//------------------------------// // Chapter Five: Road to New Saddle // Story: Humanity in Equestria // by SPkon107 //------------------------------// Chapter Five: Road to New Saddle Day 6 12: 45 P.M ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I was walking in a field with tall grass, the sun was warm, and the air was moist, clouds blooped the sky with white puffiness. I walked up a hill until I saw four figures. Two tall figures and two smaller ones. I walked up to them and one of the figures said with a familiar female voice.“Time to wake up darling.” “M-mom?” I asked confused. My mind was boggling, trying to figure as to what was happening. Even though I knew where I was. I guess my mind couldn't comprehend it. “Wake up Steven.”She said simply. I woke up. I held my head with my hands, trying to fight the pain I was feeling from the bright light of the sun. As far as I could tell, it wouldn’t be anytime soon before it would stop hurting. Then a familiar unicorn’s voice arose. “Take it easy darling. Rainbow Dash hit you harder than we thought.” “Ugh how long was I out?” I asked, trying not to rub my eyes. “Well you were out since the falling. So all day yesterday.” My eyes widened when she said that. “I was out…all day. More than 24 hours?.” "Afraid so, darling." "Damn. Felt like it happened only a minute ago." “Well Rainbow Dash just woke up a minute ago and I believe she has something to say to you.” The pegasus walked from behind a tree. “Hey.” She greeted “Hey.” I replied back casually. “Um…Sorry about what happened.” Rainbow Dash scratched the back of her head. “Don’t worry about it, we’re alive aren’t we?" I chuckled. AppleJack came from behind a gathering of large bushes.“Um…Gunnery we have a problem with one of you rifles do hickeys." “Which one?” she grabbed my M-16 and continued with the explanation. “When you fell most of your bullet thingys fell off of you when you plummeted down. Ah could only managed to save about three of those rectangle things.” Applejack explained. "Well. Shit.” "Well you still got that other one." Rainbow Dash pointed out. I looked at my P-17. “Yeah but the thing is I… I don’t like using pulse weaponry as much as bullet base weapons." I stated simply. “What's the difference?" Applejack asked. “Well for one bullet base weapons are more reliable than the others for a few reasons. The pulse rifle is a direct-energy weapon.” “Uh... what?" Dash queried. “It’s pure energy, so it burns really bad…but, look the pulse rifle has more defects than my M-16.” “Like?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. I'm sure they don't what the hell I'm talking about but at least they took some extent of interest. “Well the pulse rifle isn't very water resistant, so if it stays too long in the water the components of the gun will jam. And it’s a hell of a mission to repair and it’s worse if you’re in battle." I opened the side of the pulse rifle and showed the insides. "But, the M16 I can repair fast and two the military was able to raise the M-16’s reliability up 50%. But if I have to use a pulse rifle then I will use it.” I grabbed my M-16 and I placed on my back as I pulled out the P-17 as I checked the ammo. “I have eight clips and they are all 100%.” I assured confidently. “Ok you have eight clips, what the hay is the difference?" Applejack queried. “Each clip can fire up to 1000 rounds or bullets in a simpler sense.” “Oh.” “Yup. Now let’s get moving if we start traveling now we might get far. It’s about 12 so we might stop at four so we can get food and set up camp.” I put my helmet on and stood up. And then walked east. We walked up a hill until we were at the top. It had been only thirty minutes and Rarity was the first to complain. “How much do we have to walk? My hooves are killing me.” We all just stared at her. “Well I never.” She continued to trot ahead of us. I asked RD and AJ.“Is she always pain in the ass.” I felt something hit my helmet. I turned and Rarity shouted. “I heard that!” she turned around and she walked with her head facing up. “Again, is she always a pain in the ass?” “Sometimes.” They chimed at the same time. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Three hours later We continued walking until we walked up to a river.“Girls look.” AJ announced. “Oh good I can use a drink." Called Rarity. “Hold it AJ. I have a water purifier.” I suggested “Huh.” “Just let me clean the water.” “Okay...” I grabbed a cylinder with a nozzle on the bottom and a pump on the top. I placed the nozzle side in the water and I pumped the water into the cylinder container. “There now we have a gallon of clean water.” I pulled out my canteen and I emptied out the old water and I refilled it with the new, crystal clear clean water. Then I placed three plastic cups on a rock for the equine females and I served them water. I said to the ponies. “I think this is far enough we have a water source and all we need is food, fire and something that I can use to make a tent with.” “Well I think I can look for some berries or some corn or something.” Rainbow suggested. “Okay, just make sure that the berries aren’t poisonous.” I yelled as she took off. I looked around the area and I found a small cave. I walked to the entrance I looked inside. It was about ten feet into the ground so it was enough for all of us. I called the other mares. “Applejack. Rarity.” They walked up to me. “Looks like the shelter situation is solved all I need is food.” Rarity . “But Rainbow Dash just went out looking for food.” “Yes but the thing is that I’m an omnivore.” “Oh right…so does that mean you’re going to hunt for your food.” “Yeah and if I don’t catch anything then I’ll eat some of the ration I have with me at least they’ll help.” My stomach automatically churned as I mentioned rations. “I want you two to build something to cover the entrance of that cave. I don’t want anything walking in there while we are a sleep. I’ll be right back.” I crossed over the river by a log that was in the water with the top exposed to the outside air. I was on the other side as I lost sight of the mares. I was looking for some rabbit or something or at least a deeper part of the river because the spot where we were at was too shallow for any fish. I walked upon a deserted camp ground I raise my rifle for any caution every step I took was carefully made, I looked at the ground and then on the trees for any sights of traps that had been set up. A shredded tent was about five feet in front of me I walked closer and I looked through the torn area. Inside was a bear and I began to walk backwards. Not looking at where I was stepping. *Crack!* ‘Fuck’. I heard the bear waking up I looked down and noticed that I had made a cartoon hunter move. I stepped back and again I stepped on a twig. The bear’s head bounced up, with its face and sight still covered by the tarp. It looked at me and it stood up on two legs I took aim at the creature and then it walked on its four legs towards me. He was right in front of me and it sniffed me it looked at me. I said. “Did you attack this camp?” Surprisingly it shook its head in response and walked away. “Then what did?” I said to myself I heard talking and ran behind a tree. I looked around the trunk; I was in shock Minotaur’s real life Minotaur’s they were five of them I heard one of them speak. “Perfect now that the camp is ours we can now rest.” Another one spoke.“Yeah these ponies never stood a chance especially the gold one. I had fun killing him.” A third voice laughed in agreement.“Yup next time we kill ponies why don’t we skin them alive.” The all laughed and I walked out from the tree and I said. “Sorry to break it to you but there won’t be a next time.” They all looked at me. “Who the hay are you?!” One of the large beasts started. “A human.” “A do what now?” “I hear that you like to kill for pleasure.” “Yeah... so.” “I don’t. I kill to defend and I have a few ponies with me and-” “You have ponies? Well you better toss them over and we might go easy on you.” I rolled my eyes and I pulled out my pistol and I shot him on the head. The Minotaur’s just looked as their comrade fell to the ground. And then they just stared at me. “Sorry but it was fun killing him.” They kept staring at me I said sarcastically. “It’s only fun when it happens to someone else right?” “You…you killed him.” “No shit Sherlock.” Two of them charged at me so I killed them as well. Now three were dead and only two were standing. Then they drew out their swords and they made their poses I just finished them off with a roll of the eyes and two quick shots,. After that I walked passed the corpses and I went looking for the dead ponies as soon as I walked to a different part river and I found the bodies. There were about seven dead ponies I couldn’t just leave them there and I was not a machine so I decided to bury the bodies. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thirty minutes later I buried the bodies and I looked at the clock I knew there was no use to keep looking for food so I walked back to my campsite with the other ponies. As I walked over the hill Rainbow called. “Hey Steven what took you so long?!” I walked over the river and I said to the Pegasus. “Sorry I had an encounter with some Minotaur’s.” “Really?” “Yeah. I found a camp that was attacked and I figured it was them because they said something about killing some ponies.” Rarity said. “Oh my goodness. W…what did you do.” “I avenged them.” Rarity and RD looked at each other and then to me. “Y…you mean ya killed them.” Applejack shivered at the thought. “Yeah.” “Why?” “They killed the ponies for pleasure and fun. So I killed them so they can feel how it feels. After I killed them I found the bodies of the dead ponies and I buried them. Rarity said. “Why?” “I’m not a machine Rarity. In war we bury our dead when we have the chance to do it. And we also bury civilians. Like in World War II I read that a company was scouting a forest and they found a concentration camp with prisoners still inside. The people in a nearby town were forced to bury the dead bodies.” I looked at the mares. RD asked. “Wh…why did the soldiers force people to bury the dead?” “Because when you burn a human body or any kind of body you can smell the stench. Those civilians knew that the camp was there and they knew what was happening. So the soldiers took food from stores by force and the same with medicines anyone who tried to stop was threated to be shot.” They just stared at me. “Hey those damn things kill innocents ok. Look why don’t we drop it.” I walked to the cave. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was night time I didn’t realized that I was asleep the cave was covered by a wall of branches I walked out of the cave and found the ponies around a campfire. I walked to the fire and I sat down. “Hey girls.” “Sleep well Mr. Clearwater.” Rarity greeted. “If what I went through was sleep then yes. I slept ‘well’.” “Well we weren’t doing much but we were chatting about what will happen when your time here expires.” “You mean when my days of a lone wolf are over on this planet.” “Precisely my dear.” Rarity pointed a hoof to me. “Well…” I sat down on a nearby log. “my ship will land to refuel and for maintenance. Then we stay for some time depending what the captain decides to do, and then we go home.” “But what happens if we are still at war?” “Sorry to say this, but it’s not my problem. My job was to only scout the area…I didn’t expect anything to happen.” “So you’re just going to leave us to die?!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “Hopefully it doesn’t come to that. And my ship is pretty big so if your princess meets my captain or if the enemy attacks the ship then we’ll stay to fight.” “But what if the enemy doesn’t attack your team.” “I’m still fighting. If the captain finds out that I’ve been wounded then he will fight.” “Oh.” “Look I won’t promise you anything but I will try to help as much as I can before my deadline okay?” “Okay.” Rarity looked down. Applejack asked.“Um…Steven?” “Yeah.” “How did the war back at your world begin?” I was quiet for a moment. “Well… th…the enemy known as the “Separatists” was a secret organization. Its members were from all over the world including the U.S.. From what I was told and what I heard was that they began to form their army in 2013 and it grew dramatically in one year. Over 2 million members it grew tremendously until the war began in 2024 members were now over 500 million. I never knew the true reason of their organization. And I really didn’t care. They killed innocent people. Bloody battles spread all over the world. And then the nuclear winter came in from the warheads that we’ve been using. That winter killed more in two months then then what we did with our own weapons. The last few battles were the worst especially in Los Angeles. In fact I was sent alone with a group of rookies and when we first step foot into hell well-” Rarity stopped me. “Mr. Clearwater if you’re going to go into details I prefer that you don’t.” “Sorry.” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day seven The next morning we continued to walk towards the city. We passed by the camp that I have found yesterday. The minotaur’s were still at the spot where I have last left them the only difference is that a pack of what seemed to be wolves made out of wood were eating them. After we passed by the camp Rarity ran past us looking for a bush she was vomiting from the horror that she just witnessed. Applejack ran to her aid. “It’s all right sugarcube.” I crouched down and I tried to comfort her. “I’m sorry you had to see that.” After dropping another load she cried. “H…how do you…manage to cope with horror…such as that?” “I know it’s not easy seeing dead bodies but…you…get use to it.” That was not the best answer because she walked right up to my face. “Use to it. USE TO IT! How can you get used to seeing such horror! There is no forgiveness for those to kill for pleasure or for whatever reason!” “So self-defense is not a good reason to kill.” “What do you mean?” “Think about what happened in Canterlot. The Griffins attack the city killing troops and civilians. I killed three damn birds to protect Princess Luna and her niece. So answer me this what would have happened if I hadn’t killed or better what would you do if I was the enemy?” she just kept staring at me for a long moment. “How about this? An animal that’s hurt and cornered, even if you try to help it, would attack to defend itself. It’s in their nature. The same question what happens if I was the enemy and you were the only one to protect them.” “W…well then I would have try to stop you…” “And what happens if you can’t? What would be your last resort?” “I…i…would have been forced to…to” “Kill me…I know. Taking someone’s life is not always the best choice. But if you have to kill to protect then it will be done. This isn’t my first time killing nor my last…but I will tell you this out of all the times I killed. It was to protect the ones who can’t protect themselves.” Rarity looked down I placed my hand on her chin and I lifted her head up. “Rarity trust me when I say this…we are going to see more of this so it would be better if you got used to it... we’re at war.” “O…okay.” “I’m sorry.” She hugged me. “Just…just try to keep the killing at a minimum.” She cried a few dots of tears that shimmered on my armor. “I’ll try.” We continued to follow the river. We stumbled upon a waterfall and beyond that the city. The problem was that we saw smoke rising from the city itself.“Fuck I think we’re a little too late guys.” I said bluntly and called for Rainbow Dash. “Yeah.” “I need you to fly towards the city and tell them we are in the forest. Tell them that we need transport I think the griffins are attacking the city as we speak.” “Ok.” She flew off and I turned to Applejack and Rarity. “Girls we need to climb down the cliff before Rainbow Dash returns.” They nodded I looked down to see if I was able to climb down, but there wasn’t anything to scale down with. The water of the river was shallow only raised up to my knee guards. I walked into the river still looking for a better way to climb down. Rarity shouted. “Be careful darling I don’t want you to knock yourself out again.” Even though she said to be careful I slipped. The current pulled me to and I fell. I barely heard the mare screaming my name because of the sound of the water. I fell into the water below but it was deep for about fifteen feet and there were no large rocks around. I swam up to the side and I shouted to the mares. “Applejack! Rarity!” they looked down and AJ yelled. “Steven are you ok?” “I’m fine. The deep water broke my fall I recommend you do the same!” “Alrighty then!” Applejack yelled down. I saw AJ turning to Rarity and they argued I’m pretty sure it was because I told them to jump. The unicorn began to walk away but the farmer tackled her and she picked her up. AJ ran to the river and she threw Rarity down and then AJ jumped after the splash. They swam to the side. “You rotten ruffian how dare you throw me down a waterfall I should have to sued for that!” “Well it worked didn’t it? So quit your whining.” “Well next time when I say put me down I mean put me down!” “I did.” Applejack smiled “Yes, but down the waterfall!” “Ya never said where to put ya down.” I cut in. “Girls!” the turned. “You can fight about this later but we have to keep moving.” They both faced each other and then to me and they knobbed. “Good. Just let me check on the P-17 and we’ll get going.” I checked the gun and so far it was okay. But I swear if this gun jams will I’m fighting I will go on a rampage. We continued to walk up until we saw a carriage coming towards us I wasn’t sure if it was Rainbow or Griffins so I aimed my gun at it. Before it came any closer RD landed in front of us. “Hey, I’m back.” The carriage landed two Royal Guards stepped out of the carriage and he walked up to me. “Are you Gunnery-Sergeant Clearwater?” “Depends. who’s asking.” “I’m Commander Swirlstar from the Celestial Royal Guard. And this is Commander Darkwing from the Lunar Royal Guard.” The bright white guard said. “Pleasure to meet you.” The dark, gothic bat winged guard greeted. Swirlstar continued.“We ask that you accompany us.” “You’re not going to arrest me because the last time I cooperate I was hit on the back of my skull.” “Don’t worry we are asking you to come with us because the Griffins have already started to bombard the city.” “Ok…I’ll go, but I cannot be away from these three. Rather one is with me the whole time or all three of them.” “Don’t worry, we know.” I walked in the carriage along with Rarity and Applejack. The two Pegasi in front pulled us to the city.