Tyler
10 Hours Ago
"Stun gun, check, Medicine of various types, check, Voice recorder, check, Camouflage module, check-a-mon-do." I said to myself as I re-checked my gear as I walked towards the edge of the forest. It was late into the night and I had just woken up from a surprisingly comfortable nap and I was about to check up on the first contact victim. As per orders, if a native is infected with an off world virus they must be checked regularly to make sure both a pandemic doesn't break out in the native population, and to record any and all mutations or changes in recorded symptoms. Best case scenario; Big Red, or whatever his name was, lives and the virus doesn't spread. Worst case scenario; He's already dead and turned into a Marauder and half the towns infected and I get blamed for not putting down the native when he got bit. My flight suit now had a small steel box attached to my back with a cool, dim blue glow coming off it. This was my camouflage module and it was surprisingly lighter then I remembered. If a scout needs to go into an unknown or lethal environment they attach the module onto themselves and their good to go for about two hours till it needs to recharge. My stun gun was attached to my hip and was cocked and ready to be fired. It was a black plastic gun with a small vertical slit at the end of the barrel with a small yellow glow coming out. Similar in shape and look to the original stun guns of the early twenty first century but without the annoying wires, instead it just shots small doses of electricity that incapacitates foes for up to an hour and is powered by a small generator built into the top of the gun, where a barrel would be. Appropriately named 'Hertz' it was originally used by planetary police forces on colonies but is now widely popular with frontier explorers and scientists going planetside. On the other side of my hip, attached to my belt, was a small box with a red cross on it. Inside was a combination of pain killers, strong disinfectant, antibiotics, clean bandages, water, a needle for blood samples and a defibrillator. Strapped to my thigh was my trusty hunting knife, sharped and well kept, it looks brand new despite the wear and tear on the old leather handle. All things that could come in handy for what im about to do.
I had now reacted the edge of the forest, the castle I had been using at least a mile behind me, and through the small bush I was crouched behind I could see lights off in the distance. I must be close to a town or outpost and now, I was in deep. Creeping out of the bush I looked to my wrist, towards my PDA, and activated my night vision. What had once been a dimly light field, only illuminated by the small rays of light piercing the thick cloud layer was now a neon green grass land. I had enough power to run the night vision for two days straight so I wasn't worried about losing power for now. Unsheathing my stun gun and pushing through the small bushes I began to walk towards the light source. About ten minutes of walking over empty fields and small hills found me looking down at a small town. It looked quaint, charming even, despite the stone wall surrounding it and natives patrolling the streets within. So getting in would be tougher than I thought, no biggie, I would just have to be a lot more tactful than I thought. lowering my stun gun I quickly crept down the small hill and made my way behind a few trees and scoped out the area. The wall looked newly built, so I doubt there are any large cracks or stones sticking out to give me a clear path up. Natives where patrolling the top of it and they never seemed to stay in one spot for long and those that did seemed to be manning some type of white and gold cannon. Climbing is a no go, getting up would make too much noise and I be may able to take down a group of people with my gun and knife but a local Garrison was way out of my league without my chassis or my hunting rifle.
Making my way around the trees to the right and keeping a wide gap between me and the town I saw a way to get in, the front gate. Along the road leading up to the town I saw a large gate, guarded by two half asleep guards and light by two torches. Smiling to myself I activated my camo mod via my PDA and moved in. Moving closer I was able to finally look at one of these natives up close. Straight off the bat their facial features where equine and human in appearance with a long snout, big eyes and a body covered in hair. These guards both had light blue fur and their manes, at least that's what they are on horses, where similar with a cobalt and gold hue on the left one and a Dark blue and copper hue on the right one. They stood erect and on two legs which looked to end in hooves instead of feet. The one on the left had a horn sticking out of its head(a unicorn?)and the other one had two wings on it's back that fidgeted from time to time(a Pegasus?) and they also each had a tail sticking out from behind. They were both female if the smaller figure and breasts where an indication, unless this planet's natives had a different version of genders. They wore matching armor that was very elaborate in design. They wore matching silver armor that had painted blue pauldrons, knee pads, gauntlets, elbow pads and a steel and blue chest piece with a black crescent moon and a head sticking out of the moon, a unicorn, on the chest piece and on the left shoulder with what looked like a symbol of a hawk on the right shoulder and a number that was different for each of the guards. From appearance they seemed lowly, either privates or just about in rank. If it came to it their short swords and small round shields would probably be useless in a ranged fight, though im sure there swords could puncture my suit if they got close enough.
Trying my hardest not to make a noise, I crept by the two unaware guards. As I got past them the one on the right turned and looked to the other one. "Hey, you ever wonder why were here?" She asked in a tired voice.
"Yeah, I do. You try your best to get through life while not pissing everyone off while also trying to do your best in training and then you get stuck with a thankless job and a crappy house. There's got to be something more out there you know? I bet that up there is a world or worlds we can't even comprehend and we're stuck down here, biding our time till death takes us. Yeah, I do sometimes wonder why were here doing nothing with our lives when we could be out there..." The other one replied as she looked up into the night sky.
"...I meant why are we here, guarding a gate in a backwater town that's so well guarded it might as well be a fort when we signed up to fight invaders." The one on the right asked, confused and slightly worried.
"Oh...Right." The other one simply replied, embarrassed beyond belief.
"You want to talk about it or-"
"No, no I'm good." She hastily replied. Deciding I should probably move on and get back to work, I crept behind a building, deactivated camo to save energy and went about trying to locate the local hospital or wherever they would keep Red. After a bit of moving and a lot of ducking behind dumpsters I came across what seemed to be the town square. There was what looked like the town hall on the opposite side of the square, a few shops to my left, more shops to my right and I seemed to have taken cover next to a bar or something if the sign was anything to go by. Seeing a map in the center of the park under a statue I decided that would be my best place to get some directions. Activating camo I walked out into the streets and towards the statue. As I approached it I could make out what it looked like in the dim moonlight. It was a stone statue depicting a tall native female in a large dress with a symbol of the sun on it standing in a proud pose and a smile on her face. She seemed to have both a horn and wings, perhaps a sign of power? Looking down at the base of the statue I could make out a golden plaque that read(In Common?! Has a space traveling race been here before or is this a giant coincidence?!):
Princess Celestia Solaris
Third monarch of Equestria
Avatar of Light
"Princess Celestia? If shes a monarch then why the hell is she a princess?" I questioned in a whisper. Realizing it doesn't matter to me at the moment I looked down at the map. It was old and faded but I could make out some landmarks like town hall, a giant tree, a farm and a hospital about thirty minutes away from me.
"Ponyville general hospital, that seems like the logical place to take the guy." I said as I began walking down the street, creeping back into the shadows. Back at the bar stood a drunk unicorn with a bottle in her hand and a annoyed earth pony helping her drunk friend walk home.
"I'm telling ya Tavi, the statue was talking! Celestia sounded like a farmer if he was in the army, all grizzled and shit but bomkiney. You heard it right?" The drunk friend slurred as she wrapped her arm around her friends neck to support herself.
"All I heard was you throwing up in the gutter, I can't believe you! What happened to your 'liver of steel'? Or did you lose it when you lost MY wallet paying for YOUR drinks?!" Her friend angrily yelled as she walked down the street.
Twilight
For the last few hours I had barely moved from my spot next to Applejack as there was nothing in the world that seemed more important to me then to support my grieving friend. Aldo Big Mac has been placed safely in the hands of the hospital staff and he was assured to be treated with the utmost care AJ was acting like he was already in the ground. Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot as she had been crying on and off for the last few hours, next to her on a small table sat a small pile of tissues and her hair was a mess, breaking out from the scrunchy she used, and falling onto her orange shirt. The girls had to leave about four hour ago as Rarity needed to look after Sweetie Belle, Fluttershy needed to make sure none of her animal friends where hurt or...infected like Mac was, Pinkie had to look after the Cake's kids while they were away and Rainbow and her team now needed to scout the rest of the forest now that there was a possible threat hidden deep within, leaving me, Spike and AJ to wait in the hallway outside Mac's quarantined room. Spike and I decided to stay behind and comfort Applejack. Spike was out getting some food for us at the hospital's cafeteria when Redheart exited the room.
"Hows my brother nurse? Is he going to be ok?" Applejack asked, her voice cracking as she looked up. Nurse Redheart was tired, that much was obvious. her pink hair had been tied back into a bun and her lab coat white pants and plastic gloves were wrinkled and smelt of disinfectant. Her blue eyes where had bags under them and she seemed upset.
"The good news is he's stable and will most likely life through whatever's in his system. The bad news is we don't know what is in his system, so we have no idea what could happen to him. If its a virus or disease we will have no idea how it could affect him or spread, so for the foreseeable future he will have to remain quarantined." Redheart said with an exhausted sigh.
"How bad does it look?" Applejack asked, clearly worried.
"Aside from paleness around the eyes and discoloration where he was bitten changing his crimson fur to a darker shade of red and almost black along the teeth marks, he looks normal, but those changes worry me." redheart said.
"Are there any signs of what this virus is? Is it at all similar to any known viruses?" I asked, hoping we wouldn't have to start from square one if we needed a cure.
"The only thing that seems remotely similar to this is Hoofington Cough, but that was cured and wiped out years ago." Red Heart replied, a thoughtful look on her face. "At this point in time the only thing we can do is wait and see, if he is awake in the morning we will ask her to describe anything that feels wrong but I think it would be best if he where to get some rest for now, you too Applejack." She continued, looking at Applejack.
"I hear ya nurse. Come on Twi, I've wasted enough of your time lets just go." Applejack said, to sad and tired to argue staying here. As we turned down the hallway Spike came around the corner holding two cups of coffee in each hand and one in his tails grasp.
"Hey guys, any news?" He asked as he handed us each a cup and grabbed the one from his tail. I wordlessly hugged him tightly and closed my eyes as Applejack slowly walked off. He was surprised for a second but quickly returned the hug.
"That bad huh?" He whispered, worried both for his friend and his sister.
"Come on Spike." I quietly said as we separated and walked back up to Applejack. I put my right arm around her shoulder as she rested her head on my arm.
"Twi, Pardon my language, but i'm scared shitless." She said loud enough for us all to hear.
"We all are AJ." Spike said with a small smile as he put his left arm around her shoulder.
"What would I do without friends like you guys?" She asked with a small smile as she wiped her tears away with her free hand.
"I don't know, maybe still trying to buck the entire orchard all those years ago?" I asked with a smirk.
"You're never gonna let me forget that are ya? You're always good for a laugh, Twi." She said with a small chuckle as we left the Intensive Care ward.
Tyler
As I made my way past the small stores and houses near the end of town I saw the hospital just up ahead. The hospital was, like the rest of the town, rustic in design. It was two stories high with what looked like a large attic, the windows had a slight pink shade to them, the building was made with yellow bricks has the primary foundation with wooden supports also built into the exterior of the building, a red shingle roof, a small white cross painted onto the third floor, above the door and if the natives in what look like nurse scrubs walking around inside in front of the windows wasn't a big enough clue that this was a hospital then the big white sign out front with a white cross set to a red background was enough to tell me this was my target. Keeping to the shadows and bushes I began looking for a way into the building. I didn't have to look long before I saw an open window on the second floor. Activating my cloaking device, I jogged towards the building and positioned myself directly below the window.
"OK, now to see if the engies were right when they said this thing increased jump height. For all I know they could have just made the suits heels a few inches off the ground." I muttered to myself as I braced myself to jump. I crouched slightly and then jumped as high as I could while stretching out for the window sill. I was surprised when I actually jumped high enough to comfortably grab the ledge and pull myslef up and in.
"Huh, works like a charm." I said quietly as I looked around. The inside of the hospital was clean and white, giving of a very sterile atmosphere. I was in a hallway that had rows of wooden doors on each side with a number on each of them and an occasional potted plant or painting here and there. Moving down the hallway, I made sure to check my suits power supply. I still had 75% power left, enough to get in and out if I don't need to burn power on something else. As I made my way down the hallway I realized I had to idea where I was actually going, so I proceed to wander aimlessly until I heard the sound of people talking. Making sure to remain still and out of the way I saw three of the natives from earlier walk past. The orange one, who's name escapes me, looked like shit. Her eyes were puffy and her clothes was disheveled. The purple one from earlier, Twilight or something, seemed tired yet hopeful as she supported the orange one. Must be friends or something. And there was also the purple Raknan like creature was also there. He seemed distant, like he was somewhere else. Been there before. I didn't care much for what they were talking about but what I was interested in was the fact that they were most likely just with Red. Moving past them I continued down the hallway until I came across a set of wooden doors with a sign above them that read 'Critical care'.
"Bingo." I said as I checked behind me to make sure there was no one behind me before I walked through the double doors...And straight into the crotch of a security guard. The guy reeled in pain as he collided with my metal helmet junk first. Before he had time to get up I quickly grabbed him and put him in a chokehold. I managed to keep him locked in place as he kicked and tried to punch me, but aided by the fact I was invisible, stronger, armored and he was disorientated he never stood a chance. After he started to stop struggling I held on for just a bit longer before I let go and let him fall asleep. After checking to make sure he was still alive I picked him up and looked for a place to put him. A few feet away from me, against a wall, sat a small wooden chair and a matching table with an open box of donuts. I managed to pick him up, sit him in the chair and dropped his hat just over his eyes to make it look like he was taking a nap. The guard was a very strange looking native. Unlike the other natives I had seen, this one had a darker looking fur, strange yellow eyes with a black slit for a pupil and leathery wings like a bats. This man had black fur with dark blue hair and was dressed like a generic security guard; black slacks with a few tools and a baton, a white shirt with a badge and a watchman's cap. The only thing out of place was the weird dark blue metal greaves and boots he wore, It looked like he stole them from a knights set of armor and painted them blue.
After I had noted all strange features of this type of native I continued my search for Red or whoever he was. I didn't have to search long as I came across a room with its door slightly ajar and the sound of annoying snoring coming from within. Creeping inside and shutting the door behind me, I deactivated my camo and looked at the infected native. He looked stable so that was good, less chance that I will have to kill him. I walked over to him and inspected his body. His wounds were healing remarkably fast and the spread of the disease seemed to be contained to the bitten area. His body looked healthy despite the slight discoloration around the bitten areas and his eyes. I quickly unbuckled the med kit at my waist and opened it up. After pulling out some needles and medicine I went about injecting him with enough antibiotics and painkillers to keep him happy till he kicks this. As I was going about applying more gauze and bandages to the bitten area I heard someone opening the door. Panicking, I activated the camo mod, hid under Reds bed and hoped to the gods that whoever it was didn't notice the medicine and needles I left on the tray next to him.
"hey Mac, just checking to make sure you're still fine." A yellow nurse whispered in a sweet voice as she went about checking all the usual stuff like blood pressure and stuff until-
"This can't be right...How can he already be fighting this thing if he was unstable minutes ago? I better get Redheart." The unnamed nurse said as she ran out the room, yelling something about a situation. Seeing that as my queue to exit, I quickly grabbed all my loose needles and gauze, stuffed them into my med kit, activated my camo unit and proceeded to open up a window and jump out of it. The landing was a bit painful but the suit took most of it as I ran off in the direction of my camp.
'Okay, I didn't get to examine Mac for as long as I would have liked but he seems healthy enough and he wasn't in the morgue or ripping peoples arms off so hes not dead or changed yet, so I count this as a win. If I have to come back here I'm gonna have to be really fucking careful, that was too close.' I thought as I sprinted off into the night.