//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Displaced: The Traitorous Gunslinger // by 2themax //------------------------------// Chapter 2: Eye Have You. A couple hours into the ride I felt someone nudging my leg, I lifted up my hat as I saw a ticketmaster pony standing there. “Your ticket sir?” he asked as he raised a brow. “Right, sure, it’s right here.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out the ticket to the pony, he checked it and gave it a small clip with a hole puncher. “Thank you kindly, enjoy your ride.” he said he walked away and asked other passengers for their tickets. I just let out a small yawn as I ran a gloved hand over my face, looking out the window as I watched the scene pass by me. Multiple thoughts race through my head, who is this Lore Master, what’s their connection to me and Equestria, why did the merchant send me here, what’s the endgame of this timeline and how would the ponies in Ponyville react to him. ‘I could lie and say I'm some kind of minotaur, but there’s Applejack, she’ll see through the lie being the Element of honesty and all. Then there’s Rainbow Dash, she’s usually the one that suspects new strangers and is willing to rush into a conflict, but playing into her ego can gain some points with her. Pinkie is easy to tame, just enjoy her parties, go with the flow and hope to god she doesn’t do her reality bending schtick on me. Then there’s Rarity, she’s rather tame and probably would like to hear the stories and gossip I might have, though I don't know how she’ll react to seeing my attire.’ looking over to my reflection on the glass , looking over my outfit and boots. ‘Lastly there’s Fluttershy, a very timid and easy to manipulate pony, I just have to be subtle with her and steer her along, but when push comes to shove, she will not hesitate to give “The Stare.” so long no one is threatening the animals and her friends.’ I thought as I felt the train slowing down to a halt. “Guess I reached my stop.” I muttered as I stood up and exited the train. As I stepped out of the train, I adjusted my hat and looked around. Some of the ponies stopped and stared at me, some like deers in a headlight, some out of curiosity and a few out of suspicion and fear. ‘I swear, Ponyville is so xenophobic at times, first from Zecora, than Iron Will, and now me. Speaking of a certain Zebra, I have to keep a low profile from the rest of the Main 6, especially from Pinkie.’ I thought as I walked away from the small crowd of pony near the platform and snuck off somewhere secluded. Once there I brought out my stealth camo and equipped it, turning it on as I faded from sight. ‘Alright, time to see if Twilight has arrived in town.’ I started to book it into the town. Even though I was technically invisible to the naked eye, I did my best to stick to cover, because walking through the middle of a crowd will cause me to bump into other ponies. The last thing they need is that there’s something invisible and solid among them. As I snuck through the town I spotted the lavender pony in the middle of town with her baby dragon companion ‘There you are.’ I thought as I kept an eye on her until something fast and rainbow colored crashed into her. ‘And cue the rainbow dash scene. I already know how this will play out, so I don't wanna stick around too much.’ I thought as I moved away, accidently knocking over an empty can as I stopped mid step. A large ? popped out of the two mare’s head as they turned to the noise, seeing the empty can that fell. “Eh, probably just the wind.” Rainbow dash said as she shrugged while Twilight was more curious but ultimately believed it was just a small breeze as the two mares continued their conversation. I let out a held breath as I quietly snuck past. Once out of their view I turned into a nearby alley and turned off the stealth camo. “That was close, though i couldn’t help noticing that even they have Metal Gear Solid Question marks pop up over their heads.” I muttered quietly, scratching my chin before crouching down and popping up the codec menu. I moved the selection over to 140.96 and gave it a call. Soon the UI popped up as I got an Image of an Asian Woman, around their mid 20’s as she answered the call. ‘Wait is that…’ “Ah Ocelot, you need to save your data?” She asked as a Yes and No popped up. I hit yes as I felt a wave of relief wash over me, feeling a weight over my shoulder being lifted. “There I saved your progress on the mission.” she said. “Hang on you’re…Mei ling?” I asked her as she nodded. “Yep, that’s me, surprise to see me assisting you?” she asked with a small cheeky smile. “Well yeah, i am kinda surprised, so you’re my data analyst and one that saves my record and data?” I asked Mei Ling. “That’s correct, I'm here to assist with not only recording your data but also help with anything that is radar, data and maps.” she replied. “Hang on, i don’t have a soliton radar, so i gotta rely on the try and true using my eyes and ears.” I told her as she let out a small hum. “Hmmm, maybe your Nano machines aren’t active at the moment.” she answered. “Nanomachines?” I repeated to her. “Yup, from what i’m seeing here on the computer that your Nanomachines aren’t active and need to be turned on, i would activate them here but you’re already out on the field.” Mei ling said to me. “So how am I going to activate them?” I asked. “Hmm, there’s a way of using some kind of injection, an enzyme that uses the blood in your system to start a chain reaction that activates them.” She replied. “And is there someone out there that can do it?” I asked. “Lemme check…..Ah there is someone close, but they are in the Everfree forest though, it’ll be hard to find them since their vehicle uses Octo Camo.” she answered. ‘Fuuuck, I think I know who uses an octo camo vehicle..’ i thought before speaking out “How far is their location?” I asked. “Just about 2 clicks east in the forest, be careful in there, that forest is full of monsters, poisonous plants and insects.” she warned me. “Don’t I'll be fine, I did have some survival training in me for forested areas, jungles and frozen tundras.” I replied. “Alright, I believe in you, don’t forget to call in when you need your data saved.” she said before the call ended and i got out of the codec UI. I stood back up as I cracked my neck “Oh god, i have to meet him do i…” I sighed out as I turned on the Stealth Camo and jogged out of the alley, running my way over to the forest. Once I made my way to the Edge of the EverFree forest, I deactivated my stealth camo and pulled out a revolver, twirling it around before checking the chambers, 5 are loaded in and one empty. ‘Cowboy safety huh, well I might need 6 if I’m going in' as I reached to my bandoleer and pulled out a .45 long colt and open the side cover for the chamber, putting it in half cock to move the chamber and loaded the round in before giving the chamber a spin before closing it. “Alright, two miles east huh, I think that’s close to the castle ruins. Still he had to pick that spot to set up shop, damn it Drebin..” I muttered before walking my way into the forest. Thankfully there was a dirt path to follow, making this trip through the woods at least a bit easy and safe, though no time to lower my guard while in a killer forest, there’s things that want to kill me. Speak of the devil and he shall appear before you as slithering onto a path was a chicken mix with a snake body ‘Damn it, of all things to find, a cockatrice decides to show up.’ I thought as I raised my revolver to the thing cocking the hammer back, it turned its head to me, seeing those red glowing eyes as I shielded my eyes with my other arm and fired a round at it. I heard a loud bang from my gun followed with a “bawk!” as I looked over, the cockatrice was slain before me, dead on the floor before its body started to slowly disintegrate before me before a circular object appeared, floating in the air, spinning slowly. “Well, I guessed this solved the food storage problem .” I said as I walked over to the floating ration and grabbed it as the text appeared “Cockatrice.R” before disappearing like before. Hang on, does this mean I have a survival viewer? Do i even have menu for this, How do i bring the fucking menu up, it’s not like i have a controller on me. Again, I feel like I'm living in a show or a cartoon. My stomach starts to grumble, feeling hungry as it has been several hours without eating. So i just picture a ps2 controller in my hand and I hit start, and right before my eyes time paused again and popped up was the survivor viewer from MGS3. ‘You know what, I'm done questioning shit, right now I'm hungry and I need to eat that cockatrice… that sounded bad in my head.’ I thought as I navigated the menu to the food menu, opening it as I saw the cockatrice ration and the 3D model of it. I selected the chicken snake as it appeared in my hand, looking over it as a thought occurred in my mind ‘I have to eat it raw, like how Big Boss did… wonder how it tastes…’ I thought as I took a bite to the body, sinking my teeth in ‘as I tore away the scales and ate the flesh. Oddly enough, it tasted just like chicken, like a spicy version of the KFC original thanks to the mixture of both its chicken and snake body. I ate away at the snake, spitting out any bones and scales that got in my mouth and eating away until most of it was just guts, bones and its head. I wiped my mouth of blood as the rest of the snake body was thrown away. “Great Stamina Recovery” text popped up. “Damn that’s good.” I said as I looked out of the corner of the menu and saw my LIFE and stamina gauge as my stamina shot up from half empty to full bar. The LIFE gauge is at least more than half way of the stamina gauge, so I have pretty good health standing, taking plenty of damage before going down for good. I closed the survival viewer by hitting the imaginary start button again as everything returned to normal. “You know what, being able to pause time like that could come in handy.” I said as I dust my hand off, heading back down to the dirt path. After what felt like around fifteen to twenty minutes of walking, wiping the sweat off my brow as I navigate through the woods “Why..did i..have to wear...a damn black jacket…in the middle of spring…” I complained as the humidity of the woods was slowly getting to me. I heard a branch snap behind me as I quickly pulled out my revolver, whipping around behind before I got pounced on by a Timberwolf, luckily my gun was in its jaw as it gnashes and bites on the metal as I struggle with the wooden wolf. “Get the hell off me!” I yelled as I swiftly kicked it off me. I swiftly rolled onto my stomach as I aimed my gun at the prone wolf as it started to get back onto its leg. “Oh no you don’t!” I screamed as I fanned the hammer, firing 5 colt .45 rounds into it, blowing large holes into the creature’s wooden body before firing the final shot. The round flew as it landed on its head,blowing off a big chunk as the green glow of its eyes faded away. I quickly holstered the now empty revolver and grabbed the second one, spinning the chambers as I heard the sound of claws running around me. I heard the pack of Timberwolves howl before they all started to run away, obviously intimidated by the loud gunfire. “That’s right you better run! If you come back to haunt me, I'll turn you and your entire pack into kindling for my next campfire!” I yelled at the retreating wolves as the woods got quiet. Adrenaline runs through me after a quick brush of death as I scan around my environment, hoping nothing else wants some of this smoke. Suddenly someone started to clap. “What a hell of a threat there Major, what’s next gonna tell them that you’re gonna turn their next of kin into Ikea drawers?” a voice spoke out as I turned to spot an African American male standing there, wearing a dark three piece suit with a black tie, eyeglasses and with blonde hair. “Woah there, lower ancient piece of a gun down, it’s just us now. I should know, I've been working out of this wood for some time.” he said as he raised a hand with a handkerchief in his fingers, waving in a sign of surrender. “Was hoping when you’d show up…Drebin.” I said as the man gave a small smirk, adjusting his Glasses. “Was wondering what’s taking you so long, got busy sightseeing in the woods?” Drebin (Voiced by Khary Payton) Said as he looks around the trees. “Had a bit of a hiccup with a Cockatrice in the road, had to turn him into lunch.” I replied as I spun my revolver before hostlering it. “Hey, ain’t nothing wrong with grabbing a quick bite to eat, personally more of a crag-odile guy, hard to get the stone off them but once you get to the meat of things, add some salt and spice, and you have one good meal.” He said as he walked over a large tree before doing his little handkerchief magic and the octo-camo faded away, revealing his APC with the trademark saying “Eye have You” on the side. “Got a call from Mei Ling saying your Nano-machine ain’t working, so she sent you my way. So..Step into my office.” he said as the back door of the APC opened and a monkey wearing a silver looking diaper on it walked out of it, letting out its little hoot and hollers. “Well, you coming or what?” he asked as he climbed into the back. I let out a small sigh as I walked over, the monkey was hooting at me, gesturing with two fingers for a smoke. “Sorry little man but I don't smoke.”I said to the monkey as it let out a small disappointed whine as I climbed in. Once in the Stryker APC, I sat down on the chair, sighing in relief as I could finally rest my legs for a while. I looked around seeing the assortment of rifles, handguns, shotguns and an AT4 sitting in a rack. “Yo Drebin, mind if I get a drink?” I asked as I looked over to the vending machine with the word “Narc Cola'' on it. “Help yourself, walking in the woods with the clothes you're wearing must have made you hella thirsty.” he said with his back turned to me, looking around for something. I leaned over to the machine and hit the button as a cold can of soda vended out. I grabbed the can and cracked that cold one open, placing the opening to my lips as I started taking big gulps of that sweet, cool, refreshing cola. It was like a gift from the gods themself, liquid ambrosia as I drank down. After a few more gulps I finished the entire can, letting out a sigh of relief as I wiped my lips before letting out a hell of a loud burp. The monkey hooted and cheer from hearing that loud burp as i heard a chuckle from Drebin ``Chug the whole damn thing down, didn’t know you were that thirsty for a drink.” he remarked as i tossed the empty can to a trash can “Swish, nailed it.” I said, pumping my arm as I nailed the throw. “Front the three point, Mr. Revolver Ocelot.” Drebin said as he had a rectangular epipen in his hand, sitting down next to me. “Now, how bad are you with needles?” he asked. “If i don’t see the needle being injected into me i’ll be fine, so where are you gonn- AAH!” I cried out as I felt the needle hitting my neck, feeling the enzyme being injected into me before quickly being pulled out. “Fuck! Should have known you’d go for the neck..” I said as I placed a gloved hand onto the injected part of my neck, rubbing it to soothe the soreness. “Relax, it’s all done now, want a lollipop for being a good patient?” he said jokingly before pulling out a red lollipop from the handkerchief. “You’re lucky cherry is my favorite flavor..” I said as I took it from his hand. He let out a chuckle as I looked at him. “So, still running that Gun Laundering business after the fall of the SoP system?” I asked as I looked at the spare guns around the APC interior. “A man’s gotta make a living somehow, and since we’re in this world of talking horses, magic and all bullshit, I'd say we might be able to make a good business relationship here. Not only will I provide all the latest tech and guns I have in my stock, but I'll provide some intel in exchange…” he wiggled his hands around, showing that’s empty, he reached behind my ear and pulled out a gold coin. “For these lovely gold coins, you’d be surprised how far gold goes around in this world, my guess is that Canterlot must be sitting on one massive gold vien if they print these bad boys easily.” He finishes saying as he flicks the gold coin around before putting it in his palm and closing, blowing on his fist and opening it, making the coin disappear. “So what do you say, willing to make a deal?” he said with a sly grin on his face. “Alright, you got yourself a deal.” I reached out for a handshake, he met my hand with his as he shook it. “I can tell this is going to be a nice little friendship we’ll have here. Now, how about a little gift before you part ways. Don’t want you to die of heatstroke if you keep wearing that dark outfit.” He got up and crouched, walked and grabbed a wrapped parcel and handed it to me. “A little thing I made as a hobby, all thanks to a certain white unicorn with an eye for detail.” he said as I slowly opened it, and inside was a new outfit. “Huh, thanks. It’ll help in hotter climates.” as i put the new outfit away into my hammerspace backpocket. “Anytime, your nanomachines should be kicking in a few minutes or so, your HUD should pop up soon and so will the radar system, remember, if you do get spotted by an enemy, that thing will go down.” He said as he went to the vending machine and pushed the button, grabbing himself his own drink. “Got it, thanks for the assist” I thanked the local gun launder as I was heading out of the back of the Stryker. “Remember this.” he called out to me as i turned around and looked to him “Eye have you.” pointing to his eyes, clenching his fist before pointing to me before the Stryker door closes. The Octo-camo turned back on as the engine started as I backed away from it as it drove forward into the woods. As the APC sped off I quickly headed to the survival viewer, going to the uniform tab and swapped outfit, it's a pretty weird feeling that your outfit just switches on you without having to change into it, just poof and now you’re wearing it. I blame the nanomachines for this, when in doubt just say nanomachines, it’s a Kojima tradition on explaining how things work. I hopped out of the viewer as I looked over my new look, smiling to myself ‘Yeah, I dig this fit.’ I thought as I started to follow down the dirt path where the Castle of The Two Sisters should be. After a few minutes I made it to the rickety rope bridge that led to the castle ruins. “I may have the codename of a cat, but I do not want to fall.” I said as I started to slowly cross the bridge, hearing the wood creek under my boots as I grip onto the rope. After a tense minute of crossing I made it to the otherside of the bridge, seeing the castle ruins ahead of me in the distance. ‘Another long walk.’ I thought as I looked westward, seeing the sun was starting to set. ‘Great, night’s approaching, might as well use that ruin as shelter for now.’ I thought as I started a quick jog to the castle. Finally, I made it. The Castle of the Two Sisters. The old castle stands in slight ruin, nature slowly overtaking it as I slowly pushed open the old wooden gate. I walked inside as I started to look around inside, seeing old cracked pillars standing to the side, an old banner hanging up on the ceiling, now torn and eaten by time and moths. “If this castle were really made by the two sisters, my guess is that this place is gotta be big. Maybe I can find the chamber that holds the Elements.” I muttered as I started wandering down the hall, trying to use memory of the show as what the camera showed and angles it had. Soon Night approached as I looked out of a shattered window as I saw the full moon in the starry sky with the mare in the moon image still present there. “Sooner or later we will meet Princess Luna.” I said to still air as I gazed at the moon before resuming my walk. After a minute I opened up a door, seeing a stone pedestal with several stone orbs being held by a small column of marble. “Bingo.” as i walked over to the Elements, seeing that’s a good 9 feet up on the pillar as i couldn’t reach up to it. “Well Twilight did have to use her telekinesis spell to grab them.” as I look up to the stone orbs. Soon a minor headache came over as the top left corner of my eyes appeared my LIFE and stamina bars and to my top right corner was a small cube with a white dot in the center with what looks to be the map of the area I'm in, it was my soliton radar. “Finally it kicked in, took it long enough.” muttering to myself as I rub my neck, stiff from the injection. Soon a codec call started to ring. I pressed two fingers to the back of my ear and answered the call. Once I answered the call, the codec UI popped up with the frequency number 148.93 and I saw a Revolver cylinder logo with the number 893 on it. “Thought I might give you a ring since you haven’t received my codec number yet.” the voice of Drebin said through the call. “Mighty kind of you Drebin, that did slip my mind.” i replied to the gun launderer. “How about a little story? It’s called The Mare on the Moon.” he said as I felt hesitant to answer, “Fine, tell it.`` I replied. “Once upon a time there are Two Sisters, One ruling the sun and One ruling the moon, big sun sister always the one getting the praise whenever she brings out that bright ball in the sky as the little ponies run around playing and enjoying their life while little sister moon bought out her night and all the pony slept through it, never once thanking her bringing them blissful sleep or enjoying the lovely starry nights she brings.” “ But not all is well in ponyland, back then the three pony races were at odds with each other, jealous of what others had, and you know what that usually brings, when a country or rather in this case, pony raceshas something you don’t have that usually leads to war. And war did happen, war between the unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies broke out as bloodshed spilled.” “The big sun sister , not wanting to ruin her image of a warm loving mother to all, sent her little sister to handle the war problem. At first she asked for peace between the three but it fell upon angry deaf ears. Soon she had to show force, but they didn’t break easily, thus with no other options, she had to kill them. Thus became the Equestrian Civil War.” “So while Sun sister was out having tea and having diplomatic talks with other races, Moon sister was out there in the war, killing all the soldiers of the three races, and thanks to her immortal ascended body she can fight day and night, fighting army after army, healing away her wounds with her alicorn magic. Days and Nights, killing off the warring armies took a toll on her mind, hearing the pleas of not wanting to die, knowing that some of these stallions and mares aren’t returning to their loving families, haunted her in her little mind.” “Once the war was over and the bloodshed ended, peace finally reigned throughout Equestria, the road to peace is usually paved with the blood of the many, specially their own kinsman. So Moon sister went to go her Big Sun sister about how her war ended, needing for a sibling shoulder to lean on and to hear her troubled soul about the war, the blood she shed, seeing the life fading from the ponies little eyes, she went to her dear older sister for comfort, but her sister gave her the cold shoulder, barely giving her the help she needed during her troubled time, always too busy playing politics and acting like she's the one who truly brought peace to the world, so whenever she see her little sister, all she saw were hooves stained with the blood of the many ponies she took, even though she was the one who ordered her little moon sister to handle it.” “At that point she snapped, if her sister won’t listen then she’ll force her to listen, when it was time for her to lower the moon she refused, demanding her sister to listen to her pleas and what she had endured. Sun sister, blinded with her arrogance and pride, continues to demand Moon sister to lower that damn moon or see this as an act of treason.” “Hearing this from her own sister caused something dark within her to spring forth, all that anger, hatred and fear from all those souls who died by her hooves took over, claiming poor little moon’s sister psyche, turning her into what we know as Nightmare Moon.” “The two sisters fought, both were equal in term of power and strength before Sun sister used those very same elements to banish her sister onto the moon, ever since that fight, Sun sister did her absolute best to purge and change history into something more harmonious, a lie filled with sunshine and rainbows.” “There’s no pony alive that knows the true history of Equestria and its foundings, any history books of its true story are either burned by the sun princess herself or rotting away at some ancient library.” “So anytime you see the Mare on the Moon, remember that it was the act of a desperate young sister who wanted to have her sister to console her and the spirit of those who lost their lives to her that took possession of her mind and soul. “ And that was the true tale of the Mare on the Moon.” Drebin ended as I just stood there, silent after hearing the story. “So over a thousand years Celestia finally realized her mistake of shunning her young sister during her most vulnerable state, that’s why I saw that hint of desperation in her eyes.” I said. “Being immortal gives you all the time in the world to lul over your mistakes and find ways to make amends, now she has to be that supportive big sister to heal that broken heart.” Drebin said as I let out a sigh. “Thanks for telling me this Drebin, I'll make use of this.” I said before ending the call. After that long story time I let out a sigh, leaning against a wall as I thought about what Drebin told me about the sister’s history, the real history and not the one we saw on the show. I ran a gloved hand over my face before letting out a yawn. ‘It’s gonna get late, gotta find a place to rest and call it a night.’ I thought as I pushed away from the wall and left the room. I spent several minutes trying to find some kind of guest room or bedroom before finding an old bedroom that had an ancient looking mattress and covers on it. “Well beggars can’t be choosers.” I muttered as I walked over to the old bed, grabbing the cover as I shook the old cover as dust flew off it, leaving me to cough a bit before dusting it away with my gloves. “Fuck this thing is dusty as all hell.” I muttered before slowly taking off the bandoleer and holsters, sitting them aside on the bed as I lay upon the very old mattress. As I lay on my back, looking up to the old ceiling, I haven't saved my progress yet. I turned and sat on the bed and ringed Mei Ling. “You want to save Ocelot?” she asked as the prompt showed up, i hit yes as a few seconds of silence went by and a large wave of relief washed over me. “Done, your progress is saved.” she said. “Hey Mei Ling, can you give me a proverb?” I asked her. “A proverb, like what I usually give to Snake when he was on Shadow Moses?” she replied. “Yeah, those proverbs are always interesting to hear and learn, how about one about siblings.” I asked her. “One about siblings, hmm, I think I know a few. How about this one? “An older sibling is a friend and defender — a listener, conspirator, a counselor and a sharer of delights. And sorrows too” She finished saying as I let out a small sigh. “From what I learned today, it’s all too true. Thanks Mei Ling, I'm gonna call it a night.`` I said. “Alright, good night Ocelot.” she replied as the call ended. I lay back down and rest my head on the old pillow, taking off the scarf as I just lay it down to my left with the rest of my stuff. I start to slowly shut my eyes as I slowly fall asleep, awaiting what new challenges life will bring me.