//------------------------------// // Meet the Family // Story: War of the Fallen Race // by PegasusKlondike //------------------------------// "Alright, can you all walk?" They were practicing how to move since shifting to this new form of female human beings. Fingers were just the most novel thing since sliced bread, and feet that felt the floor were almost uncomfortable. Though human in form, the six women still had minor traces of their true pony identity. Rarity and Twilight had silver specks on their foreheads where their horns normally lay. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had massive tattoos of wings on their backs. Pinkie and Applejack looked the most normal, relatively speaking. They still all had the same hair styles they had as ponies. Down on their hips were tattoos of their cutie marks. The Element jewels still sparkled around their necks. The six friends were getting the hang of bipedal walking, so Aaron moved on to the next phase of preparation. "Okay, if someone tries to talk to you, do not mention ponies, magic, the War, your names, what you do for a living, why you are with me, how you 'woke up' so early, your hairstyles, your cutie marks...you know what? Just don't talk to anyone. Especially the soldiers." "How many are soldiers?" asked Fluttershy. Aaron peered out the window to the master control room, noticing that thousands were climbing out of their stasis chambers. "About half of them." "Which ones are they?" inquired Rarity. "Civilians were put to sleep in white clothing, soldiers are wearing their combat uniforms." He looked out the window of the master control center again. Most of the people were orienting themselves and putting on civilian clothing. "Alright, I'm going to try and get you some private quarters until we can get the Vault door open and get you out of here. Now or never ladies, follow me closely." He opened the door to the control room, once outside he heard a voice yell. "Hey, it's Dr. Patterson!" Every person looked to him and cheered. Twilight put a hand on his shoulder and whispered to him. "Why are they cheering for you?" "They think I'm a hero. I haven't gotten around to stopping those rumors yet." They walked down the stairs into the crowds of human beings. The pony/women never knew that they could be so different from their friend. So many new faces, all of them of a different species than themselves. Passing by groups of soldiers would get crisp salutes for Aaron, he would stop to salute back to them. Passing knots of civilians and scientists would earn him nods of respect. A voice called out his name. "Aaron my boy!" "You have no idea how glad I am to see your ugly mug sir!" he yelled. His friends still followed him like lost baby ducks, and got closer when he stopped. "Who is that Aaron?" "That is Commanding General Tyler McGoff, the real boss around here." He turned to his old friend. He clasped his superior on the wrist and threw an arm around his back, the General did the same. "How'd you sleep Tyler?" "Those damn tubes are so uncomfortable, tell me we don't have to keep sleeping in them." "No, we've got private quarters for everyone here, plus a dining area, storage vaults and a rec center." "Fantastic! Oh my, who are your lovely friends Dr. Patterson?" the General turned his attention to the six young women who stood silent. "Getting a head start on the repopulation effort are we?" He nudged Aaron in the chest. "Not at all sir. Tyler, these are my, uh, friends. Good friends from long ago, like family to me." "I didn't know you had friends in here. Station comes with benefits I guess, nepotism among them. Ladies, my apologies, I am General Tyler McGoff, United States Army." He shook hands firmly with the six young women. A boisterously loud voice cut with a slight French accent called to them. "General McGoff, Dr. Patterson. How was your nap boys?" "Pilotte you son of a bitch! Get over here and shake my hand!" shouted Aaron. The muscular man laughed at his friendliness, pushing his way through the crowds to see his comrades. "Seems like it worked Aaron! Keep this up and someone might get half a mind to elect you for public office!" "Why do I doubt that?" Aaron replied, shaking the large man's hand. "Girls, this is Commander Jean Pilotte, United States Special Forces." "I can introduce myself! Enchante mademoiselles." he gently took Rarity's hand and gave a gentle kiss on it. She blushed vividly. "Charmed sir." "Watch it Jean, those are my friends you're workin' your frog charms on," Aaron edged. "Just being friendly! Don't get your panties in a knot, comrade." "Keep it in your pants; General McGoff, Commander Pilotte, we have matters to discuss. I need to find my friends some private quarters and then we need to speak. Gather all of the unit commanders and the scientist representatives." The two military men stiffened and grew serious. "At your request Doctor, we will call a council together. We will convene in the war room at oh seventeen hundred. Should give everyone enough time to wake up." They left together to oversee the safe reanimation of the rest of the populace. Aaron took his friends to one of the auxiliary vaults that lined the side of the main chamber of Lazarus. Punching in the codes, the door opened with a hiss to reveal a long hallway lined with doors. Opening one, he directed them inside. It looked more like a prison cell than anything, conveniently able to sleep eight. "Alright, stay in here. These are private quarters, if anyone comes just say that you are my guests and I am out on errands. I'll bring back some food and maybe some entertainment." "How long we gotta stay in here pardner?" "As long as it takes Applejack. And remember, do not use your pony names." He shut the door to attend to other business. "Well this sucks. How are we supposed to pass the time?" asked the rainbow haired young woman. "At least the beds look comfy." Applejack crashed on one, drawing her hat over her eyes. Twilight was looking at everything, trying to figure out how it worked. She looked at the fluorescent light tubes in the ceiling panels, confused as to what made them glow. "Are we sure they don't have magic? This looks pretty magical to me." "Can't be, he looked pretty confounded the first time we used our magic darling." "So what do you all think about them? I think they would absolutely love a party!" "No parties Pinkie, I think they are a good race from what I've seen; a little rough, but you could get used to them." ******************************************************************* Dr Patterson walked down the rows of stasis chambers, most of the population of Lazarus awake and trying to work out the side effects of hibernation. He stopped in front of a specific tube, the occupant was still asleep and was none other than his old mentor. Though open at the front, she was still pleasantly asleep. He knocked on the side of her stasis module. "Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey. Time to get up." She groaned a bit. "Maybe a kiss from my Prince Charming will wake this damsel in distress." "I saw Pilotte earlier, maybe he would do the honor." Her eyes fluttered opened. "On second thought, I think I'd rather have a kick to the teeth than have that frog smoochin' on me." "Get out of there you old succubus. We have to talk." Dr. Mcentyre climbed out of her stasis module, woozily shaking off the effects of hibernation. She yawned and stretched her arms. "How long were we out?" "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Hell, you wouldn't believe ninety percent of what I have to tell you." He leaned down to her stasis locker and threw her some clothes. "Get dressed." He turned out of respect, after a few minutes the groggy scientist patted her pupil on the shoulder. "Let's head to the mess, get some coffee." She looked at his travel stained clothing. "Did you pack the nastiest clothes you could find or have you been up a little longer than the rest of us?" "Option two sounds a bit closer to the truth." They walked to the mess hall, still empty. Aaron cracked open a nitrogen preserved food locker to dig out some coffee. Grabbing two cups he set the coffee and his mentor down at a table. "So, how long have you been up?" she said as she sipped her hot coffee imitation. "Roughly a month and a half." She choked a bit on her freeze dried swill. "What the hell kid? Did you decide to go on vacation or something?" "Not really Eve. The Vault was breached and I was forcefully removed from stasis." "That explains the broken glass at your module, but who removed you?" "That's the kicker, our dear old enemies did. Seven of them managed to open the door and decided to take me home with them." "You mean those horses took you back to their base? From your experience the first time you got captured I figured you'd be stark raving mad by now! How did you escape?" "That is a story that has a lot of holes in it, most of which you will laugh at." "Why would I laugh at them?" He looked around to make sure they were still alone. "God helped me escape." The aged doctor stared at him. "You were wrong, I'm not laughing, I feel concerned for you." "I'm serious Eve, remember what we said after the Second Surge? That this didn't seem natural at all, more like it was some kind of retaliation or punishment?" She nodded, remembering that exact conversation. "And you said that maybe some kind of deity was behind it." "Yes! There is one, and the Surge energy isn't really some type of normal energy. It's magic!" She recoiled a bit. "Aaron, I've been concerned for you before, when you went on that research bender, when you built that crazy weapon of yours and especially after you didn't come back after that battle. But now I think you need professional help." "I'm not crazy Eve, She's really there." "Okay, what is this God of yours like?" "You want a quick dating profile of Her? Alright, She's single, loves children, has a thing for comedy, enjoys Louis Armstrong and dancing. From what I understand She's kind of a family gal, having a near infinite number of brothers, sisters, cousins, whatever. Oh yeah one important thing, She's the spiritual embodiment of the planet Earth and is the source of all magic and life." "Is this some kind of joke Aaron? Because it isn't funny. Before I was a scientist I was what you might call a hippie. I believed that crap that the Earth is alive and it loves us. But you know what happened? My young son got sick, I prayed, I begged, I pleaded to God to save my child. But he or She or whatever didn't listen. And he died because I believed in a bunch of flower child bullshit." "She is there, and she loves us. You just have to let her in." He turned his gaze to the empty room. "Mother? Are you there?" As always. "Good, would you like to talk to this nice woman?" "Aaron, you need help, you're talking to nothing." "Quiet for a second Eve. Mother, how do you want to do this?" I'm trying to talk to her, she won't let me in. Try using your magic. "I still have that? I thought it left with Legion." Not all of it, but most of Legion's power did leave when you purified them. "Worth a shot I guess." He raised a hand, concentrating his magic. "Aaron, talk to me damn it! You need help!" "Hey Eve, want some sugar in your coffee?" A small packet hovered over her cup. It tore itself open and poured in, a stirrer levitated over and stirred her coffee. She stared at the incredible sight, then looked to her student. "What the hell was that? What are you?" "That was Mother's gift to me. Magic. I was much more powerful before I let us out today, I could destroy mountains with the wave of a hand." "You're infected....with Surge Energy?" "Call it whatever you like. It is actually soul magic, magic that I gained for being the bearer for all of humanities souls and purifying them." "When did you do that?" "This morning. Are you ready to talk to Her?" "I guess so, if magic is real, what the hell I guess." "Go ahead Mother." he said to everything. Hello child. "This isn't some ventriloquist act is it? I just heard someone say 'hello' to me." "She talks through your mind, selecting words from memories that match the emotions she is trying to express. The more experiences you have had in life, the better she can talk to you." Eve awkwardly looked around the room. "Is this true...Mother?" He explained it better than I could have. The aged scientist was startled by Mother talking to her. "What are you? Some kind of ghost or something?" I am a being comprised of fields of energy that lie latent throughout all existing things. Unlike you I am not bound to matter at any one point, with the planet you stand upon acting as more of an anchor for my mind in the turbulence of the universe. Similar intelligent beings like me are common throughout the universe. In a way, you and I are alike, Eve. I was the catalyst and in a small way the designer for life on this world, just as you were the creator and bearer of your own child. Eve was incredulous. "How do you know that? How do you know about my son?" Your child is with me, he wants to talk to you......Mom? ".....Brandon?" she said disbelievingly, "Sweetie, is it really you?" The soul of a child now communed through Mother. It is me Mom, don't be afraid. We're all here; me, Dad, Grampa, Grandma, everyone! Mother loves us all, and she loves you too Mom. We all can't thank Aaron enough for what he did for us, thank you Mr. Patterson sir! "You are welcome Brandon." Aaron said with a smile. "I missed you so much baby! Why did you have to leave me?" I never left you Mom, and I never will, not in a billion years! "Brandon, what is heaven like?" Eve asked hopefully. You'll see one day Mom, but you have a lot of life left to live. We all love you Mom! I have to go now, goodbye! "Goodbye, my baby." She said, her words choked with tears. And with that Mother's presence left the room. "Aaron, I'm sorry I doubted you!" She leaned over the table and grabbed his shoulders, hugging him to her as she wept. "What did you do for them?" "I gave them Harmony. But it wasn't me alone. Come on, I want you to meet some very special friends of mine." **************************************************************************************** The pair of scientists first stopped by the information Vault and the technologies Vault, grabbing several forms of entertainment for Aaron's 'guests'. Two cardboard boxes full of books, small electronics and various other trinkets went with them to Aaron's quarters. Setting his box down he knocked. "Go away! Aaron isn't here, he is out running errands!" he heard muffled through the door. "Rainbow, it's me, open up." Dr. Mcentyre looked confused, "What kind of a name is 'Rainbow'?" "Her full name is actually Rainbow Dash, Rainbow or Dashie for short. You'll see." "Is it some kind of flower child name or something?" "Rainbow Dash? Far from it, she's a bit of a tomboyish, daredevil speed freak." The door cracked its way open, a nervous rainbow haired young woman poked her head out. "Who's she?" "A friend, now open up." A girl with a mess of pink curls shoved Rainbow out of the way, "What's the password?" "We never set a password Pinkie." She squinted at him in suspicion. "Ugh, fine. Cupcakes!" Her eyes opened up wide. "Right! Come on in!" He picked up his box and walked inside, he turned back to his confused mentor. "Well, come on in and meet the gang." She sighed in resignation and followed him in. Six of the prettiest young women looked up when she entered. "Quite a harem you have here Aaron." She set down the box she was carrying. "It's not what you think. Everyone, this is Eve. She is a very old and dear friend of mine from way back." "Is she another one of your old military buddies?" asked a woman with a purple stripe in her black hair. "No Twilight, she is a scientist like me. Less of a colleague like Doctor Whooves, more like my teacher." Eve was getting nervous, "Aaron, who are these girls? Why do they all have such strange names?" He sighed, "It's time I came clean with you, they breached the Vault and got me out of hibernation. They're the whole reason we even woke up." "But you said our enemies came and took you away to their town. These aren't a bunch of anthropomorphic horses." "Gals, show her your cutie marks." They each stood and exposed a hip for the aged doctor. "Those are just like the ones our enemies wear.......good God! How is that possible!" She turned back to Aaron to see him nonchalantly making a light dance across his palm. "I'm sorry, did I not explain the concept of "magic" thoroughly enough? Do I need to call up Mother again?" "No! Once was fine for today." she looked frightened by the harmless young women that looked at her so curiously. "Relax, they won't hurt you. They don't have a mean bone in their bodies, except maybe Pinkie if you break a promise." "Hey!" "Well it's true! You nearly broke my arm that one time!" "Well you broke a Pinkie promise!" Pinkie's eyes were practically ablaze with the remembered rage of a broken Pinkie promise. "Um, Aaron?" asked the doctor. "Oh yeah. Eve, this is Pinkie Pie." "How ya doing!" she stood and gave Eve a great big hug. "Guarding the door is Rainbow Dash." Rainbow Dash nodded, her back leaning against the door, "Sup." "Rainbow, be more polite. This is a very dear friend of mine." "Fine, how are you doing Miss.....?" "Mcentyre, Dr. Mcentyre." "Pleased to make your acquaintance Doctor." He continued introductions, "Asleep on the bed over there is Applejack," he quietly walked over and shouted to her. "Applejack wake up! The cows are stampeding again!" Applejack practically flew off the bed, stetson hat skewed on her head, "Huh who what!? Dang it you two legged varmint, don't startle me like that! Who's this?" Eve walked over and offered a hand. "Dr. Eve Mcentyre, scientist and colleague to Dr. Patterson." Applejack took the proffered hand and shook it vigorously, "Well shucks, I'm Applejack, any friend of my cousin is a friend of mine." Dr. Mcentyre glanced at Aaron, raising an eyebrow. "Cousin?" "I was unofficially adopted by Applejack's family, what did we call it? A removed cousin?" Applejack slapped the man on the back, "Sure as shoot! He's a regular Apple family farm hand!" Rubbing the sore spot left by Applejack's hand he turned next to a pleasantly seated Rarity, "And over here is Rarity, our resident fashionista." Rarity rose with as much lady-like grace as she could while still adjusting to her new form, "Charmed madame. How do you humans do your hair so well?" "Um, it's all in the fingers I guess." "How marvelous! Aaron won't tell me a thing about human style! Could you fill me in?" Aaron rolled his eyes, "That's because I'm a man! Guys don't do fashion!" he barked. Calming himself, he turned to Fluttershy. "This is Fluttershy, she is kind of timid, but she'll warm up to you. Say hello Fluttershy." "Um, hi." she said with a whisper, extending a hand like Dr. Mcentyre was a viper ready to bite her. "Nice to meet such a lovely young lady." Fluttershy blushed and hid behind her own hair. "And last but not least, this is Twilight Sparkle." Twilight extended a hand, having a well practiced and probably well researched method of greeting, "Pleasure to meet you ma'm. You dirty old bag of dirt." She tried out the human method of greeting. Aaron choked on nothing, if something had actually been in his mouth he would have died, "TWILIGHT!" She raised a questioning eyebrow, "What? That's how you talked to those other men. I thought that's how all humans greeted each other." "Not at all, women don't talk to each other like that. Men like me and General McGoff are crude, rude, and brutish to each other because that's how human men are. Insulting each other is just a way of establishing a social hierarchy!" Twilight's eyes grew wide and her jaw became slack, "Oh my Princesses, I'm so sorry! I thought that's how you talked to each other!" Dr Mcentyre easily recovered from the blatant yet excusable insult, "No offense taken Miss Sparkle, just try not to take too much idiom from the menfolk anymore." Aaron shoved his cardboard box to the center of the room. "Alright everypony, I made good on my promise and brought you all back some entertainment. I have books from a lot of different genres, some games, and even some technology for you to play with." He opened his box to allow them to dig through. Eve was still confounded by these horses in human skin. "Every...pony?" she asked Aaron. "A cultural idiom that I picked up. I did live in their society for over a month for crying out loud, had to adapt." Eve rolled her eyes, then got back to the real issues, "So you saw McGoff today?" "Yeah, you and I have a little meeting to attend here in a couple of minutes. All the brass are going to be in attendance. I'm going to have some answers for us." ************************************************************************** Every soldier above the rank of captain and several of the scientists gathered in the war room of Project Lazarus. General McGoff took the head of the long table with Pilotte at his left and Aaron at his right. A scribe called them to order. "I call to order this meeting of the amalgamated forces of the United States Armed Forces and the private science divisions. Does anyone know the date?" Aaron spoke up. "I do scribe. Today is May 28th, roughly the year 4000." That statement sent the room into frantic murmurs. "Dr. Patterson, we all hold you in the highest regard, but you cannot be serious!" "I am serious, it has been roughly two thousand years since Lazarus was activated. We completely overshot the time we aimed for." "How can you be sure Dr. Patterson?" said a lieutenant general. "My stasis module suffered a catastrophic failure, I was able to escape without further injury. After that I exited the Vault and carried out a scouting mission of the surface world." The scribe quoted the manual, "Ah yes, order 327, "If an individual should fall under the circumstance that he or she is awoken from stasis without the support of the rest of the Army, such individual is obligated to conduct preliminary reconnaissance of the surface." That explains your appearance Doctor. But how do you know the year?" "I was captured by the enemy. We were wrong, they are not fractured, if anything they are stronger than ever. And I have dire news, they know of our existence and are sending an army to wipe us out for good." That sent the entire room to shouting. "Order! We will have order before this tribunal!" shouted the General. Aaron stood "SILENCE!" every man and woman shut their mouths to listen. "They have changed ladies and gentlemen, I believe we can talk through this." "Talk through it Dr Patterson? You want to make peace with them?" asked one of his fellow scientist representatives. "Yes!" "If they are the aggressors in this battle, then we have little to no hope of getting them to negotiate. How long until that door to the Vault opens?" General McGoff asked. "Four days to a week sir, we have civilian computer experts trying to crack Lazarus' software, but unfortunately we made the mainframe almost too secure." "Then in four days to a week we will march out of this hole and fight the enemy on our terms! We were the dominant race on this planet, and we will be again!" Every man and woman agreed with him. Only Aaron sat down, hoping that the magic of the Elements would solve this crisis. For these people, the War had never truly ended.