Act 1 Part 7 - On Your Knees
A Memo
To: The Director of Project Freelancer
From: The Chairman of the UNSC Oversight Sub-CommitteeDear Director,
The Committee and I have just finished going over your reports on the apparent attack that occurred on the center of your operations. Suffice to say, we found them rather lacking. Nowhere in your reports does it say the number of aliens that assaulted your Command Center and more importantly: how the incident began in the first place.
Because the equine alien described does not match any of the known species encountered by humanity during the war, you surmised in your report that what we are dealing with is an entirely undiscovered race. As such, one would think that the details of the first encounter between the aliens and your forces would be a crucial part of your reports on the incident. The UNSC has protocols for dealing with first contact scenarios. I’m certain I don’t have to remind you that failure to abide by these protocols will result in severe consequences.
In light of these recent events, the Committee and I have seen fit to go ahead with our investigation of your program…
“...Then I turned around and saw the purple unicorn sitting in the driver’s seat. After that, I must have blacked out. I don’t really remember…”
Captain Osgoode folded her arms as the man she had assigned to guard the motor pool, Private Jenkins, concluded his story. The cavernous garage they stood in was now filled with gray Command soldiers stripping the place clean for any clues towards the purple alien’s whereabouts. Although she probably had everything she needed from her subordinate, the CO in gray armor with red detail was still miffed about one aspect of his story.
“Corporal, we’ve known each other for three years, correct?” the partially Irish woman asked.
“Yes, sir!”
“So how in the hell have you not realized I’m a woman in that time?!”
Jenkins shifted nervously. “Well… you’re a very gender neutral person. Plus, the unicorn said you were going through gender identity problems.”
Osgoode sighed. “Whatever, is there anything else you can tell me?”
“Just that I’m here to support you if you’re still confused about your identity.”
“Trust me. Of the two of us, you’re the only one who finds my gender confusing,” Osgoode sighed before turning to the man in white armor standing behind her. “Well, that’s the story, Agent Wyoming. Looks like the alien escaped in one of our Warthogs.”
“Yes. That’s fine work, Recovery Nine,” Wyoming said. “Do you have the tracking information of the missing Warthog?”
“Not yet, but it shouldn’t be too hard to get. Do you want me to send it your way once I have it?”
Wyoming turned and began walking across the motor pool to one of the parked Warthogs. “No, that won’t be necessary. Just send it along to Command and I’ll get what I need to track it from them.”
Osgoode gave a surprised grunt. “I wasn’t aware you were still working with Command, Reginald.”
Wyoming climbed into the Warthog and started the engine. “Oh, I’m not. But seeing as I have the best chance of tracking down that little alien of theirs, I’m sure I can get them to come to an agreement. Cheerio, love!”
With that, Wyoming stepped on the gas and the Warthog pulled out of the garage and out of sight. As she watched him drive towards the rapidly vanishing sun, Osgoode couldn’t help but wonder what was going on in that brain of his. She had always known Wyoming as a fairly self-driven man; everything he did meant to benefit him in some way. Thus, she couldn’t help but wonder how obtaining the small alien equine for Command was meant to benefit him.
The last thing Rarity had expected when she arrived at Sweet Apple Acres was to be assaulted by pastries.
Earlier that evening, Rarity had been sitting in Twilight’s home, looking after her little sister and her friends; keeping the fillies who called themselves the “Cutie Mark Crusaders” from destroying her missing friend’s property in their mischief. It was then that she had received a surprise visit from a stallion in armor who had delivered some troubling news.
At first, Rarity thought he might have word of Twilight. Instead, the guard had told her that new developments at the alien crash site have potentially endangered herself and her friends. Frustratingly, the guard refused to divulge any further information, simply assuring her that his ponies were patrolling every inch of the town’s borders.
Telling Spike to keep an eye on the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Rarity had set out to inform the rest of her friends of the situation, starting at Sweet Apple Acres. Upon arriving, she had noticed Applejack’s home looked hastily (yet thoroughly) fortified. Sand bags, overturned carts, and various barrels and crates were piled around the central barn.
“Enemy sighted! Fire away!”
Before Rarity could identify the elderly mare’s voice that just echoed across the property, an onslaught of apple pies were flung in her direction. Now, Rarity stood in place, spitting and coughing as she manically wiped bits of—admittedly delicious—apple pie from her face.
“Did we get it?” a familiar scratchy voice asked.
Looking up through her pie-clouded vision, Rarity saw four familiar ponies standing behind the makeshift blockade. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack and Big Macintosh all stood still as statues, staring at Rarity with wide eyes as they each held another pie aloft.
“Oh my… um, Rarity? You’re not an alien!” Fluttershy exclaimed, finally breaking the awkward silence.
“Clearly!” Rarity huffed, delicately spitting out more apple pie.
Applejack turned around, looked up to the roof of the barn and shouted, “Granny! I said to look out fer aliens! Rarity ain’t an alien!”
An elderly green mare appeared over the edge of the roof. Granny Smith was wearing a large camouflage helmet with a pair of binoculars hanging down in front of her face.
“I thought the alien mighta shape-shifted!” Granny shouted back.
“What’s all this about aliens?” Rarity asked.
“Little while ago, RD and Fluttershy came flyin’ down here like their tails were on fire, sayin’ they’d seen an alien!” Applejack explained.
“Eeyup!” Big Mac helpfully added.
Rarity nodded skeptically. “Okay…”
“What’re you doin’ here, Rares?”
“Actually, I came to tell you that I received a curious bit of news about the…” Rarity trailed off as she put two and two together. Slowly, she looked over at Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.
“You both really saw an alien?”
Rainbow Dash nodded. “Not just an alien, Rarity. The alien!”
Fluttershy nodded anxiously in affirmation while Rarity’s eyes grew big in understanding. So this was the mysterious danger they were in. Rarity quickly regained her lady-like composure as she reassured herself.
“Well, despite the situation, I don’t think all of this is necessary,” Rarity said, gesturing to the elaborate defenses set up around the barn, “I’ve recently been informed that there are guards stationed all over Ponyville. We’ll know if any alien is coming a mile away!”
Rarity wasn’t quite sure why the ears of the four ponies behind the barricade in front of her all folded back as their eyes went big, looking at something in the sky behind her. Turning to look over her shoulder, Rarity had to dive aside with a yelp to avoid the empty cart that was hurtling through the air towards her and the others.
The cart crashed through the barricades in front of the big red barn, scattering the ponies behind it. Slowly, the five ponies all pulled themselves to their hooves and looked over in the direction the flying cart had come from. The oxygen was effectively sucked out of the air around the five ponies at the sight of the towering creature clad in black armor barreling towards them on two legs.
Applejack glared at Rarity through lidded eyes. “You were sayin’?”
Twilight Sparkle wiped the sweat off her brow as she walked up the slight incline from the beach towards the fortress that she could only assume was High Ground. It was already pitch black, the moons (there was more than one) and the stars illuminating the beach and the fortress wall in front of her. It had been a long afternoon and evening of travel for the little unicorn.
Shortly after taking the Warthog from the motor pool back at Command, Twilight had found that there would still be no way to escape undetected. Thus, she had done something unusually rash for a logical pony like her: She drove her vehicle off a cliff. It wasn’t something she had done completely without thought. Twilight had spotted a river far below the cliff and as luck would have it, the body of water was deep enough to survive the landing.
Luck continued to favor Twilight when her vehicle turned out to be moderately buoyant and carried her down the river like a makeshift raft. Twilight elected to let the river carry her as she checked the datapad in her magical clutches and found that the river eventually emptied out at the nearby ocean. High Ground was located on the coast not terribly far away.
It had been a long, tiring walk along the coastline after reaching the end of the river, but Twilight finally arrived at the cove that High Ground was attached to. Tired and fairly hungry, Twilight had been relieved when she saw the concrete structure at the peak of the incline. However, her relief was replaced with a somewhat uneasy feeling as she approached the base and found it to be completely silent.
“Hello?” Twilight called out as she approached the firmly shut front gate.
Taking another look around the structure, Twilight noticed the place seemed fairly run down. The concrete walls were worn and completely collapsed in some places. The whole facility was quiet as a tomb. Was this the wrong place?
Twilight decided to risk venturing into the base by climbing up one of the collapsed concrete walls off to the right. She began walking along the outer wall as she gazed further into the base. A concrete structure in the center was missing an entire wall in the side, and further back there was a large metal device that looked like a piece of artillery that had fallen into disrepair. Furthermore, the base was still and silent.
“Hello? Is anyone here?” Twilight yelped as the silence was abruptly interrupted by the familiar loud bang of a sniper rifle echoing through the air. She heard the ping of the projectile hitting a metal surface near her and actually saw the perfectly straight trail of smoke before it dispersed into the wind. She could recognize that terrible accuracy anywhere.
“Church, don’t shoot! It’s me!” Twilight shouted.
Twilight looked to where she saw the trail of smoke originate from and saw a familiar cobalt soldier step out of the hole in the structure in the center of the base.
“Twilight? Uh… of course I knew it was you! Otherwise I would have hit you,” Church said, clearing his throat conspicuously.
“I don’t know… it looked to me like you just missed… again.”
Church grip tightened on his lowered rifle. “How did you even get in? I have this place locked up tight!”
“I just climbed over one of the crumbled walls!”
“Right…” Church paused for a moment, “look, why don’t you just come down here.” Church turned to head back into the building he came out of.
Twilight had to walk along the outer wall for a bit before she found a set of stairs leading back down to the ground. From there she walked into the central building through the large hole in the side. After finding a carton of water and an MRE, Twilight sat down in front of the table and started giving her body the nutrition and hydration it desperately needed. Taking a look around the run down, decaying building they were in, Twilight couldn’t help but wonder.
“Is this High Ground?”
Church nodded. “Yep. This is the new shithole I’ve been assigned to.”
Twilight swallowed the food in her mouth. “It’s just… it looks abandoned. Where are the rest of the soldiers stationed here?”
“I dunno, I’m the only one here.”
“Doesn’t that strike you as a little odd? Why would they separate you from your squad to station you alone in a run down base?”
Church shrugged. “Hey, I’m not complaining. It was actually nice not to have to speak to any idiots for a while…” Church trailed off when he spotted Twilight’s disapproving glare, “I didn’t say you were among them, Twilight! Sheesh, you can’t be so sensitive if we’re gonna be together for awhile.”
Twilight simply took another bite of her food, giving the obtuse man a glare.
“So, are we going to figure out how to find Tex’s ship or not?” Church asked.
Twilight chewed her food as she thought. She had done a lot of thinking about many things on the long journey from Command. Mostly about the circumstances behind her arrival in Blood Gulch, and based on what she learned of slipspace travel the night before, how she could replicate them. Twilight decided to get Church’s opinion before she pitched any ideas.
“Okay, what do you have in mind?” she asked.
“Well, the first thing we’d need to do is find a ship. Specifically one with an FTL drive…”
“Would that be hard to find?”
“For a guy like me? Yeah. They don’t exactly rent out slipspace capable ships to anyone that asks.” Church folded his arms as he continued, “Anyway, before we even find a ship we have to know where we’re going. You said there were coordinates on the computer in Tex’s ship, right?”
Twilight nodded.
“Okay, think carefully. Gamma sent you here using the ship’s origin coordinates. Do you remember what the destination coordinates were?”
Twilight put a hoof to her chin and squinted at the ceiling. She remembered a one… maybe a three… she was pretty sure there was a nine in there somewhere…
After a few more moments of contemplation, Twilight gave a loud groan. “No…”
“Figures…”
Twilight gave an indignant snort. “I’d like to see you remember a complex series of numbers after being thrown onto a strange world full of heavily armed lunatics!”
“Right, right. Point taken. Command probably keeps a record of all of their ships’ travel logs anyway,” Church said, putting a hand to his chin. “All we have to do is find where Command keeps them and pull up the file for Tex’s ship! Then we just have to… find a ship that’s slipspace capable and learn how to pilot it fast enough to steal it...”
Church’s tone became more and more uncertain as he reached the tail end of his sentence. Twilight decided now would be a good time to share what she’d been thinking about.
“Actually, if we can just find a ship with a slipspace drive on it… I can probably get to Equestria without us having to actually fly it!”
Church slowly leaned his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his fist. “Go on…”
“I’ve been thinking: If that A.I. was able to teleport me across the galaxy just because I was magically connected to the slipspace device in the helmet, I can probably teleport us back the same way! All we’d need to do is input the destination coordinates - assuming we can find them - into a ship with a slipspace device and turn it on. As long as I’m connected to it with my magic, I should be able to teleport us there directly!”
Church just sat there, staring at Twilight while leaning on his arm. “Huh… that sounds like it could actually work!”
Twilight nodded, unable to keep the proud grin from her face. “All we have to do is find the coordinates and the slipspace drive!”
With that, Twilight finished off her meal. For the first time since arriving on this planet she felt like she actually had a chance to get back home. Something else was nagging at the back of her mind, though. A mystery that’s been right in front of her since making her deal with Church, but one she’d ignored until now.
“Church… if we’re really going to go through with this, I have to ask: What’s your stake in that ship? In that person in black armor?” Twilight leaned forward, giving Church a hard look. “Who’s Tex?”
Church sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Tex is… complicated. Let’s just say we used to be together.”
Twilight’s eyebrows went up. “She was your girlfriend?”
“Not for a long time...”
Twilight swallowed as she looked up at Church. “So… why try to find her?”
Church gave the most casual shrug he could manage. “Closure, I guess.”
Twilight gave a single solemn nod. As she looked at Church staring wistfully into space, Twilight's chest was inexplicably filled with a slight aching sensation. Was she feeling... sympathy? Twilight thought back to their argument in Blood Gulch when she first arrived all that time ago. Suddenly, the reason why Church had been so abrasive and cruel that day was crystal clear: he still wasn't over Tex. Twilight suddenly felt compelled to say something that, a day ago, she never thought she would say to this particular individual.
"Church... I'm sorry if anything I said to you before offended you."
Church just shook his head. "Don't do that."
Twilight's eyes narrowed. "Do what?"
"Apologize. Let's be honest, I gave you plenty of reason to be mad at me. But you don't see me saying sorry to Tucker and Caboose every time I call them stupid do you?"
"No, but..."
"Exactly. And they never apologize to me whenever they call me out for being an asshole either! That's our number one rule on Blue Team: no apologies." Church leaned back and folded his arms as he concluded. He then looked away as something occurred to him, "Wait... actually our number one rule on Blue Team is 'don't kill the leader,' but I guess 'no apologies' is the one we all actually follow!"
Despite everything, Twilight couldn't help but giggle a tiny bit. Maybe Simmons was right: These guys really aren't that bad once you get to know them. At the very least, Twilight thought she could learn to appreciate the absurdity of the lives they led.
All of a sudden, Twilight’s ears pointed straight up as she heard a sound. She struggled to identify it at first, then her heart sunk into her stomach as she recognized the sound as a Warthog’s engine.
“Oh, no… they found me!”
The bipedal creature clad in black armor leapt over a petrified Rarity in a single bound and landed in front of Applejack. Big Mac wasted no time in getting between the armored biped and his sister. He reared up on his hind legs and swung his front hooves at the interloper, but received a punch across his face followed by an uppercut to his nethers, bringing the big pony down for the count.
“Try to deprive me of my future nieces and nephews, will ya? C’mere!”
Applejack tried turning around and giving the creature a good hard buck with her hind legs like it was one of her apple trees. The alien merely sidestepped her attack, grabbing a hind leg in one hand and the end of Applejack’s tied mane in the other, swinging the farm pony around and sending her on a collision course with a thoroughly startled Rarity.
“Um… please don’t fight…” Fluttershy’s voice fell on deaf ears.
As Rainbow Dash began attacking the dark alien with a flurry of punches and kicks that the creature effortlessly blocked, Applejack groggily climbed off of Rarity and glared up at the roof of the barn.
“Granny! Why didn’t ya warn us like you were supposed to?”
Although Applejack and Rarity couldn’t see Granny Smith from where they were on the ground, the sound of loud snoring coming from the old mare’s spot on the roof answered her question. The pair looked back down at the fight between Rainbow Dash and the alien just in time to see the creature catch one of Rainbow’s punches in its hand, twist her foreleg behind her back, and effectively punt her in Fluttershy’s direction. The little yellow pegasus—who had merely been trying to gently talk to the armored creature—tried to catch Rainbow Dash as she flew in her direction, effectively getting clobbered by her friend.
“Alright, time to show this alien we Equestrialings mean business!” Applejack declared as she finished tying the end of her lasso to her tail.
The farm pony spun the looped rope above her head a few times before sending it straight towards the black armored creature. The alien raised an arm to protect itself, but Applejack still managed to rope it. Her lasso grasped the raised appendage firmly as around them Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Big Mac pulled themselves to their feet, surrounding the roped alien.
“Hah! Gotcha!” Applejack exclaimed.
Applejack’s smug grin disappeared in an instant as the dark creature grabbed her rope with the very arm that had been lassoed. With a sharp upward yank, Applejack was pulled up through the air toward the creature before it harshly pulled her back into the hard ground. Applejack was helpless to do anything as she was thrown into the air and brought down into the ground numerous times by the rope connecting her tail to the biped’s arm.
The other four ponies all closed in around the alien in an attempt to help their friend/family member. Noticing this, the black alien spun the roped Applejack above its head, effectively turning the farm pony into a flail. The alien utilized its new weapon well, and Applejack was sent into her friends and brother at lightning speed, the alien moving gracefully as it used her to attack each of them again and again.
Realizing something had to be done lest she continue being used as a weapon against her friends, Applejack gathered all of the strength she could into her aching body to fight the momentum of the flail she had become to reach the rope attached to her tail. She hastily bit through the rope with her teeth but was still sent flying into her brother from the momentum, sending both of them crashing through the front door of the barn.
Deciding she’d had enough of this creature making fools out of her friends, Rarity charged up her horn to perform one of the offensive spells Twilight had taught her. As she did so, Rainbow Dash took off again and circled around to dive bomb straight at the creature. The alien reacted quickly, grabbing a pitchfork and a sickle.
The black armored entity tossed the pitchfork like a javelin up at Rainbow Dash. She was able to avoid the dangerous projectile, but doing so put her off course of her dive bomb. She was now flying at full speed straight towards the side of the barn and wasn’t able to slow down or maneuver fast enough to avoid crashing through the top story window.
The alien immediately followed up with a swift toss of the sickle in its other hand straight at Rarity. The unicorn moved her head to dodge the deadly blade, causing her to misfire her spell, blowing up a couple of barrels instead of the black alien. Rarity felt the sickle brush against her mane as it flew past, and her heart stopped when she realized she had not survived the attack unscathed.
A lone strand of purple hair drifted down before her, resting pitifully in the dirt.
“You…” Rarity’s usually delicate, elegant voice was covered in a layer of fury, “you monster! Does a perfectly styled mane mean nothing to you?!?”
Like a mare possessed, Rarity charged at the alien and attacked it with a storm of magically aided punches. The alien managed to block the furious mare’s attacks, but was nonetheless driven back towards the barn behind it.
“Do! You! Know! How! Long! It! Takes! To! Get! My! Mane! Looking! This! Fabulous???!!!” Rarity punctuated with every punch.
Rarity finished her combo with a blast of magic from her horn that sent the alien flying back into the barn. Calmly trotting into the barn, Rarity approached the inert black form with a huff.
“Serves you right, ruffian!”
In an instant the alien sprung back into action, spinning on its head in a way that resembled a breakdance move and delivering a powerful kick across Rarity’s face before flipping back onto its legs. Rarity was sent flying back into Fluttershy, who didn’t even seem to want anything to do with the fight anymore.
“Hey! Over here, ya overgrown tin can!”
The black armored beast turned around to see Applejack standing at the other end of the barn, crouching low and giving the creature a challenging glare. With a few stretches of its neck accompanied by mechanical whirs, the alien in black took a few steps toward Applejack, unaware it was stepping under a large bale of hay suspended from the ceiling of the barn.
“Big Mac! Now!”
From his position up in the loft, Big Mac bit through a rope connected to the suspended hay bale by a series of pulleys. The alien looked up just in time to see the large cube of hay falling towards it. With impressive reflexes and incredible strength, the dark alien caught the falling bale of hay that would have outright crushed even the strongest stallion. The incredibly heavy object put the alien off balance, and it fell to one knee as it continued to hold the large cube of hay aloft with both arms.
Seeing this, Big Mac leapt from his position in the loft and landed on top of the hay bale and the creature both, the force of his weight completely crushing it under the dense hay.
“Um.. d-did we get it?” Fluttershy asked as she and Rarity climbed to their hooves while Rainbow Dash stumbled down from the loft.
“Eeyup!” Mac declared, standing atop the package of hay looking all too proud of himself.
The expression on the large red stallion’s face quickly turned to one of concern as the hay beneath him started to shake. Big Macintosh and the large bale of hay were both abruptly thrown straight up into the air and the thing in black armor was suddenly back on its feet. The alien delivered a swift roundhouse kick to the large bale of hay as it came back down, sending it flying towards Applejack.
The alien used the momentum to bring the same leg around to kick Big Mac in the groin again on his way down.
“ENOOOOOPE!” Mac cried in a high falsetto as he was sent flying into a surprised Rainbow Dash. The pegasus in question had been trying to creep up on the alien unnoticed.
“What is yer problem with my brother’s balls?!” Applejack exclaimed as she climbed to her hooves with the rest of the ponies.
Each one of them were taking longer and longer to recover as each of them were feeling the effects of their battle with the extraterrestrial. Despite their tired, aching bodies, the ponies lowered themselves into fighting stances and prepared to charge again. The creature in black simply raised its fists and beckoned them forward with a wave of its digits, looking not to have tired in the slightest. The ponies all charged at their opponent, hoping that if they could attack it from all sides at once...
“EVERYPONY STOP!!!”
The ponies all skidded to a halt, and even the black alien looked around in confusion. Every body in the room turned to the source of the voice and saw a certain meek yellow pegasus fluttering up to the alien with a forceful, angry look in her eyes.
“Who do you think you are going around attacking innocent ponies like this, huh?” the usually soft-spoken Fluttershy demanded, giving the alien a furious glare. “I know you can talk! So instead of picking a fight with everypony you come across, why don’t you talk?!”
The alien took a step towards Fluttershy and glared right back at her, but to everypony’s surprise the little yellow pegasus didn’t back down. Finally, the creature gave an annoyed huff.
“Listen, I know Omega is inside somepony, and now that he can jump into anyone without the need of an A.I. slot, it’s pointless to try and figure out who it is!” the alien declared in a gruff female voice with a slight accent that sounded a bit like Applejack’s.
“Is that any reason to continue attacking my friends?” Fluttershy asked firmly.
“Normally I’d say yes, but…” the alien looked at the ponies around her, “based on what I’ve seen, Omega isn’t in any of you.”
Satisfied that the alien no longer seemed inclined to attack, Fluttershy pulled back a bit and crossed her forelegs. “See? If you’d just asked from the beginning, all of this violence could have been avoided!”
“Meh. I never really cared much for diplomacy.”
Fluttershy nodded and extended a hoof. “I’m Fluttershy. What’s your name?”
The alien hesitated for a moment, as if considering whether or not it should answer. “Call me Tex. And I’m still not finished with you. Not until I know where Omega is!”
“Well, maybe if you told us what an… ‘Omega’ is...” Rainbow Dash suggested.
“Omega is my A.I. At least, he was. Guess he’s what you guys call an ‘M.I.’ now. He has the ability to jump into people’s heads and control them, making them act… aggressive,” Tex looked at each of the gathered ponies. “Has anyone you know been acting strangely lately?”
Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy all exchanged knowing glances.
“Er… is it possible that this ‘Omega’ thing has been calling itself ‘O’Malley?’” Rarity asked.
Tex took a step toward the fashionista. “Where can I find him?”
Before any of the ponies could answer, they heard the sound of a prepubescent male voice call out from outside.
“Hello? Applejack? Anypony here?”
“In here, Spike!” Applejack answered.
In a few short moments, Spike walked into the barn with something in one of his claws.
“There you guys are!” Spike paused to take a look around the barn. “Jeez, this place is a mess. And you all look really beaten up. What have you been doing in here?”
“Spike, I’d like you to meet someone. This is…” Rarity trailed off when she looked over to where Tex was standing to find that the black clad alien was no longer there. She had completely disappeared. “... Big Macintosh!” Rarity quickly remedied.
“Uh… I already know Applejack’s brother, Rarity.”
“Eeyup.”
Rarity just laughed awkwardly. Spike then noticed the way Big Mac was covering his genitals as he winced in pain. Combined with the way the rest of the girls looked sweaty and beaten up, Spike decided he no longer wanted to know the details of whatever activity they’d been getting up to.
“So what do you want, Spike?” Applejack asked, not so subtly trying to change the topic.
“It’s Pinkie Pie. Her party at Town Hall just started and she wants to know where you all are. After all, she threw it just for you!” Spike said, holding up the piece of paper he was holding in his claw.
“Is that so?” Rarity asked, taking the flyer in her magic and looking at it.
Sure, she had seen the flyers advertising Pinkie’s latest party all over town that day, but she hadn’t really gotten a good look at one until now. Along with information detailing the time and place of the party, the flier mainly featured an image of Pinkie Pie pointing at the viewer with a hoof and smiling at them. Right away Rarity noticed that something about Pinkie’s smile was off. It wasn’t a normal Pinkie Pie smile, but something darker and far more sinister.
“Pinkie just kept saying that she couldn’t properly start the party until you guys all arrived. She kept saying that you would simply die when you found out what she has in store and then laughed a whole lot!”
“Twilight, what the hell’s going on?” Church asked as he followed Twilight up to the outer wall.
Twilight’s heart raced as she looked down below and saw the still running Warthog sitting in front of the base, its bright headlights shining through the darkness onto the front gate.
“What? Who's fucking car is that? They can’t park there, it’s illegal! I put up a sign!” Church exclaimed.
“Oh, don’t fret mate! I’m only idling while I run a quick errand!”
Twilight’s heart nearly jumped out of her chest at the sound of the familiar accented voice, the source of which was up on the wall with them. Twilight and Church hastily turned in time to see Wyoming standing on the wall a few feet away. Church immediately raised his sniper rifle in the man-in-white’s direction as Wyoming did the same.
“Don’t do anything rash now, little pony. I see so much as one spark come out of that horn of yours and I’ll shoot it off!”
“Wyoming? How the hell are you here?” Church asked.
Twilight looked up at Church in surprise when she realized he knew the mysterious Englishman’s name.
“I went through the gaping hole in your defensive wall.” Wyoming tsked.
“No, I mean how the hell are you not dead? I watched Tex shoot you!” Church exclaimed.
“Correction: You watched Tex shoot one of me. You don’t think I’d be daft enough to put all of my chips on the table at once, do you?”
Twilight looked back and forth between Church and their opponent, realizing all too quickly that there was some history here she didn’t know about.
“To tell you the truth, I was originally planning on simply letting you all think I was dead, taking my payment from Command, and moving along with my life. Maybe retire. However, an opportunity recently presented itself that I couldn’t possibly pass up!” Wyoming continued.
Twilight gave Wyoming a cautious glare, realizing exactly what (or who) he was referring to. “What do you want with me?”
Wyoming gave an amused chuckle. “It’s not what I want, my dear. It’s what Project Freelancer wants.”
“And what do those assholes want? To experiment on her like they did with Tex and the A.I.s?” Church asked, sniper rifle aimed unflinchingly at Wyoming.
Twilight wasn’t as concerned with that as she was about another detail she recalled from their last encounter.
“When you first saw me back at Command, you knew what I was as soon as you saw me,” Twilight said, never letting her wary eyes leave him. “How?”
“How indeed. There’s only one way you’re going to get the answer to that question, and you know exactly what that is!” Wyoming stated, taking a step toward the pair.
Church responded in kind, sniper rifle aiming straight at… Wyoming’s general direction. “She’s not going anywhere with you!”
“What’s this? First class narcissist Leonard Church is protecting a little pony? Truly touching! I always knew there was a heart of gold underneath the bastard-coated exterior!” Wyoming snarked.
“Listen, Twilight and I have prior arrangements! So if you take another step closer I’m gonna put a hole in your head. Who knows? A little extra air might actually do your brain some good!”
Wyoming gave a condescending chuckle. “Yes, go ahead and shoot. You might even hit something if you keep at it long enough!” Wyoming’s tone suddenly became deadly serious, “Face it, there is nothing either of you can do, so you might as well just let her come with me!”
Twilight gritted her teeth together as she glared at Wyoming. The man was rapidly getting on her nerves, much to Wyoming’s own amusement. What annoyed her the most was that Wyoming was right. Twilight wasn’t sure whether he was bluffing about shooting her horn off but she didn’t want to test him. And even though Church had his sniper rifle trained at Wyoming, she knew his chances of actually hitting him weren’t good.
It was a shame, because from where she was standing she could kind of tell where Church was generally aiming. If she just had a way to help him adjust his aim without Wyoming catching on...
Twilight’s ears suddenly perked up as she thought of an idea.
“Bark!”
Both Church and Wyoming looked down at Twilight with confusion.
“Uh… what?” Church asked.
Twilight just looked right up into Church’s eyes with confidence. “Bark,” she said again, gesturing with her head in Wyoming’s direction.
Church tilted his head up and nodded once, suddenly realizing what Twilight was doing. He looked back along his sniper rifle’s sight and began adjusting his aim.
“Bark…”
Church compensated to the left.
“Bark…”
Church stopped and re-adjusted slightly to the right.
“Come now, dear. Pretending to be a dog will only work so many times…” Wyoming started.
“Bark-bark! Bark-bark!”
The loud bang of the sniper rifle rang out as Church took the shot. It wasn’t a perfectly placed shot, but it hit its mark.
“Aah!” Wyoming cried out as the sniper round pierced his shoulder, the force of the shot causing him to spin out and collapse on his stomach.
“YES! I ACTUALLY HIT HIM! I AM AMAZING WITH THE SNIPER RIFLE!” Church shouted.
The celebration was short lived as the pair of them heard a hissing sound. Twilight looked over at Wyoming just in time to see the prone man toss a glowing, pulsating blue orb in their direction, landing between them.
“What the heck is that thing?” Twilight asked.
Church wasted no time in grabbing a startled Twilight under his arm. “It’s like a spider!”
Church jumped off the fortress wall as an explosion of blue plasma where they had previously been standing briefly lit up the night behind them.
“A very deadly spider!”
Church immediately hauled ass toward Wyoming’s Warthog with Twilight under his arm, inelegantly tossing the unicorn into the passenger’s seat before running around to climb into the driver’s side.
“This is why you don’t park illegally where I come from: You get towed, bitch!” Church taunted. A sniper rifle shot shattering the windshield was Wyoming’s reply. “AH! Son of a bitch!”
Throwing the jeep into reverse, Church drove them backwards all the way down the incline towards the beach and away from High Ground, Wyoming taking potshots at them from his place on the fortress wall as he struggled to stand. Church turned the Warthog around with an impressive slide and drove straight along the beach, putting High Ground and its current occupant out of sight.
For the fifth time in the past minute, Church glanced beside him at Twilight Sparkle as they continued to drive along the dark road surrounded by trees, the only source of light coming from the front of their own Warthog. The two of them have been driving along for several minutes now. They had already come up with their next course of action: lay low until they can figure out a solid plan. As much as Church didn’t like it, Twilight was able to convince him to go to the only place where they had friends: Rat’s Nest.
From her place in the passenger seat, Twilight continued to stare at him with a serious, expectant look. Church groaned as he returned his attention to the road in front of him.
“Right, explanations. That asshole back there was Wyoming. He’s a Freelancer,” Church explained.
Twilight gave an inquisitive tilt of her head. “You mean like a sellsword?”
Church lifted a hand off the wheel and tilted it back and forth. “Eh… yes and no. Wyoming’s a free agent. Works for whoever pays best, but the term ‘Freelancer’ is also a codename for the special agents of the military program he used to be involved with.”
“And that would be this… ‘Project Freelancer’ he kept mentioning?”
Church nodded. “Put simply, Project Freelancer is bad news. They were a program that tried to create super-soldiers by implanting aggressive A.I. into their agents’ heads.”
Twilight looked away as she contemplated this information. “Of course… an A.I. can think and act faster than any person ever could. But wouldn’t sharing your mind with something like that cause… problems?”
“Fuck yeah, that’s what I meant by ‘bad news!’” Church briefly looked at Twilight again, emphasizing the seriousness of what he was saying before returning to watching the road.
“Everyone in the program was paired with an A.I. Wyoming had Gamma. I’m sure you remember him. Tex had Omega, who turned anyone he was implanted with into a murderous psychopath. I even heard there was one guy whose A.I. went nuts and killed itself inside his head!”
Church studied the way Twilight just stared straight ahead, mouth slowly drifting open. He was glad that she was understanding his low opinion of Project Freelancer. Of course, Church then realized that the look of horror growing on Twilight’s face was her coming to the realization that the people behind all of the terrible stuff he mentioned were after her.
Cold and sterile. Those were the words that best embodied the depths of Freelancer Command. While on the surface Command was a series of fortified bunkers stretching across a desert-like plain, they connected to a deep underground network of labs and research facilities. The place was a complex, well oiled machine: lifeless and efficient.
The same was often said of the man in dark gray armor with yellow detail who marched down the drab metal halls. He ignored the droning announcements being broadcast throughout the facility and the blinking red eyes of the surveillance cameras following him as he walked past a pair of Command soldiers into a communications room.
The room was small and dimly lit, dominated by three massive screens on the far walls. The only furniture was a few filing cabinets and a table with a couple of computers on it. The large monitors came to life as the man in gray and yellow armor entered the center of the room. The image of a man with dark skin obscured in shadows loomed over on the three monitors.
“Hello, Agent Washington,” the man on the screen greeted in a surreal, soft voice partially distorted by the speakers through which it was broadcast.
“Counselor,” the man in gray and yellow armor returned the greeting in a serious, icy tone. “I’d say that it’s good to see you again, but I’m told that dishonesty is unbecoming of a soldier.”
The Counselor kept his shadowy face carefully neutral. “I see you still have quite a bit of hostility toward us. Tell me, is Epsilon’s fate still weighing on your mind?”
“What happened to my A.I. is in the past. It no longer matters,” Washington stated, hoping the Counselor would believe him.
The dark man leaned back in his chair. “Indeed. I imagine you know what you’re here to discuss.”
“The Recovery Beacon,” Washington affirmed.
He’d heard the familiar sound like electronic bells ringing through his helmet earlier on: Project Freelancer’s way of keeping track of their precious A.I.s and the hi-tech equipment that they run. The Recovery Beacons were designed to transmit from their agents’ armor when said agents were either dying or dead. As a Recovery Agent, it was Washington’s job to find and recover Project Freelancer’s assets.
“Yes. I thought you might have heard it while in the infirmary...” the Counselor said.
“Don’t think I’ve forgotten why I had to be in the infirmary in the first place!” Washington said, a bitter edge in his tone.
“Indeed. Agent South Dakota’s actions during your most recent assignment may have been… partially our responsibility.”
As if to drive the point home, Washington was graced with a holographic projection of a recorded video feed from South’s helmet. He watched himself run forward toward the enemy from the perspective of his former comrade, and then watched as said comrade fired a burst from her Battle Rifle into his back.
“What part of that is only partially your responsibility?” Washington asked.
“The part where Agent South went rogue, taking the Delta A.I. she was meant to recover.”
Washington scoffed.
“Agent Washington, I hope you know we didn’t give Agent South any orders that needlessly put your life in danger. While she may have misled you to the ends of setting up a confrontation with our elusive enemy, her decision to betray you and escape was her own. Project Freelancer values the lives of all of its agents.”
“Yeah, you guys are real paragons...” Washington muttered.
The Counselor raised his chin, eyeing Washington curiously. “Are you having... reservations about continuing to work with us, Agent Washington?”
“It doesn’t make me happy, but you can continue to rely on me… at least until I track down South,” Washington decided against telling them the real reason why he was still willing to cooperate. At least not yet. He then hastily decided to change the topic. “So about the Recovery Beacon…”
“The beacon belonged to one Agent Texas.”
Washington raised an eyebrow. “And Omega? Where did the beacon originate from?”
The Counselor nodded. “That’s the interesting part. Tex’s Recovery Beacon originated from Caballinus IV.”
Washington looked up, suddenly focusing on the Counselor with interest. “Caballinus IV? Isn’t that the planet where…?”
“Yes,” the Counselor hastily said. “The planet in question is—for the time being—irrelevant to your assignment.”
“Wait, am I not to go there to recover Omega?”
The Counselor shook his head. “No. As it is, Agent Texas’ Recovery Beacon stopped transmitting some time ago. I trust you know what this means.”
Washington nodded. Recovery Beacons were designed to transmit continuously, only ceasing to do so when the A.I. and equipment they were associated with was recovered. Either by a Recovery Agent from Command or by someone else.
“Well, I take it since we’re having this discussion, it wasn’t one of our people that found Omega. Do you think It could have gotten to him?”
“It’s difficult to tell at this time. Omega could have been taken by ‘It’, Agent South, or another rogue agent. Even one of the locals of Caballinus IV could have found and removed him. Either way, the Omega A.I.’s current whereabouts are unknown.
“We’ve decided that the best course of action would be to return to Omega’s last known whereabouts. You may be able to discern Omega’s original intentions from the simulation troopers there that have dealt with him before.”
Washington nodded, eager to get out of the oppressive room and the Counselor’s image bearing down on him. “Got it,” Washington knew that the Counselor specialized in psychology. Perhaps he had designed this room with the idea of creating an oppressive atmosphere in mind?
“Speaking of the locals of Caballinus IV, I have one more point to bring up before you are dismissed, Agent Washington.”
Washington wasn’t quite able to hide his curious posture at the mention of the enigmatic planet again.
“Perhaps you have heard about the recent attack on our facilities…” the Counselor continued.
“Word going around is that it was an alien species never before encountered by humanity.”
The Counselor leaned forward. “You and I both know better, don’t we Agent Washington?”
Another holographic image appeared in front of the central screen where the Counselor looked down into the room. The footage playing this time was what appeared to be archived security footage from somewhere inside Freelancer Command. What seemed to be a small purple unicorn was anxiously pacing around the room, muttering to itself.
“Now that our program is under investigation from Oversight, the Director feels that having an ‘undiscovered’ alien running around our facilities would create… complications,” the Counselor explained as the holographic image of the unicorn disappeared. “While your primary objective is still to locate the Omega A.I., the acquisition of this creature has become one of Project Freelancer’s top priorities.”
Washington nodded. “What are my orders should I encounter it?”
“We want this subject alive if possible. If not, well... what’s most important is that we do not allow it to create any more complications...”
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3775915 I just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to write me a big ol' review. It's something we authors greatly appreciate as I'm sure you know! I gave it all a thorough read and agree with you 100% and mostly everything. I'm not sure who told me this, but I had always thought that Description said "dialogue, dialogue!" was correct as opposed to Description said "Dialogue, dialogue!" because it's all the same sentence, but I could always (and most likely am) wrong.
Glad you seem to be enjoying it so far! Have a lip warmer ->
Great
Also, PLOT THICKENS. HILAROUS
Good chapter.
Sweet, so what Wyoming and Celestia hinted at is now fully revealed... the two worlds have had prior contact (specifically, Project Freelancer has, and has kept it a secret, it seems).
I gotta wonder if you're tying this in with the unexplained-in-canon creature that was able to repair and heal Alpha every time he was "broken".
And Warthogs don't float! It's been established in RvB canon... when Red team drove one across the bottom of an ocean between Valhalla and wherever. Oh well. Maybe all that armor was weighing them down. :)
Great chapter... can't wait for Tex vs Pinkie. And Meta.
The beauty of it is, Washington is the Agent who's AI (Epsilon) went insane and killed itself after implantation. But given that Epsilon is based on memory, Washington knows damn well how Project Freelancer got those AIs. And he's kept it to himself for years, waiting for the right time to deal the Project a deathblow. Enter Twilight Sparkle...
That was awesome. I like the whole Grif turn around with Mac getting hit in the balls this time.
Also, if you need a proofreader. I'll gladly help.
3782985 Tex v Pinkie would never happen. Omega would see Tex alive and immediately return to her, as she is the closest possible substitute to being with Alpha at that moment.
3782985 warthogs float after awhile (blown up/ in a river)
Cool, everything seems to be starting to tye up. That's always good in any storie.
One question though, how does Church knows that much about Proyect Freelancer at that point? I though that as far as he's concerned, he only knows about Tex's and Wyoming's AI's.
3783017
Dude, spoilers!
3783312 Or for comedy relief, Omega would runaway screaming like a little bitch
"What is your problem with my brother's balls?"
FUCKING
GENIUS!
Yang Xiao Long anyone?
3783891 All of the above.
Man Tex really has a thing against any guy wearing orange
3784334 And here I was thinking it would take longer for someone to catch the reference!
i have bad feeling about this
I'm loving the new chapter! Great use of the crossover! I'm also a huge RvB/Rooster Teeth fan, so if you need a proofreader, let me know!
3784592
gifrific.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Mr-Burns-Saying-Excellent.gif
yang? what you doing here?
Well, I'M not allergic to crossovers. Especially this one. But because I haven't published a story yet, I can't prove that I could proofread your chapters.
Ah, well. Another fantastic chapter. This just keeps getting better and better.
When we get to the EMP if we ever have to deal with that are you going to have the The original Church AI be wiped out?
Heh Tex hating guys in orange, Church hating project Freelancer, Wyoming, Meta, Washington. It's just like the old days! But with ponies and that's cool ^.^ I'm still greatly enjoying this and I hope you continue at this level of greatness and only improve
Calling it now, not only is all of Project Freelancer's advanced tech based off magic, but the reason Celestia is scared is because the Director basically told her "help us or else we'll either make you help us or wipe you out."
3799648
probably, Origional church is kind of dickish, and by 'origional' I mean the director, for those who haven't gotten far in RvB yet.
Church is an A.I. based off of Director Leonard Church. (No idea how to do the spoiler text thing, so... Spoilers!)
Yes! Wash gets involved, my favorite Freelancer!
Planet horse ! Beautiful!
Caballinus IV?
Oh I see what you did!
Caballinus is a Latin adjective for 'of a horse
And IV means 4. And this is 4th generation of mlp!!!
Very creative. Well played.
While she may have mislead you to the ends
1. Misled.
I wonder how many 'led's' I'm going to find... Only time will tell
3864251 Sunset Shimmer=best pony
Washington=best Freelancer
Are they talking about the Scariest fucking mute of all time?
AKA the Meta
I know your feels on the whole editor thing. It's impossible!
I love the way you integrate this with the plot of RvB while still holding true to both shows style of humor and characters. I know I've said this before, but that's because it was true then and it's still true now.
The plot thickens, you say? Bow-chicka-bow-wow.
6232526
Now all we need is Wash and Carolina talking about how hard life has been only to be interrupted by Tucker, causing Twilight to wince at Tucker being shot-
Never mind. Tucker + sword (Bow chicka bow wow) = Past that
...or are we? CHURCH GHOST!!!
Oh bollocks, the Counselor, one of the more secretive villains from RvB
Jackie, Tex has problems with any male's balls, regardless of species.
Way to reference Yang there.
7316547 It seemed like an appropriate reaction
Because someone had to do it...
That is funny to me
Well I think Granny Smith is blind.
Well twilight is in some crap right now.
Medic we got a man down!