The Archmage glared down at his chessboard, his face a perfect allegory for displeasure. With a burst of his magic he conjured up two new pieces, neither white nor black, but purple, and placed them on the edge of the board, then glared some more. One was a bishop in the shape of a unicorn, levitating a plasma pistol with her magic. The other was a knight, a human crouched behind a wall and lashing out with Psi energy. The Archmage leaned in close to the pieces and studied them carefully. He really didn't like the idea of anything messing with his plans, especially stuff even more unforeseeable than himself, but maybe he could turn this to his advantage. He shoved one of his pieces forward to threaten a rook, a black pawn that warped into a Sectoid as it moved, then smiled self-satisfactorily.
Borderlands, Equestria
The journey out of the mountain was surprisingly eventful. It turned out Starlight had a cart she'd abandoned a little ways back, and when we got to it, we found it guarded by four more Sectoids. I missed my opening shot against them, although Starlight's hit, and ending up taking a few plasma shots to the chest. Nothing that actually hurt me, but still, not pleasant. However, it turned out indignation was the perfect emotion for fueling a Rift. After we secured the cart, I gathered up all the Sectoid bodies and shattered weapons so we could take them with us. Starlight protested at first, but eventually admitted that we would need the bodies for later. We also found Zoe. Or, what was left of her, rather. I had to rub Star's shoulders again to keep her from breaking down, although I was certain she'd have to let it out at some point. In any case, looking for Zoe had led us right to the small scout ship the aliens were using. I had to move fast to take out the living communications unit known as the Outsider, since it used a much more powerful weapon than it's subordinates, but I was able to relax a bit after that, since I was pretty sure we'd gotten them all.
I circled the interior of the ship for a bit, just reveling in being inside an actual spacecraft for the first time. Since Star was snickering the whole while, I was pretty sure she was picking up on my emotions. Although our mutual info-dump may have given her a lot of insight into my culture and personality, it apparently didn't count as perfect mind-reading, since, as I found out a moment later, she was still able to be confused by my actions.
"Um, William, what are you doing?" she asked as I ripped a panel off the side of the platform supporting the UFO's power source. I didn't answer right away, instead emptying my weapon into the circuitry before I reloaded. "Every ship counts, Star. I'm just making sure the aliens won't be able to come back for this one once we leave. Since this thing doesn't have any visible engines, and I don't know how to fly it, I figured messing with the power conduits and what is possibly the only place it has to hide an engine would be the best way to ground it without destroying valuable equipment."
She considered that for a moment, then nodded. "Just like the Sectoids, huh?"
"Yep." I grunted. "Now, where did you say this cave of yours was?"
We moved on, dumping all of the bodies and most of the weapon fragments (including those from the light plasma rifle) in a cave she'd scouted earlier. While it was originally going to hold her "Cutie Mark Vault," we both agreed this would be a good use of the space until we had a better place to put the stuff. She also had a few clothes for me to change into before we went back to "civilization," courtesy of Zoe (We had a quick funeral for her before we left. Nothing fancy, just a shallow marked grave right outside the entrance. Starlight cried and leaned against me, and I let her since she obviously needed it). They weren't anything special, just some well made pants, a collar, and a shirt with Starlight's cutie mark on it, but they did the job. My armor and gear may be sweet, but it would attract way too much unwelcome attention, that we agreed on. She stowed our gear under a tarp in the cart, except for the plasma pistol I slipped down my shirt, and led the way to the train stop: that was in the middle of nowhere, without so much as a station. I expressed my confusion over the link, and Star shrugged in response.
A hour or so later, a train pulled up, showing off the best deceleration I'd ever seen as it stopped exactly one inch away from the buffers. A brown stallion opened the door on the nearest car and looked out at us. "Where are you headed?" he asked in a no nonsense tone.
"Canterlot," I replied without thinking. We'd considered our options, and decided that the best place to start our manpower- scratch that, ponypower search would be in the nation's capital. Star stared up at me with a horrified expression, while the conductor just looked puzzled. Turning to Star, he asked, "Does this one always make noises whenever somepony talks to him?"
Star gaped for a moment, then lied, "No, not at all. I don't know what's gotten into him. Two tickets to Canterlot, please." He stared at her, non-plussed. "You want a ticket for your human?" She nodded, and fished the bits out of a pocket (when I'd wondered where she was keeping the money, that was the answer that came back). He looked at her for a moment, then shrugged, rolled his eyes, and said, "Welcome aboard. Luggage goes in the first car on the right." Starlight whistled at me, and I lifted the back of the cart as she pulled the front inside. An expression of mild surprise flickered over the stallion's face. "That's a very well trained human, Ms. Glimmer. Mind telling me how you got him to do that?"
"Oh, just a good application of the carrot and stick technique," she replied noncommittally, then had to suppress a giggle at my mental picture of her perched on my back while holding both. The stallion raised an eyebrow, but said nothing more. We carefully moved the cart into the luggage area, then stepped into the passage cars. Taking an empty booth, we relaxed, and I was able to voice the question that had been bugging me. "Why didn't the conductor understand me when I spoke?" I asked her. She thought for a moment, then replied, "I think it's because you're not speaking Equestrian. I understand your language thanks to that mental train wreck, and you understand mine just as well, but nopony else does. To them, it must just sound like more chitters and grunts."
"Ah. That makes sense, I guess," I said.
"Yeah. Also, you should be more careful, you almost tipped him off about you being smart!" She punched my arm lightly, her teasing tone clashing with the concern she was feeling.
"I promise I'll be more careful," I told her, "In addition to it sounding really painful, I can't afford to spend any time locked up in a lab. There's a war on, you know."
"I know, I know," she said, waving me off. The train shuddered, then ground into motion. "We'll be at Canterlot in a few hours, want to go get something to eat?"
My stomach gurgled at the mention of food, and I nodded eagerly. She smirked and stood up, "I guess being smarter doesn't change some things, Willy."
"You got that right, Star," I replied with a chuckle as I followed her out of the booth.
I had to admit, the human food was pretty tasty. Ground mush or not, it was still all natural ingredients cooked fresh that day, which put it a step above most of the processed stuff back home. Although Star had to wheedle a little to get a place for me at the table, my good manners quickly dispelled any case of nerves the waitstaff might have had. Our bellies full, we returned to the booth, where we ending up falling asleep next to other, exhausted from both the fighting and emotional trauma. When I woke as the train rounded the last curve before Canterlot came into view, I yawned, stretched, scratched Star behind the ears and made her grin in her sleep, then looked out the window.
I had to admit, Canterlot was a pretty good looking city. The slopping white walls and gleaming golden rooftops and pillars really gave it a nice aesthetic: one that made the smoke and flashing green lights stand out all the more. Alarmed, I shook Starlight awake and pointed. She stared groggily, uncomprehending, before her eyes popped open and she came fully awake. Without so much as a word between us, we stood and headed for the baggage cab. She ripped out our stuff and I slipped into a nearby bathroom to change. As I put the suit back on, I noticed that I knew exactly how it all went together, and moved like I'd suited up a hundred times before. I also noticed that the plasma cartridge I'd expended had recharged, and the gouge from where the Sectoid had shot me had sealed itself back up. That was weird, weird enough that I made a mental note to research just what was going on once I got the chance.
We hit the ground as the train came to a stop, flying past an extremely confused looking conductor on our way out. Alien abduction pods were scattered all over the ground, but only one actual alien was in sight, a... Thin Pony? I filed that under "things to think about later" and tagged it at the same time Star did. Her shot missed, but mine struck true, causing the alien's rifle to explode and the alien itself to release a cloud of gas, confirming that we hadn't just killed some welled dressed bystander. We skirted the cloud as we made our way deeper into the city, ignoring the openly gaping occupants of the train behind us. Lives were always more important than secrecy I reasoned, and it was a sentiment Starlight shared.
We ran three blocks without encountering anything, pony or alien. All the fighting seem to be concentrated around the palace, judging from the cacophony, and we were still in the lower levels. Rounding a corner that would take us up to the next tier, we spotted an orange earth pony facing off against three Sectoids and a proper Thin Man. Before we got close enough to fire, the earth pony struck, bucking the thin man through a nearby wall, the expanding poison cloud noting its demise. Starlight sprinted up to one of the Sectoids and shot it in the face, think-shouting something about that being for Zoe. I, in turn, shot one of the other two left, leaving only one standing. It tried to take aim, but the earth pony got there first, sending it flying out of sight with a squeal.
Starlight whistled. "Nice legs, Mr. What's your name?"
The pony stared at us for a while, before he said, "Firebolt. Name's Firefolt. Now who are you, what are you holding, and what is your human wearing?"
I didn't feel like a long, drawn out explanation, and we didn't have the time for that anyway, so I conferred with Starlight, and between us, we were able to form a decent enough outline of current events and download it into his skull without incident. He freaked out at the initial contact, but calmed down a little as he realized we were answering his question. About halfway through, I also noticed he had some Psi potential. Not as much as Starlight, but still some. It explained why the aliens had tried to catch him instead of killing him, anyway.
"So, let me get this straight," Firebolt said after the info had sunk in, "These aliens are attacking us because they're looking for ponies with this, "Psi" stuff, because they want new host bodies? Am I getting this right?" I nodded, which caused him to flatten his ears and back away from me. "Star, why is this human acting like it can understand me?"
"Because I can understand you, Spark-plug," I drawled. Before he could react, I snapped, "Freak out about the talking human later, kill aliens now. If you join up with us, you'll be able to help a lot more than you are currently. Interested?" He thought for a moment, then nodded. "Star, go on ahead and scout for us," I ordered, "I'll be along shortly." She nodded and took off uphill, moving from cover spot to cover spot. Turning back to Firebolt, I said, "Ok, buddy, I, Commander William Bishop, hereby recruit Firebolt to the Equestria branch of X-COM. Do you accept?" He nodded, which appeared to be enough. A notice scrawled across my vision, and I made another mental note to figure out where the video-game mechanics were coming from. While useful in some regards, they were annoying in others.
Squaddie Firebolt has just earned a promotion. New ability, Fire Rocket.
Missions: 1
Kills: 3
HP: 6
Defense: 0
Will: 44
Aim: 67
Standby to receive weapon.
This time I was ready, and caught the heavy plasma before it could flatten the poor pony. This weapon, unlike the last one, was heavily modified, built with a neural targeting system and designed to strap onto a pony's back. In other words, the perfect setup for a pony using a really heavy gun that they otherwise wouldn't be able to handle. It even came with a note, which read, I know normally a pony wouldn't be able to use this weapon, but since you were such a good customer, I adjusted it a little. Enjoy. The Merchant. I chuckled a little a the message, then helped Firebolt put it on, and with his permission and Star's help, brought him into the Mind Link. This one went a lot more smoothly, and I only got a rough impression of his personality instead of his entire life story. Coarse, insightful, and reliable were the words that came to mind. This time, we tried to make sure he could leave whenever he pleased, but since we were rushed we weren't completely certain it had worked. He didn't have a rocket launcher yet, but I was pretty sure we wouldn't need one right away.
In any case, once we were finished we hurried to follow Star, catching up to her just as she finished off a pair of Sectoids. I grinned as we moved forward, despite the grim circumstances. This mission was going really well, and we'd even picked up our first recruit. Then we finally made it to the palace gates, and screeched to a stop in front of no less than 10 Sectoids, 3 Thin Ponies and 3 Thin Men, mixed in with two dozens royal guards. The bodies of four more Sectoids and another dozen guards already littered the ground, and our sudden entrance had drawn the attention of both parties. Starlight let loose an expletive, and Firebolt and I agreed with the sentiment.
