, and other assorted gear which he always made sure to keep handy. "Hey Chrissy, long time no see. How ya been?" He asked as he stepped out into the open, he watched as the changeling queen stared back at him with a mixture of confusion and horror. He could see her eyes looking back and forth for an escape route. The 2 stood near motionless for an uncomfortably long 20 seconds, before Chrysalis spoke up,"H-How did you find me?" She demanded, trying to act tough, but William could hear the uncertainty in her voice. He held up one of his hands, being sure to keep the other firmly gripped on his Sig Sauer light machine gun.

"You're a near 6 foot tall changeling with a massive ego and an unmistakable voice, although truth be told, I came across you and your group completely by accident. "She cleared her throat and took a step back, "What do you want?" 

"What? I can't say hi to my favorite antagonist once in a while?" Her brow furrowed as her expression went back to her signature scowl of disapproval, " Last time we met you almost took my head off with that...device of yours." She gestured to the FN MG68 slung around his chest. "Err, different gun, this one is far, far more dangerous," He ran his gloved hand across it's top, tapping the scope. "You know, I could end you, right here, right now,"  Her expression went back to one of terror. "But I won't, because I'm a decent person." He sat down on a stump, crossing his legs as he did. "So, tell me about your life. "Chrysalis looked back at the treeline being her, she could try and attempt an escape at the risk of having her head blown off by the psychopath in front of her, or she could cooperate, and perhaps, get to live to fight another day." Uh, sure." She responded awkwardly, sitting down in front of him on the grass, "So, it all started when I lost my hive..."

Several hours of catchup/life counselling/therapy/ interrogation later...

"And that's what I've been doing these past four years, why did you ask instead of just killing me outright?"Chrysilis asked William, who at this point, was just about fed up with listening to this bug ##### about her life, "Hmmm, let's see, since no one seems to give a #### about you, and you claim that friendship is a bad thing, you know, that may be the case in Equestria, but where I come from, it's not magic. Although it was annoying at times. I needed somepony to talk to that was...lets go with more mature than my current friends. Anyway, on the topic of your minions, where are they?" She was taken back by this question, she still gave him an answer," They're currently out looking for the elements of harmony, and you can't stop them." William smirked, keeping other's in the dark was fun, no doubt about it. 

"Well, let's see, they're probably stalking Twilight and her friends right now, as well as a blue and white alicorn by the name of Joey, I'd guess their trying to impersonate them as well, follow-up question, what are they, fellow changelings?" Chrysalis rolled her eyes, she'd already been caught, what was the danger of telling him, "Well, if you must know, that photographer that barged into Twilight's office this morning, was me, I used the samples of hair and the pictures to create...golems of sort. It seemed like a good idea, problem is, they-"

"Act completely opposite to the real six? Yeah, I noticed that, tell you what, you've been a good bug-horse thing, you're free to go...for now, but if I ever catch you trying to pull anything, and that includes stealing from me, well..." He patted the suppressor at the end of his squad automatic weapon to further his point. Without another word, she turned, and darted off into the brush. "Oh ####, what is my life?" He pushed himself off the stump, and headed off in the opposite direction off the apparent former queen of the changelings, back toward the trail.

"Ow! Ow!" William yelped in pain as he fought his way though the thicket of thorny bushes and vines, his chosen way back was the quickest, or, at least, according to his compass it was. He himself had doubts, as did his BDU fatigues, which may have been fireproof, but most definitely not thorn proof but at long last, he broke through the treelines, swatting the prickly branches away as he did, as he turned to look into the new clearing the sight horrified him, he had seemingly stumbled upon the real six, Starlight Glimmer, an Joey, in the middle of a hug. 

"Oh, oh, ####...not again!" He fell to one knee and dry heaved. This got their attention well enough, and they stopped. Rainbow, unlike the rest of the group, who actually seemed worried, decided to take it as a joke, "What? Are you allergic to hugs?" She asked in a girly voice, William grunted, and slowly raised his middle finger above his head. "Go to Tartarus," He rasped.


"William, where have you been all day!?" Joey demanded," Pinkie says you tried to shoot her!" William just dusted off his kneepads, and laughed," Comon, Joey, you know me better than that, I didn't try to kill her, she just surprised me. I was already on edge, and she just...pushed me over." Applejack nodded behind them, "Yep, he's tellin' the truth." William breathed a sigh of relief, he may have told them the truth about this, but he had no intention whatsoever to tell them of his 'encounter' with Chrysalis. He knew she likely wouldn't hold up on her end of the bargain, so he decided to strike preemptively, he knew she was after the elements, so..." Hey, Twilight, where exactly are the elements of harmony?" He tapped his boot, and scanned the surrounding treeline for anything out of the ordinary.

"Oh, well, they're currently imbedded in the tree, the one I told you about earlier." That was all William needed to hear, he now know exactly where Chrysalis, and her minions, would be heading. Looking up in the sky to see  that the sun was beginning to set over the horizon, he snapped his fingers, manifesting a set of quad scope night vision googles, which he firmly secured to the base of his helmet.  "Let's go ponies, double time it!" He ordered, jogging off down the trail, weapon in hand.

"What's got him so worked up about?" Starlight asked. Joey breathed in through his teeth, and responded, "He knows something we don't, let's go, it's getting dark, and we wouldn't want to be caught out here without our escort." He trotted off after William, with the rest of them in close pursuit.

As soon as the sun dipped below the horizon, the scene around him went near pitch black, only to be replaced by the equestrian moon a moment later, painting the ground with pale blue and purple light. No matter how many times he watched it happen, or stayed up during the night, he never understood where the purple glow came from. As soon as it did, he switched on his NVG's and pulled them down over his eyes. "Bravo six, going dark." He said to himself with a chuckle, that would likely never get old. With his rile raised, he advanced into the canyon. Just in time to catch eye of six ponies that were most definitely not the main six, he quickened his pace, jumping from the final ledge, he hit the solid rocky ground of the ravine running, he stormed his way to the cave opening, inside, there stood a massive glowing crystalline tree, with dozens of small gems growing like fruit on it's lower branches, he looked to  the top of the tree, to find six branches crowning in, each one had one of the elements imbedded in it.

"Bingo." He murmured, he saw that the clones where drawing closer and closer to the tree, so, he did the only thing he thought reasonable, kill them. He raised the stock of the LMG to his shoulder, training the weapon on Twilight's clone, he squeezed  the trigger, sending 2 rounds of 6.8 MM into the beings skull, it fell to the ground, and disappeared in a flash of green light, revealing a piece of wood.

"Huh, the changeling was right after all." Before the other 5 were able to react, William had already put a bullet in the back of each of they're heads, sending them all crumpling to the ground. Bing that the weapon was suppressed, and that the real six hadn't yet made it down into the ravine to set up camp. No creature was around to hear the whole thing go down. He took one look at the tree of harmony, examining it for weaknesses.

"Another day maybe, another day." He lowered his weapon, turned around, and left the vicinity of the cave, with his NVG's still illuminating the surrounding area for him with green-blue light. He sat down on a nearby bolder and relined back as the six made their way to the bottom.

"Hey, William, you there?" Joey called out, "Yep, I'm here." William responded, he was exhausted at this point, he had spent almost the entire day running around the forest, fueled only by the occasional trail snack and water from his canteen, that, and rage. With just a smidge of adrenaline to top it all off.
"What where you doing down here, why where you in such a rush?" William smiled at this, "Just tying up lose ends." He turned and looked at the moon, just in time to see the dark form of Chrysalis fly off into the night sky.

"Yep, just tying up lose ends."