//-----------------------------
// Story: SINGULARITY Equestria
// Chapter two : Into a new world part 2
// Author: Azzazel
//-----------------------------
__________________________________________________________________
Chapter two part 2.
John stopped a few feet behind the crying mare, lifted his left hand and pointed it at the wreck. The TMD buzzed to life and a beam shot from his hand and into the building. Twilight was a bit frightened until she noticed the house beginning to repair itself at amazing speeds. They stared in awe and Berry looked up to find her house completely rebuild itself, she saw the orange beam and thought maybe some unicorn was generous enough to help her. She turned around and found herself staring at a tall bipedal creature that was sending the orange beam at her house. She would feel frightened if not for the fact that her house was as good as new, and that he had a warm smile on his face. After he finished he turned around and began walking away but before he could leave she jumped and hugged him.
''T-thank you...''
At that John lowered himself to her eye level and with his right hand he wiped a tear of her cheek, she enjoyed the warm feeling of his hand and closed her eyes.
''You're welcome.''
He got up and went to the next area to repair the damage. The ponies were at a loss for words, quite shocked at the sudden change of behavior and just as shocked when they saw the house rebuild itself. Twilight and the others followed him to the next area and tried to voice her thoughts. John noticed this and tried to lighten the situation.
''Trouble speaking?'' He asked slightly amused.
''Uh...Erm... H-how? How did you?'' She stumbled, it was quite entertaining.
''I didn't do much.'' He lifted his left hand.'' 100% technology, nothing magic but just as amazing.''
He explained a few things about his world, he explained the lack of magic and a few general notions about Earth, all while repairing damage around town. Ponies were coming out of their homes and were watching how the damage done to their village was disappearing, some tried to free the princess but failed. In turn they explained the world he was currently in. From cutie-marks to the princesses themselves. He sure didn't expect to hear the princesses lived over 1000 years or that they were responsible for the day and night cycles, by this point he already stopped being shocked. Taking into account everything that happened in the past 24 hours he was seriously wondering whether or not he was sane anymore, however there was no point in freaking out now, he would probably snap later anyway .Going full circle around the former damaged area John found himself looking back at the frozen princess.
''*sigh* Listen, if I free her, think you can explain the situation?'' Just as Twilight was about to respond a unicorn guard with all his weapons and gear appeared from around the corner.
''Stop right there criminal scum, I have all your weapons, now free the princess, surrender and maybe we will go easy on you.''
John was unamused and with a simple hand motion he yanked all his gear from the guards grasp with his TMD. The guard in turn received a face full of dirt. With that out of the way he rested his things on a bench and turned to Twilight.
''As I was saying, think you can explain the situation to your princess?''
Twilight and the others looked unsure, once again being surprised by the sudden change in behavior.The guard didn't seem to appreciate taking a mouth full of dirt and tried charging Green as a spell might harm the elements. As to why they weren't attacking his mind told him they were prisoners, unaware that his next course of action will end painfully. John was fully aware of the charging stallion yet gave him no attention, you don't live through what he lived without picking up on things. All his years of hard training and experience from dangerous missions would pay off, in the last moment John side-stepped and punched the guard in the back of his head sending him tumbling on the ground and into unconsciousness. He sighed and scratched his head, he had to admit these ponies were persistent and while they were not as flexible or agile as he was they were definitely strong physical attackers. Satisfied with the unmoving body he turned his attention to the 'frozen' princess.
''Alright, I'm going to push her out of stasis and after we settle this problem I will disperse the sphere.'' He entered the sphere, and began pushing the princess out, as her head exited the sphere time began to flow again and the spell she readied earlier hit a building and caused a hole in the wall. John decided to stop when the down part of her neck was out and exited the sphere to face 5 shocked ponies and a confused and angry princess, he stepped out of the sphere and into Celestia's visual range. Before she could attack however she noticed two things : 1. The elements of harmony were not attacking and 2. She could not mover her body. Further examination showed that the rest of her body was still trapped inside the sphere and was unable to move.
And so it began, the long and tedious explanation. After the princess calmed down enough to hear him, John explained from the beginning, starting with his theory on how he ended up in their world. He explained what happened on the island making sure to leave out important details like the death of his team mates and how he acquired the TMD. He did however mention the E-99 bomb and how he sacrificed himself to make sure his squad left safely, that surprisingly got him a lot of positive reactions. Apparently the bomb sent him and the mutant in their world and he woke up on some field on the outskirts of town along with his gear. He explained how he saw the mutant charge towards the village and used his sniper-rifle to weaken it. Of course he had to explain just what his weapon does and a few words on how it works, after that he continued his story explaining what happened after she was locked. Celestia didn't trust him, maybe because of the fact that she got thrown through a wall, all things considered, and the fact that she couldn't move, she had no choice but to accept whatever terms he would make, she just hoped they wouldn't be too exaggerated.
'' Now that everything is settled there are a few things I need before I release you. I would ask that all my belongings are to remain in my possession and I am to use them as I see fit, including my weapons and I will use force and apply punishment to those who would try and take them. And any charges that I might have in this world are to be dropped.'' All he needed was the TMD and to be left alone, that forest seemed like a nice place and he went through worst survival scenarios.
It was clear he was attached to his equipment and intended on keeping, it was understandable but she didn't like the idea of him keeping a dangerous arsenal. Then again their meeting was not a pleasant one, and what surprised her is that this was all he was asking for, but before she could say anything the pink party pony replied before she did.
''That's it? No ransom, no bounty, no huge demands?'' Everypony glared daggers at her.''What?''
''Pinkie don't give him ideas.'' Twilight growled, John was amused but did consider something. These were ponies, ponies were equines, equines were vegetarian, he was not, but considering the situation he might coax the princess into agreeing.
''I guess if you insist.'' Everypony glared at Pinkie who shrunk from their gazes.'' You see my kind is omnivorous and while we can digest fruit and vegetables, we cannot digest grass and hay.'' He revealed his sharp teeth and molars which gleamed in the sunlight, almost menacingly. '' While I can survive without meat, it plays an important part in my diet, and before you ask the answer is no, I don't eat ponies or any other kind of sentient beings. Now to my point, downright rejection of meat from my diet will end upsetting my metabolism to the point where it could actually be lethal. I will go hunting deep in the nearby forest or find a river where I can fish. As I assume that sentient creatures do not live in the forest. '' He told the truth and he wasn't about to give up meat unless he could be sure that this world was not lacking.
Everypony except Fluttershy was pretty shocked to find out humans ate meat since she was used to carnivorous animals. Celestia pondered whether or not to accept, but she was in no position to refuse. She sighed deeply and responded.
''Very well, I agree and in turn you will not harm any of my little ponies or cause disturbances, do we have an agreement?'' Her voice was calm yet demanding.
''Yes, but I keep the right to self-defense and will use force if the situation calls for it or if someon... pony tries to get their ha...hooves on my gear.'' He retorted.
''Only and only in self-defense. Now, release me.'' She said sounding a bit frustrated.
''Wouldn't have it any other way.'' He lifted his arm but decided to add one last thing.''Oh and one more thing.''
The princess looked like she was ready to snap.''Yes?''
''Do I have your word you will not attack me once I release you?'' 'Can never be to careful, especially since her physical strength was enough to crack my ribs like that, I guess I lucked out when she didn't use her magic to trap me.'
''You have my word.'' She sincerely replied.
John raised his left arm and sent a short energy beam towards the sphere aging it and making it disappear, the princess landed on her feet and stretched to get rid of the discomfort caused from being a floating head. She decided it would be a good idea to send her sister a message and inform her of their latest addition to the world. John ignored her and walked towards the gaping hole in the house that was hit with Celestia's spell. Surprisingly enough and probably excited of the prospect of a new species from a different dimension, Luna, Celestia's younger sister appeared in a midnight-blue flash behind her sister and franticly asked about the 'human'. Celestia pointed towards John but only after she used a spell to transfer what she learned about him, so she wouldn't waste time.
Luna was feeling mixed emotions unsure on how to properly react, but before she could voice her opinion or do anything she noticed him walking towards a big hole on the side of a house. She recognized her sister's work and 20 feet to the left the body of the giant monster John stopped with the aid of his equipment. The princess were unaware of what he was going to do, so along with the elements they trotted to his side, princess Luna coughing in her hoof to get his attention. John turned around to meet the gaze of the midnight blue alicorn slightly smaller in size than her sister, he decided since he wasn't slammed into a hard surface yet to show a little respect.
He did a small bow and said.''Greetings, you must be princess Luna, an honor to meet you.''
Luna was certainly not expecting that.''L-likewise.'' She noticed him rise and approach the wreck.'' Might we ask what thou art doing?''
''Hmm? Oh this? I was about to repair the wall.'' He replied in utmost seriousness.
She and her sister frowned, not knowing the full extent of the TMD's power they assumed he wasn't serious.'' Really? And how will thou do that, if I remember thou kin does not wield magic.''
John stopped in front of the hole and aimed with his left hand at the debris. '' Quite easily.'' Out of his hand flew an orange beam which connected with the damaged part of the house, immediately it began repairing itself and in less than a minute the hole was gone. ''Questions?'' He turned to face two very confused and shocked princesses.
''B-but how?'' Luna asked.
''Well since humanity doesn't have magic we upgraded our technology. As for what I did, its called 'reverting', which means I turned back time and the building returned to its original state.'' If she wasn't so shocked Twilight would be taking notes.
''That can't be possible.'' Celestia added.
''Oh really? My world relies solely on technology, it will at some point evolve even beyond this . Also I though it was pretty obvious what TMD stands for.'' He sighed when he saw their confused faces.'' Time Manipulation Device?''
The silence that followed spoke volumes of what they were thinking. A species without magic had created a device capable of manipulating time and bending it how they see fit. Twilight was just about to let out a cascade of questions when John thankfully interrupted their train of thought.
''I will tell you right now, I have no knowledge of the processes that went into the TMD's creation and before you think you can copy the technology I will tell you it is an impossible quest as your world lacks the necessary elements into making one. It is particularly new to me as well but I will answer what I can. And I will tell you this, it is made for humans and only a human can wield it. Now that this is out of the way and you realize the TMD cannot be used by anyone other than me, I must ask. What do you want to do with the mutant's body?''
Taking special care to inform them that the TMD can only be used him, any thoughts about stealing or taking it away were crushed right there and then. He decided to change the topic by pointing to the very large corpse nearby, which seem to work pretty well, but he knew he would have to answer a barrage of questions later on.
''W-we don't know, we shall send a team to pick it up and find a proper place to bury it, it would need a very large hole.'' Luna snapped out of her confusion, and most thoughts about acquiring the device went away from everypony's head.
'' Tell them to bring a shovel.'' He sent a beam towards the body and it disintegrated, leaving behind just a large pile of ash. ''You're welcome.'' He smiled.
Princess Celestia shook her head remembering that the soldier agreed not to harm her subjects, and she had to keep her word by letting him keep his equipment. Speaking of subjects the element of Honesty Applejack was not present, out of concern and as a good method of breaking the awkward silence she asked.
'' Twilight Sparkle I noticed that one of your friends, the element of Honesty is not with us, has something happened?''
''Ohmygosh. I completely forgot, AJ was hit by that nasty thing and was taken to the hospital.'' Rainbow yelled.
''Rainbow, how could you forget something so important, we need to go visit and make sure she is ok.'' Twilight added.
John scratched his head.'' Just let me get my weapons and gear.'' He received weird glances from everypony. ''*sigh* I'm not about to leave dangerous weapons lying around, you don't want to see the outcome of accidentally setting one off.'' He strapped his assault-riffle on his back, then his back-pack and the his sniper in his hands, he looked like a one man armory and it was heavy.
''Is this the weapon thou used to bring the beast down? I have never seen anything like it, it does not even look like a weapon.'' Luna looked curiously at the device he held in his arms.
John smirked, this was going to be fun. ''This is a lethal long-range weapon which fires projectiles several times the speed of sound, it tears trough the strongest of armor with ease.'' He took out the clip and showed what the bullet looked like.'' While I'm fairly decent with it, a trained sniper can hit a target 3000 meters away with deadly accuracy. While the sniper on my team could hit a target within 4000 meters . It is semi-automatic and requires reloading after 6 shots...What?'' He said looking at their shocked expressions.
'' Why would your kind invent such things?'' Asked Twilight.
''Technology simply evolved that way, all technological branches did, medicine, transportation, entertainment. Its the old good versus evil thing that escalates from time to time, it led to both sides trying to out-gun the other so that is why we also have advanced weaponry, humanity strives to evolve on all sides and weaponry is one of them. Leaving that subject aside can you tell me if you ever met others like me?''
''No, why?'' Twilight replied.
''Because unicorns and pegasi are myths and legends in my world...'' He got cut off.
''W-wait legends? But how would you know about us?'' She continued.
'' Hell if I know?'' He shrugged, Twilight tilted her head in confusion and John sighed again, how would they know about Hell?
'' Hell is the place where all evil people go when they die to suffer for their sins.'' He replied.
''Oh so its like Tartarus then?'' And with that John froze.
''Wait Tartarus? That is guarded by the three-headed dog Cerberus?'' It was Twilights turn to be shocked along with everypony listening.
''Y-yes how did you....'' He raised his hand to stop her.
'' I think your world might have some old mythology beings that my kind regard just as myths. I can think of a few : Manticore, basilisk, cockatrice, minotaur, griffin , dragon, any of these ring a bell?''
'' W-wow, erm yeah, every single one of them exists here, that is truly amazing, I don't know what to make of this.''
''Neither do I. But something bothers me, the word manticore is derived from man-eater, and you are ponies...You know what lets drop this I'm starting to get a head-ache.'' They would figure it out later.
''So you are in the military huh?'' Rainbow decided to but in.
''Hmm? Yeah, speaking of which, I don't suppose you will help me find a way back will you?'' He asked with a tinge of sadness.
''My sister and I will try and find a way but I do not think is possible, I am afraid you are stuck here indefinitely.'' Celestia replied.
''*sigh* It's fine I guess, I'm probably classified as dead anyway.''
''Why would they think that?'' Twilight asked.
'' Well I did detonate a bomb strong enough to wipe out an island not 10 feet away from it.''
''I see, how long have you served in the military?'' She continued.
''About sixteen years, been the commander of my team for thirteen.''
''But you don't look very old.''Twilight said. John walked towards the town fountain and looked at his features he looked more like when he was twenty-three.
''The perks of having the TMD I suppose, it might have altered my age, I am thirty-two years old. Yes that does mean I entered the army when I was sixteen.'' He said before they could ask.
''But that is horrible why would you join the army at such a young age, didn't your parents try to stop you?'' Rarity finally spoke.
''They are the main reason I joined. But I will leave that for another time, it was something that needed to happen, three years later I became the leader of team Alpha.''
''And what is so special about your team?'' Rainbow asked furrowing her brow .
''We are the elite, the best of the best . My team is very different, in the course of thirteen years we have successfully completed over two hundred and fifty missions, but that isn't why my team is so special, it's the missions we receive, we are of the few teams who always receive missions with high risk. Out of all the teams my team has the highest survival rate, and out of all those missions over forty were deemed suicidal, not bad if you ask me.'' He was definitely going to have to explain later.
They went back and forth with the questions for a while, John asking about what other sentient species were out there, and asked what their numbers were. It would seem that the dragons had the lowest numbers due to their nature just over five thousand, followed by the minotaurs with 1.2 million, then some creatures called diamond dogs who apparently weren't very intelligent with 7 million. The next, and second in size were the griffins at around 140 million individuals and next, to John's surprise the ponies with over 200 million, plus 13 million minorities ( cows, donkeys, sheep). Something still bothered him though, he already knew why he was attacked but he needed to know why they used excessive force. He had a pretty good idea but confirmation would be necessary.
''Not to judge your choice of acting when presented with a potential threat or new species but trying to eliminate me was a bit brash don't you think?'' John asked.
''What are you saying, I was only trying to prevent you from harming my little ponies, I did not intend any real harm.'' Celestia defended herself.
'' Is that so? I guess I should tell you, what I am wearing now is a very advanced type of kevlar armor, along with my constitution and muscle mass enhanced by years of training, missions and the TMD which has several passive enhancements that reduce physical damage and raise certain stats. Now if either one of these factors were missing that attack would have been my death, in short if it was anyone other than me who would have received that attack, that person would be dead.'' John coldly said.
Princess Celestia was mortified of the possibility of killing in cold blood, even if it would be an accident she would never forgive herself. ''But you are fine are you not?'' She asked with actual concern.
''Yes, yes I'm used to near death experiences, a bit too much actually.'' That response only seem to worsen the situation.
''Is your species currently at war? The way you talk about death, like it's the smallest of your concerns.'' Twilight said.
''Yes and no. The worst of wars had passed and they had a lot of casualties, two of them actually. The world wars were the worst humanity had to offer, squads like mine are what prevent a third world war from happening, it's why the missions are always dangerous, it's why I speak so freely of the matter. I guess I just got used to it after a while, but that doesn't mean I do not value the life of another, quite the opposite. But it surprises me you even know of war, your world seems too peaceful to know war.'' But he knew better, appearances can be deceiving.
'' The only war I ever heard of was the one before Nightmare Moon's banishment.'' Rainbow received some angry glares and princess Luna looked very sad.
'' You touched a raw nerve kid, I know war, what it can do, and what scars it leaves. I would like to know about this war, in turn I will tell you about the greatest war humanity participated in. However you do not have to tell me if you do not wish, I will not pry.''
Celestia looked at Luna, both looked unsure and certainly did not want to re-open old wounds. But until they would find him a way to return home he would need to know, although he would probably hate them both.
''I will tell you. It all started 1000 years ago just after the Summer Sun Celebration...''
Celestia started her story taking a glance at the bright sun shining warmth over them, John pulled a bench closer with his TMD and focused himself on listening. The princess spoke, sorrow and regret present in her tone, it was a story about how 2 sisters who loved each other grew apart as time passed. The feeling of being unappreciated growing stronger within Luna, at the time Celestia did not know how to act but tried non the less to help her sister. In the end they grew apart even more because of that, anger and spite eating away at Luna as ponies chose to hide and sleep off her beautiful night. In truth that was not the situation, it was simply because all kinds of monsters roamed at night. Luna started to shut herself in and refused to see anyone else, despite her sister trying her best, things would only get worst.
As time past Luna strayed even more from her sister and weird reports came from neighboring cities which spoke of a rebellion forming under the command of a pony called Nightmare Moon. At that time Celestia had not seen her sister in months and could not properly focus and ignored the reports, unknown to her ponies were being corrupted, changed or forced to become soldiers right under her nose.
And then it came, Luna refused to lower the moon and when she entered the throne room she confronted Celestia stating her mad request of never-ending night. Before her very eyes she changed into the creature known as Nightmare Moon but before Celestia could have a chance to stop her she disappeared and soon after the war started. No pony was the winner as there were heavy casualties on both sides, it lasted several weeks. Nightmare was loosing and in a last desperate attempt she charged at the castle to try and take out Celestia, her troops were slaughtered but she made her way inside. Almost a hundred guards were killed before she reached the throne room where Celestia had been waiting with the elements of Harmony ready, she tried to make her sister stop but without success. With a heavy heart she used the elements to banish her sister to the Moon for a thousand years, the grief and sorrow which followed in the years to come was unbearable. She vowed to never let anything like that happen ever again.
The equine population at that time was around 5 mil and the total casualties just over 15 thousand. John was not as phased as he should have been but understood the grief that war brought. Their emotions were easy to read and clearly they both regretted it, John was simply letting the information sink in, judging by their behavior either of them looked ready to break down, and for some reason they seemed to be waiting for some sort judgment as if he just witnessed a horrible revelation. In truth John understood and even related in some way with the story, this world had its share of death too it seems. He didn't speak, they just waited in silence as the seconds ticked by.
End chapter two part 2.