//------------------------------// // Through the Fire and the Flames // Story: Time Soldier // by Havelock //------------------------------// Gabe was greatly distracted, seeing the sudden murder of someone who had helped them survive. He played it over and over again in his head, wondering why Blade had done it. He could have shared, he would have loved to have shared, seeing the pain of little children on the field had trained him to enjoy such a thing. "Haha! What a night! Only beautiful thing left in this god forsaken world, Luna really outdoes herself," said Blade. He wasn't tense like he was this morning. After a hot meal, some jokes and replenished supply of ammunition, even Gabe would be calm, if it weren't for Blade's actions some hours ago. Gabe then looked up, seeing the sky around him darken with the sun's absence. He assumed that Luna had managed to move Tia's sun to cool the earth. "Hey, man, I know you're still stressing about what I did with Sully, but there's only enough supply for two people," Blade said. Gabe looked at Blade questioningly, he was obviously a man who kept many secrets. Blade leaned back on the crate, "How much do you know about Chronomancy? Did they tell you any useful intel?" he asked. Gabe hesitantly nodded, unsure of what he was taught. "Ah... God, alright, most of what they tell you is bullshit, but I can tell you the real stuff," Gabe looked at Blade with great question and skepticism, his eyes blaring the question, How. "Hmph," he said with a laugh, "I got reliable sources, Gabe," Gabe gave a smile, figuring it to be the greatest failed practical joke he had ever heard. "No, it's true, I can tell you right now that you got here through a controlled singularity, I can tell that your insane speed today, or everyone's lack of speed, was a result of Chronomancy," Gabe was only left with more questions, leaning in to hear more on the magic. "Well, looks like it's story time, Chronomancy was called that at first glance, when really, it's total control over celestial magic, magic that even alicorns are limited to. Anything with the mind to use it could become the Chronomancer, though mastering it is what is going to take forever plus a day." said Blade, "For humans, it's tricky, our bodies aren't used to the magic involved in this world, so without help, we can never master the magical art within our lifetime," Gabe asked a question in Korean. "It can be random, uncontrolled and very dangerous. In many cases, Chronomancy is activated within us when certain emotions are evoked, along with some tweaking made by the personality of whoever is wielding it. A defect towards human Chronomancers, the mental strain on us can very easily become extreme and cause us to go absolutely ape-shit," Gabe asked more questions, wondering who he would have to go to for help on controlling Chronomancy. "Sorry, but it's time to get some sleep, it's been a long day for both of us, mostly me, you get some shut eye, I need to run a perimeter check, make sure no fuglies come at us in our sleep," Blade rose to do his chore, while Gabe rolled over onto his side, trying to get some sleep. Blade leaped off the side of the small mud hut, walking into a clearing off to the side of it, out of earshot of Gabe. "Alright, Nightmare, I'm here, what'd you want?" Blade whispered. A mare of darkness formed in front of him, her mane a swirling mess of star speckled, silky mane. Nightmare Moon "Blade..." she said in a deceptively sweet voice, "aren't you happy to see your princess of the night? Aren't you happy to see your queen of Equestria?" Blade looked around him, seeing guardians amass around him, their fangs dripping with saliva and blood from the recently disposed corpse of Sully, "Do you have to bring your pets everywhere you go? I mean-" Blade waved his hand in front of one, causing it to salivate and eye his hand hungrily, "-it's bad enough that they're mindless,-" he grabbed the creature and bashed its head on his elbow, splattering blood all over it, "-and very inefficient, but, if a queen must be way, crude and unholy," Nightmare's horn glowed with magic, suddenly causing Blade to cringe in pain, finally collapsing to the floor and curling up in a ball. "Stop! Stop!" Blade said, trying to keep his voice low, "don't... don't do that... you've gotten your point across," he panted. Nightmare Smiled, "What does the soldier know of Chronomancy? What did you share?" she asked. Blade struggled to his feet, cringing with every movement he made, "Only some basics, I gave some better understandings, no real lessons," he said. "Good, nothing will stop me," she said, "I see it now in his dreams, he believes in Celestia and I ruling in harmony. He must understand that I am the true ruler, and that the night will last forever. How could I possibly do that? Hmm, Blade?" Blade gave a look of disgust, turning away to hide his disgrace. "Oh, perhaps a vision of his fate is in order," she said with a smile, "I'll be back," Nightmare vanished, appearing next to the sleeping form of Gabe on top of the mud hut. She leaned towards his head saying, "Just a touch of nightmare..." her horn glowed with magic, allowing her form inside Gabe's dreams. *** She found Gabe happily practicing with a sword inside his dream. He twirled it expertly around his body, having it barely the size of a large knife. The sky presented a serene dawn, the clouds were plastered with warm colors. A smile crept across Nightmare's face, as she darkened the sky around Gabe, disturbing his quiet practicing. Gabe turned, seeing the mare of darkness standing across from him. "Do you see my wonderful night, Gabriel? Do you see how it outdoes that of Celestia's days?" Nightmare asked. Gabe struck the corrupt alicorn across the muzzle, snapping Nightmare back to attention. Gabe was clad in his ARX power suit, his guass lance drawn and ready for a fight. "Not enough for you?" asked Nightmare. Gabe's eyes, his confidence, his smile of mischief, they all blared the same message: It's on. Gabe whirled his sword at speeds equal to what he had done earlier today, catching Nightmare off guard and slashing her legs up heavily. Nightmare looked at her legs, the wounds closed up instantly, she still had control over Gabe's dream. Regaining her own confidence, she countered Gabe's onslaught with a swarm of various nightmares of Gabe's past. "Thor is here!" shouted a voice. Nightmare looked at Gabe, and much to her surprise, he had amassed his own army from the ranks of Starcraft soldiers. They all charged head first into the fray, shouting their assorted catch phrases. "Oh, it's on!" "Hit and ruuuuuuuun!" "cauterize the area!" "Get some!" "ENOUGH!!" Nightmare shouted, vaporizing the mass of soldiers and knocking Gabe to his back. Nightmare leaped onto him, roaring a horrendous roar in his face. "HHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Gabe replied, kicking Nightmare in her belly. She didn't move. He kicked again, hardly moving the vile mare. "Your fear overwhelms you," she said. Her horn glowed dangerously, blasting Gabe through the chest. He gurgled aloud, unable to breath, unable to scream, unable to fight. He only heard Nightmare's uproarious laugh as he drifted out and into another dream. *** Blade had finally climbed to the top of the old hut, observing Nightmare's work. "What... what happened?" he asked, "what'd you do?" A smile creeped across Nightmare's muzzle, "He's still in a nightmare, living out each of his fears separately, and feeding me in the process," Blade was still breathing heavily from Nightmare's recent torture. He felt his blood boil inside, his face scrunched up in a painful grimace beneath his helm, as his hatred grew exponentially towards Nightmare. "One of these days, Nightmare, you'll be defeated, and we'll all be happier, even without your nights," said Blade. Nightmare Moon's eyes glowed purest white, sending unimaginable pain rushing through Blade's veins. He tried to scream, but to avail, as if his vocal cords were clipped. Nightmare eventually stopped, allowing Blade to open his helm and vomit onto the floor uncontrollably. A small drop of liquid seemed to splash into the pool of fluids Blade had already made. "Ohh... are those tears of joy I see?" Nightmare said in a mock sweet voice. Blade wiped his mouth with his hand before letting out sigh. Before lifting his head into the light, he had his helm close over his face, hiding his expression from the night demon before him. "Send him back to where he belongs, I've organized a surprise for him that I don't want him to miss," said the night mare. A time portal opened, and Nightmare roughly flicked Gabe into the swirling void. *** "What the hell!? Something's being warped in!" shouted a human voice. Gabe was dropped into the center of Celestia's throne room, from where, he hadn't a clue. He rubbed his head ruefully, then checked his surroundings hastily. He surely was back in the right time period, with Tevin checking his vitals carefully. "Glad you're still alive, and damn, was that fast, you were gone for hardly twenty minutes," said Tevin. Gabe's eyes widened, twenty minutes, he'd been gone in Saddle Arabia for a day at least. Suddenly, Tevin was thrown aside roughly by Princess Luna. She pinned the soldier down, having her hooves restrain Gabe's arms. "You're back, what have you seen? Was Nightmare there? What've you learned?" Luna blurted, her eyes wide with a greatly discomforting look in them. Gabe looked fearfully into her crazed sapphire eyes, silent. Michael came to rescue Gabe from the deranged lunar princess' assault. "Whoa there, let Gabe breathe, then shoot all your questions, princess," Luna regained her posture, lifting herself from Gabe's body. "Yes, of course, forgive me Gabriel," Luna said, obvious embarrassment streaked across her muzzle, "please tell Michael what you have seen, that he may elaborate on it," Gabe was ready to speak when he was stopped by a transmission on his comm. The three humans checked their comms, hearing a panicked message get through to them. It was Jack, reporting from the N.A.P. "Guys, get back to the N.A.P. quick! Something big's gotten picked up by the UAV while doing a scan. It looks like a huge dragon, gold scales, green eyes, and some hella hot fire breath," The crew looked around, hoping for some insight by the ponies. They wondered at their own technology, contemplating the firepower they had, and the firepower needed to down a dragon. "Please tell me you ponies have got a way of fending off a dragon," Tevin said. The ponies shook their heads and looked hopefully at the soldiers. "You got nothing? Luna? Tia? Anyone?" Michael pleaded. Celestia stepped forward, "we've never encountered a dragon before, let alone fight a dragon," she said. "C'mon, can't you turn it to ash or something?" Michael begged. Hope was lost from the soldiers, which lead to the ponies losing hope, and slowly drift into panic. They became antsy, and seemed to be searching for something, anything of use, of danger, of escape. Suddenly, a stallion tackled his way to the door. "EVERYPONY FOR THEMSELVES!" Promptly, Gabe loosed some rounds into the ceiling, getting all attention for himself. They all watched him as if he were a prophet, holding their salvation to the crisis. Gabe thrust his fist into his palm, mischief and reckless bravery streaked across his eyes. Seeing his eyes through the red-tinted goggles brought courage to all those who saw them. Michael tightened his fist, "Let's take the fight to this asshole," he said. Gabe grinned, moving forward to his cousin and clapping his hand into Michael's in a gesture of brotherhood. Michael gave a hearty pat on Gabe's back. Time was now of the essence, and the trio sped their way along to the N.A.P. with Gabe outrunning his comrades excessively. He was first to reach the N.A.P. leaping to the top in a single, impressive bound. He stopped at the cockpit and nestled himself inside. "Gabe!" gasped Jack, "The platform needs time before we can thrust it into a fight, some ponies poked around and broke something while you were gone. Listen man, I can't get this thing up and running before that dragon comes, you've got the ARX, and right now, as soon as that bastard pokes his head out, we need you to distract him until the job's done" Gabe was shocked at such a request. He was only human after all. He shook his head quickly, denying the job. "Listen Gabe, it's not just us at risk here, those ponies are gonna go down hard if we don't help, but we can't do that unless we have time, think of the others at stake here, Gabe," Gabe was dumbstruck, how could he have gone so blind? He gave one quick nod and turned his gaze to the Everfree. A thunderous roar broke out. "Speak of the devil..." said Jack. The beast demolished the vegetation concealing it, revealing large emerald green eyes, with golden scales glinting in the intense moonlight, "Christ..." said Jack, "God help us..." Gabe leaped out, launching himself a long way with hydrogen thrusters, then landing dangerously hard with hydrogen output slowing him scarcely. He gazed up at the awesome beast, standing hundreds of feet tall at least. "This guy is huge, more huge than what we saw in season one. By the looks, the thing must be ancient..." Michael informed over the comm, "We'll need heavy firepower to bring it down, just don't piss it off too much and get eaten," Gabe gave a quick nod, then launched himself forward, getting closer to the golden colossus. Being Gabe, he loosed some rounds into the air, shouting various insults in Korean at the monster accompanied with some rather rude gestures. Eventually, he ended up aiming too low, and fired at the beast, catching its eye with lead. This was enough to anger it, as its attention was no longer on Canterlot, but on the lone soldier. Thunder clapped overhead, bringing sudden rain pouring in on the combatants. "Gabe, looks like you got flame breath coming your way!" shouted Jack through the comm. The dragon threw its head back, returning with a scorching blaze. Gabe activated the emergency thruster, using the wet grass to slide away from the inferno, which lit up the night into day. Gabe was sliding on his side, firing several rounds into it's hide as he circled it in amazing speeds. He stopped, still on his side to witness the dragon's work. The landscape was molten! He allowed himself too much time to gawk, and the dragon grabbed him in its huge claws. Gabe dropped his rifle, being hauled up to eye level with the scaly beast. An orange tinge grew around its lips, ready to roast Gabe alive. Gabe couldn't use the thrusters, the dragon was more fireproof than the ARX. Gabe saw a glint of pinkish flesh, hidden well beneath a scale that was peeling off. He summoned the gauss rifle, thrusting the blade deep into the dragon's exposed flesh. Its roar was deafening, dropping Gabe from the huge height it held him. Gabe softened his landing and grabbed his dropped rifle, fleeing from the monster as his ears were ringing mercilessly. As his hearing came around, Michael was screaming through the comm to get back to the N.A.P. Gabe was running 60 miles an hour to get back to the sanctuary in the N.A.P. "Move faster, goddammit! That thing ain't slowing down!" shouted Michael through the comm. Many missiles swarmed from the platform, catching the dragon off guard and buying Gabe a considerable amount of time as it fell into the mud. Gabe wasted all the fuel he had left, almost flying up to the cockpit of the nuclear platform. He nestled himself in again alongside Jack, ready to fight the gold scaled dragon. "Alright, Gabe, let's do this!" Jack practically shouted. Jack pressed a button, making giant sized bayonets spring out beneath the barrels of the arm cannons. The dragon spewed another column of flame at the machine. "LEFT!" screamed Jack, as Gabe had the entire platform leap to the left of the column. "Damn! Did you guys see what that did to the mountain side?" asked Tevin. The dragon made another roar, which Jack replied to with an oversized blade impaling its tongue. Both he and Gabe tried to keep the blade inside its mouth and even plunge it deeper. "WE'RE A LITTLE BUSY AT THE MOMENT!" The dragon continued to struggle, eventually burying its claws into the machine's sides and shaking it around. "AHH! DAMN YOU, YOU SCALY MOTHERFUCKER!" Jack ripped the dragon's tongue out of its mouth, causing it to release its grip. Gabe then used the machine's mechanical legs to land heavy kicks into the monster's side, with his final being upside the chin. The dragon was knocked down. "NOW GABE! FINISH HIM LIKE ALL THE OTHERS!" Gabe had the whole machine leap up onto the the dragon, drilling its traction claws into the dragon's hide. Aside from the claws, the machine was very heavy, and this caused the dragon some agony. Gabe leaped off, allowing Jack to bombard the creature with literally hundreds of swarmer missiles. Their work was presumed done, and they turned to leave. "Holy shit, the mountain side is..." "Liquid? Yeah, we were wondering when you'd finally notice," said Tevin. "Heh, well, give me a status report," "So far everything is fine," said Michael, "it was all strapped down before we got rolling, as for personnel, we got some bumps and bruises despite being strapped down, but we'll live. Exterior may have lost some paint or gotten some dents, no real damage," "Well, that's good news, now to clean up the dragon," Gabe turned the machine to check on the fallen dragon. "Uh... Where's the dragon?" The two heard faint shouting, and turned towards Canterlot. "Aww, look, they're praising us and must've already cleaned up the bloody corpse," said Jack, "wait, what're they pointing at?" The ponies were pointing behind the mechanical behemoth, eventually backing up and turning to run. Jack and Gabe turned the mech, seeing an oversized flying lizard soar their way and grab the mech. This jerked the whole machine, sending everything, and everyone, that wasn't strapped down ricocheting across the inside. The dragon was trying to lift the nuke carrier off the ground, but could only reach a few meters before having to descend. "Argh! This isn't like Pacific Rim, jackass," Said Jack. The dragon shook the machine heavily, clawing viciously at the armor and jerking the cockpit around savagely. The monster dug its claws beneath the machine's platform, flipping the entire thing over onto the platform. Gabe nearly blacked out, breathing deeply while struggling to retain proper vision. He looked over to Jack, unconscious. Still breathing heavily, Gabe took over control of everything Jack controlled, while switching some functions to automatic. "Automated system management enabled," a feminine AI droned. Gabe now had full control of the mech, though it was still upside down. For Gabe, it proved much less a problem than to most other soldiers, as he had the legs swing up and around, landing the traction claws beside the platform. Having the legs in position, Gabe hauled the whole upper half of the N.A.P. upright, restoring the war machine to its fighting state. Glancing over to Canterlot, the dragon had trudged most of its way there, having been injured badly and bearing dulled, gnarled scales and chipped claws. Gabe's eyes narrowed on sight of the lizard, as he closed in, arming the Punisher Cannons. "Boom," he whispered, pulling the trigger. Devastating projectiles shelled the beast in the back, having numerous explosions run up and down the creature's scales. This seemed to bring its attention back to the machine, with an expression sparking disbelief and slight fear in the dragon. Gabe had the huge war machine break into a run, engaging the dragon with a rough grapple with the arm cannon's blades. Haphazard slashing commenced on from both sides, with Gabe finally thrusting the blades up into the dragon's armpits, nearly severing the arms. Next to the cockpit were small six barreled cannons made to fire canisters of neuro-toxins. The dragon made a fearsome roar, in which Gabe used these cannons to fire several canisters into the dragon's gaping mouth. Gas leaked out the dragon's mouth, going around and between the dragon's jagged teeth. The deadly chemicals were already taking affect, and the dragon's resistance was weakening, and had ceased all attempts to breathe fire on the dangerously close cockpit. Gabe unleashed one final blow to the dying legend, firing the arm cannons still jammed into the dragon's arms, severing them completely. A sickly amount of blood poured from the remaining stubs the dragon could call arms, and its eyes rolled into the back of its head from the sheer pain of such brutalization. The event of suffering was short lived for the dragon, however, as the toxins finished off the dragon. Panting heavily, Gabe spoke into the comms, getting Michael's attention. "We're fine, Gabe, my arm's busted though, how's Jack?" Michael replied to Gabe. Gabe confirmed Jack's condition to him, hearing Michael report this to Tevin. "It's done, Gabe, let's get ourselves cleaned up," Michael said after alerting Tevin. Gabe was relieved, exhausted, and shaky. He never experienced such a hell in his life. *** Jack was awakened, Michael's arm bound, and the team's wounds cleaned, which consisted of cuts and bruises. The N.A.P. was "parked" at Canterlot, reducing the soldiers' walking distance. Upon exiting, they were bombarded by crowds of ponies. "Heh, we got admirers, boys," Jack said. A rock was thrown, hitting him square in the shoulder. "Ow! The hell?" he said. The ponies had their hooves raised in protest, striking the soldiers left and right with them. Tevin and Gabe tried to defend their wounded brothers by pushing some away and shielding them with their bodies. They made it hardly ten feet when royal guards came to intervene. Gratefully, they allowed themselves to be escorted to Canterlot Castle, but were still pelted by some hooves and stones. The trip was long and painstaking, but they eventually found themselves in Celestia's throne room, where the doors were shut and guarded. Tevin addressed Celestia with a booming voice. "What the hell was that?! We kill a goddamn dragon and this is how we're repaid? Screw that, we're packing, and we're leaving," Tevin shouted. "But you cannot leave," Luna said, emerging from a corner, "Gabriel is the Chronomancer, thus he is needed," "Y'know what, Luna?" Tevin said, storming up to her, "I don't give a FAT RAT'S ASS ABOUT SOME WAR THAT WON'T EXIST!" Luna used her hoof to shove Tevin many feet back. He was caught by his team, who helped him to his feet. "Princess, we kindly ask that you be a little more careful with throwing us around, not good for relationships," Michael said. Luna raised an eyebrow, "If you wish to leave, then you must leave Gabriel behind," "Sister-" Luna looked over to Celestia, her expression pleading. Luna sighed, then left. Celestia looked at the soldiers, bloody and fatigued, "We are extremely grateful for your intervention, not many have the knowledge to fight a dragon," Tevin only glared in return, then spat at her hooves, "I'll make this easy to understand, go buck yourself," he said, raising a middle finger for her. "Humans, please, I can explain," Tia said. "What is there to explain? You guys fucking hate us, we're not safe here, or anywhere," Jack said. "We do not hate you, I do not. My ponies, they are afraid of you, you are not like the humans they are used to," Tia said. "We're soldiers, call it a burden, but that doesn't mean they have to kill us," Michael said. "I'm afraid that regardless, all the ponies' opinions have changed, warrior or not" Tia said. A silence was kept. "Well, what do we do? Other than sit here and hold our dicks," Jack asked, "Gabe hasn't said anything, Gabe?" He was found admiring a pot of flowers in the corner of the throne room, gently caressing the delicate petals. He looked back, still holding a petal. He took the flower from its pot, ambling over to Celestia and placing it in her mane almost lovingly. This plunged all in the room into confusion, when a realization came to Michael. "Gabe, you are a goddamn genius" he said. "Uh... I'm still lost," Jack said. "Gabe wants us to prove ourselves to be better, they've seen the soldier side of us, time they see the common life side of us, that'll mend their thought process," "That's... actually really smart, I mean you two crazy fags love this shit," Tevin said. "Still love it after the fag part," Michael replied. "Show your love, then maybe we can live in peace, and I can be a doctor finally," Tevin concluded. "Whoa, wait, what am I supposed to do? There is no DARPA nor ARX in ponyland," Jack said. "We'll figure it out, Jack, but now, we need to integrate with pony society, freedom is just around the corner," said Michael. The soldiers looked hopefully to Celestia. "But, what about the war?" she asked. "We got an N.A.P. ready to nuke the shit out of anyone ready to cause war, so, yeah, no need to worry on that," Tevin said. "Oh, um... I'm sure my faithful student Twilight Sparkle will be willing to help you with this task," Tia said. "And if not, you can send her to the moon!" Michael said, laughing heartily with his team (as only they got the joke). Celestia was relieved, their spirits were high and were willing to stay. Now she only needed to protect them from the other ponies, if she could even do so.