//------------------------------// // 'Club' Night // Story: Guardian // by Requiem17 //------------------------------// Ale admired the glow of the impossibly fast lowering of the moon. He watched it disappear below the horizon only to be replaced by the sun. He shook his head, thinking he'd never get used to 'magic'. Ale stepped out of the garage he had built within a few hours yesterday. Applejack had stopped by right when he finished. She sat, dumbfounded at his speed as Ale handed her tools back to her. His Warthog had been rolled into the garage as he yet had time to fix it. The two 'birds' as Ale liked to call them sat outside. Ale was certain nobody would tamper with them, shoot, nopony probably knew how to open them much less operate them. He took a deep breath of the crisp morning air as he began to follow a small crowd of workers headed towards the warehouse. They whispered intently, glancing back at Ale with awe and disbelief. ‘Guess word of my 'impressive' feat spread out yesterday.’ No sooner had he thought that when a mare and stallion approached him with friendly smiles. The stallion fumbled a bit with his speech as he tried to say something intelligent. The mare rolled her eyes and took the lead. "Hey there! My names Steel Resolve and this here's my friend Buzz Saw. We just wanted to welcome you to Ponyville!" The stallion, giving up on speaking, nodded rapidly. Ale quirked an eyebrow as he looked at the stallion. The mare, seeing Ales' expressionless cyan face plate focused on the stallion, said, "Oh don't mind him. He had bet you wouldn't be able to lift that wood yesterday. When you proved him wrong he was afraid he might have offended you." Ale replied, "Why would I be offended if I didn't know he had made a bet in the first place?" The mare rolled her eyes, "That's what I tried to tell him but he was convinced that you could read his thoughts or something." Ale chuckled and held out his hand towards the stallion. "I promise I can't read your thoughts or anyponys for that matter and don't worry about offending me. If I was in your situation I probably would have done the same." The stallion eased up and shook Ales' hand with a smile. Ale nodded and proceeded to shake the mares hand. She glanced over her shoulder, "We better hurry up and punch in at the warehouse. Wouldn't want to be late for your first day now would you?" Ale nodded and followed them to the staff entrance. The mare handed Ale a card. "This is your key card. By the way, I'm supposed to show you the ropes around here." Ale nodded again. The mare looked at him intently, "Don't talk much do you?" Ale remained silent, drawing a bit of a huff from the mare. "Well, follow me. The boss thinks you can be put to good use moving crates to and from the loading dock considering your strength." ------------------------------------------------------------ Ale followed Steels' instructions throughout the day. Everypony had been impressed at his speed and strength with which he had moved the products around the warehouse. Steel had even managed to draw Ale out of his silence every now and then. Ale had finished within a few hours and had been assigned to help Steel and Buzz with whatever tasks they had. With the super soldiers help they had finished ahead of schedule and now sat in the break room. Buzz and Steel talked with each other excitedly, getting Ales two cents every now and then. Finally the whistle signaling the end of the day screamed loudly over the sound of machinery. Ale stood and punched out with Steel and Buzz. He began walking towards home when Steel called loudly out to him. "Hey Ale! Buzz and I were wondering if you would like to go out tonight in celebration of your new job." Ale hesitated but then decided it would be good to introduce himself to more of Ponyvilles population. Plus he hadn't been on shore leave in like, ever. "Sure thing Steel. When and where?" "There's a nightclub a few blocks away from here. It's called 'The Spinning Disk'. Sounds lame I know but it's the best DJ club in town. The one and only DJPon3 owns the place. It'll be a blast!" Ale nodded. Steel jumped a bit and exclaimed, "Great! See you at seven!" Ale waved and began walking home. He smiled at the ponies behavior. He didn't know what to expect but his only concern at the moment was going home and polishing his armor up a bit. --------------------------------------------------------- Ale walked through the night air towards a building glowing with neon lights of every color. He saw Steel and Buzz standing outside and waved at them. They waved back and proceeded to lead Ale into the club. She led them over to an empty booth near the DJ stand. Ale grinned at the sounds coming from the speakers. He honestly thought the music was a 'cute' form of what techno was to humans. Not saying it was bad or anything just simplified and tempered down from what he normally heard from the ODSTs. The ponies in the club however thought it was the best music they had ever heard and were romping on the multicolored dance floor. His companions ordered a few drinks while Ale simply waved his hand. "Come on Ale! Lighten up a little." Ale smirked, "Believe it or not a Spartan can't get drunk." Buzz spoke up, "What!?" Once more Ale wasn't going to part with any information that he had told the princesses. "Our species can't get drunk." Steel seemed a bit crestfallen which puzzled Ale a bit. He was interrupted from his musings when a white mare wearing goggles approached them. Buzz and Steel looked like they were going to die with excitement. Ale simply observed the mare. "Hey there. My names Vinyl Scratch. I'm the DJ and owner of this fine establishment and I just wanted to welcome Ponyvilles resident alien personally." Ale smiled and bowed his head slightly replying simply ,"My name’s Ale. Nice to meet you." Vinyl smiled and nodded towards his companions. She turned and began walking away. "Hope you enjoy yourself!" Ale and his companions talked and laughed for a few hours, Ale watching as Buzz and Steel steadily became tipsy. Ale, noticing the time, stood and said his goodbyes. He turned and began walking towards the exit when two stallions approached him. When Ale noticed the surrounding ponies begin to step away from them warily he tensed up. The lead pony spoke. "What are you doing here!? You're not welcome here." Ale sighed. "Listen, I don't want any trouble. I was just leaving." Buzz appeared next to him. "Yeah well don't show your face... or whatever that is around here again. Got it freak?" Ale began to walk towards the exit again, ignoring the ponys jabs when a voice stopped him cold. "Don't call him a freak! He can go wherever he wants. The DJ personally welcomed him here!" "I can call him what I want,” the stallion sneered. "What are you, his coltfriend?" Buzz, his mind not in the best condition, lurched forward and attempted to punch the stallion. His face met the end of the stallions hoof and he toppled to the ground. Steel pushed through the crowd and knelt next to Buzz. The stallion watched Steel help Buzz up. "What? Is that filth bucking you both?" His companion laughed. The stallion then spat on Buzz and Steel. Ale felt adrenaline course through his veins as his body moved on its own accord. The next few seconds revealed the lead stallion bruised and bleeding while implanted into the ceiling. His comrade slowly backed away from the enraged Spartan. The crowd simply watched in fear, shocked at the speed with which the Spartan had moved. Ale glanced at Steel and Buzz, seeing that they were okay he handed a large sack of bits to Vinyl who had come over to break up the confrontation. "For the damage." Before Vinyl could reply Ale had already cloaked himself, eliciting a gasp from the crowd as the armored Spartan had simply vanished. Ale carefully stepped around the crowd and made his way out. He headed towards Twilights and hoped he wouldn't be arrested. He knew they wouldn't be able to stop him but as far as Ale was concerned he didn't want to make enemies with the inhabitants of the planet. It would be too much of a hassle and he had made an oath. His mind drifted from the oath he made towards Luna. Ale was concerned about her. He was certain the assassins' employer wasn't done. Ale once again shook his head. ‘Why do I keep thinking about her?’ He reached Twilights and entered. Spike and Twilight jumped when the door opened by itself and Ales voice greeted them. The puzzled look on their voices reminded Ale that he was cloaked. They jumped again when Ale revealed himself. "I thought you said you didn't have magic?" "Twilight. My species is space faring and centuries ahead of yours. Are you honestly surprised?" Twilight grumbled a bit but nodded. Ale sat down and told Twilight of the day’s events. When Ale expressed his concern of the fight Twilight smiled. "Don't worry about it. You were defending your friends and those two have been causing trouble for a while now." Ale nodded in relief. He said goodnight to his hosts and headed up to bed. He settled into his bed and drifted off into oddly comfortable dreams. ---------------------------------------------------- Ale woke up with a smile plastered on his face. ‘That was the best sleep I've gotten in a while.’ He stood and made his way downstairs, his morning needs taken care of by his suit. He found Spike in the kitchen, making what looked to be a salad of some sorts. Spike looked up and grinned, "Good morning. I'm making some salad for us. I kept out the stuff that you can't eat." Ale cringed at Spikes offer. ‘I swear to god if I have to eat another salad I'm going to barf.’ "No thanks Spike. I've been meaning to show Twilight my MREs anyway." Spike nodded in understanding and got back to work. Ale went into the pantry and grabbed an MRE he had stored there. In big black letters it read, 'Bean Burrito'. ‘One of the better ones,’ Ale though glumly. He still would prefer indigestion over a salad any day. "Oh is that the food thing you were going to show me?" Ale turned to see Twilight sitting, clapping her forehooves together. "Alright Twilight come over here." Twilight rapidly sat next to Ale as he prepared the MRE. "Now than, there are a few different MREs to choose from. They are freeze dried to maintain freshness. They are packed with all the necessary nutrition a grunt needs in the field. Oh, and the most important thing you need to know is that they all taste like shit." Twilight flinched a bit at Ales choice of words. She scanned his food using her magic and recoiled. "You can't eat that! I sensed materials in there bad for your health." Ale smiled. "Oh but you see, every marine needs his daily dose of preservatives. Where would mankind be without it?" Twilight rolled her eyes and let Ale finish prepping the MRE. Ale then took it out to the garage with him and ate the contents in privacy.