"Captain!" I heard a faint voice call out "Where are you!?"
I then heard hooves hit the ground and the voice again.
"There you are Arc" the voice said. I felt hooves on my side as I was rolled onto my back.
"C'mon Captain, wake up" The voice, which I now recognized as Rainbow Dash, pleaded as she shook me. I was then confronted with text displayed by my mechanical eye.
Ocular systems damaged. Heads Up Display inoperable
My vision came back as I opened my normal eye and as the robot one came into focus, save for the crack in the lens, revealing the flustered Pegasus. She noticed I was awake.
"Captain, oh thank Celestia you're awake" she said relieved "I thought you were really hurt"
I propped myself up against a tree and answered.
"It takes more than that to stop a juggernaut" I said. Rainbow's eyes grew bigger.
"Oh my gosh, Captain, your arm"
I looked down and saw what she meant: my right arm had been sheared off above the elbow, leaving just some mangled metal and stray wires.
"That's not suppose to happen" I said. One of the wires grazed the tree and shot a bolt of pain through my body.
Figures the only thing that survives is a pain sensor"
"Don't worry Dash" I said calmly "I'll be fine. You didn't happen to see the other part of my arm, did you?"
Rainbow placed a hoof to her chin as she thought.
"Hmmm...Oh" she said "I think I did see something metal over there, I'll go check" And she was off. I began decoupling the remaining part of my arm eventually popping it out of my shoulder socket and laying it to the side. I then tried to contact Guardian, but my radio just returned static.
"Dammit!" I said frustrated "Why can anything just work when I need it to"
"Found it" Rainbow said triumphantly as she laid the arm in my good hand "Is something wrong?"
"Aside from the obvious?" I asked sarcastically "I can't get a hold of G or Storm and without my computer system, I can't get out of here"
"So we're stuck here?" Dash asked
"Well technically I'm stuck here" I said "You can just fly back home, if you'd like"
"Not a chance" she said defiantly "I'm not leaving you out here alone"
"I appreciate that Rainbow" I said with a smile "Besides I'm sure Guardian, Storm and the rest of our friends are already looking for us" Rainbow laid down next to me.
"Yeah, you're probably right" she agreed
"So what happened anyway?" I asked. Rainbow recounted the previous events. I had asked her to help test a prototype flight system which had been going pretty well, until the engines exploded and dropped me into the Everfree forest.
"Yeah" I said as the memories came back "I remember that now. That's the last time I try to fly" Both of us were silent after that for a while. Rainbow was sleeping I think and I was making some simple repairs to the parts of me that weren't shredded.
"So" Rainbow said startling me a bit "How'd you get like that anyway?"
"You mean the robot parts?"
"Yeah, how'd that happen?"
"Well, a long time ago I was hurt very badly, like I was not suppose to survive. Against impossible odds, I survived and was given over to the Archangel Super-Soldier Project, which is where I got my name. They had scientists, doctors and engineers, the best of the best, all working to make me a one man army"
"So they used you to make a weapon" she said
"More or less" I replied
"How many others like you did they make?" asked Rainbow
"None" I said "I was the only one to survive Project Archangel"
"S-survive?" Rainbow said uneasily
"Yes" I answered "All the other test subjects were either destroyed by the tests and procedures or were deemed 'failures' and destroyed"
"That...that's...horrible" Rainbow said shocked "How could that happen?"
"There's an old saying: 'In war, the first casualty is truth'." I recited "I don't agree. I think the first casualty is morality. If it hadn't been for the fighting, those people would have been stripped of their status, thrown in jail, or maybe even executed"
"Were they really that evil?"
"Absolutely" I answered "Doctors hurt their patients, engineers built purposely faulty equipment, and the scientists ordered horrendous tests"
"But how could somepony do that to anypony else?"
"Because they wanted to protect me"
"What?"
"I wasn't seen as a person or a soldier, I was seen as a thing" I said "They did all of that just to determine what they should do to me" I lowered my head and closed my eyes "Hundreds of innocent people were killed or hurt because of me"
"I'm so sorry Arc" she said moving a little closer
"Everything that I am was made by them" I continued "My strength, my skills, even Guardian was placed as a way for them to control me"
"Really?"
"Yeah. The scientists implemented him as a failsafe to control me if I ever became unruly or uncooperative" I said then a little smile crept onto my face "But they underestimated him: they made him too smart and he could see that what was happening was wrong. He immediately disregarded every order they gave him, only listening to me..."
Rainbow yawned a bit which clued me in to the fact that it was nighttime.
"You know what" I said "We've had a long day, We should get some sleep"
"Good Idea" She said as she settled in for the night "G'night Captain"
"Good night Rainbow" the Pegasus fell asleep almost immediately leaving me alone with my thoughts. Why do I keep telling these ponies such personal stuff? First Twilight with Sword Dancer, and now Rainbow with the Archangel Project. I yawned and decided it was time to sleep.
I was awoken by a voice.
"Are you sure they're alive?" It said "they haven't moved since we got here"
"I am completely sure that the Captain and Ms. Dash are indeed alive, Ms. Sparkle"
"Well I think they look quite comfortable together like that" said another voice. I opened my eyes slowly and noticed Rainbow Dash had snuggled up against my side in the night and was still sleeping soundly. I also noticed that a small camp had been set up in the area around us and was populated by two unicorns, two earth ponies, a Pegasus, and two robots.
"Uhg, is it morning already?" I asked as I rubbed my head
"Well, well" said a computerized female voice "Look who decided to join us"
"Good to see you are awake, Sir" the other machine said
"Guardian, Storm" I said "good to see you two"
"HEY EVERYPONY, THEY'RE AWAKE!" I heard a hyper voice shout startling Rainbow and the bots
"Ms. Pie" Guardian said "Was that really necessary?"
"Sorry" she apologized "I'm just so happy to see they're ok"
"We all are Pinkie" said Twilight
I stood up revealing my missing arm.
"Do you need a hand?" asked Guardian. I just rolled my eyes
"Very funny" I said as I picked up the two part of my arm "let's get out of here"
We all began walking through the forest following Guardian as he had marked the path. I also overheard the ponies talking to Rainbow Dash.
"So" started Rarity "You and the Captain..."
"Hey, It's not what you think" Rainbow panicked as she tried to hide her embarrassed blush "It was cold last night and he was warm so I just got closer to him"
"Sure, Sugercube" Applejack said
"The two of you looked so cute there together" said Fluttershy
"Actually" chimed in Firestorm "given what I've noticed the two of you do have similar personalities"
"Oh not you too Storm" I complained
This talk continued all the way back to Ponyville. Once we arrived, we all went our separate ways the two bots and I making our way back to the base so I could begin repairs. I attached a replacement arm and began working on fixing my eye. I had removed the cracked lens and was finishing installing a fresh one when I heard a voice at the armory door.
"Hey Arc, are you in there?" Rainbow Dash asked. I opened the door and revealed the cerulean Pegasus
"What's up Rainbow?" I asked
"You know, just dropping by to make sure you were OK"
"Thanks Dash, but I'm fine. It takes more than hitting the ground at 600 miles an hour to take me out" I said confidently
"I know" she said "just makin' sure. Well, see ya around Cap" Rainbow walked toward the exit
"Hey Rainbow" I called after her, causing her to stop and turn "Thanks for staying with me back there. It means a lot"
"Hey, like I've said before" she answered with her usual confidence "I'd never leave my friends hangin'" and with that she took off toward Ponyville.
"Hey Guardian" I called to my assistant as I returned to my repairs
"Yes sir?" he answered
"Next time I try to design a flying suit" I began "I give you full permission to hit me over the head with a shovel"
"Not a problem sir"