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Ghost of Ages Past2,111 words
One Hell of a Day6,641 words
More Questions than Answers3,598 words
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Old Memories4,632 words
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Into the Last Good Fight I'll ever know.4,015 words
Live and Die on This Day3,829 words

Old Memories

The Beginning of the End

Old Memories

Sergi slowly opened his eyes. This had been the second time he was saved from death by this weird world. Slowly getting up he took stock of his surroundings. It was a room that consisted mostly of stone, but there were hints of rare metals as accents on the furniture. Everything seemed normal in the room, except for the back wall. It stood there with only one thing on the wall, a large flag with an upside down crescent moon with unfurled wings. The emblem was in a bright red on a black background. Moving into a sitting position, he found that it was already night outside. Pushing himself off the table, he found a note attached to the table’s edge. Sergi picked up the paper and started reading it. He quickly stopped and pulled a SAS combat knife from a sheath on his upper arm. Turning around he found the pony he had saved from the snakes standing in the doorway to the outside.

"Can I help you?" Sergi asked as she approached even closer.

"Yes, but let’s start out with introductions first. My name is Princess Luna, and yours would be?" She asked as she moved inside. Light began stream in from the doorway and multiple cracks in the wall

"My name is Sergi Zolnerowich." Sergi flatly replied.

"Now that we have that out of the way, let’s get to business. You saved me from the Basilisk, but earlier I was informed that you were a kidnapper and held my sisters star pupil. Where is Twilight Sparkle?"

"Why should I trust you? I have dealt with many people before you and when I started to trust them, they just stabbed me in the back." Sergi replied as he readjusted his hold on the knife.

"Because I trust her." A familiar voice said from outside the conversation.

Looking beyond Luna, there stood Twilight Sparkle with a guard. Hesitantly, Sergi lowered his knife and relaxed. He placed the knife back in its sheathe. From behind Twilight Sparkle stood a pony clad in golden armor that looked like something the Roman's wore. The fringes of the armor and some type of emblem were highlighted with black and silver. Sergi's jacket soon floated in the air as it moved into the room. Sergi took a step back as it got closer.

"Stop fidgeting, I'm trying to give you your jacket back." Twilight Sparkle said with a little irritation.

"You’re making my jacket do that?" Sergi asked as he switched his attention between the jacket and her.

"Of course, it's just magic." She replied

Sergi let the jacket come closer and rest itself on his shoulders. He noted that the purple outline disappeared as the weight of the jacket met his shoulders. Sliding his arms into the jacket, he picked up his PPSH-41 that was on the floor. Sergi realized that he had left his shotgun and his rifle outside during the slaughter. He walked past the three ponies in the room to step right into a situation. The multiple bodies of the snakes and the Large Basilisk were gone, only to be remembered by the field of bloody snow. Out in the courtyard were two entire platoons of ponies in golden armor. He counted at least 50 crossbows aimed at him. From up above, a pegasus dived down at him. Sergi waited until the pegasus was closer before he stepped out of the way. As the pegasus flew past him and into the ground Sergi brought up his gun. The pegasus turned around to find himself staring down the barrel of the gun. This pegasus wore similar armor to the one he saw before but his armor was all black with gold and silver highlights. Making sure the pegasus knew what was going to happen, Sergi pulled the trigger. An uneventful click was all that happened. He threw the gun aside and grabbed the pegasus by the collar of his armor. Sergi lifted up so that his gaze bored straight into the pegasus's eyes. All around him he heard the sound of others surrounding him and locking him in a circle. Seeing a grin spread across the pegasus's face, Sergi pulled him closer and said.

"This is not over yet. You’re lucky I didn't have any bullets left."

With this said, Sergi tossed the pegasus off to the side and looked upon the other unicorns and pegasi surrounding him. All had an emotionless expression on their face. Sergi slowly turned around to see the golden guard and Twilight Sparkle coming out of the ruins. Twilight Sparkle saw the situation and began running toward the circle of gold and black. As she reached the circle, she tried to persuade her way into the inside with Sergi.

"He's not dangerous, has he not saved enough ponies yet?" She shouted out in desperation.

"He is dangerous by my account, he killed off a Basilisk and all of his minions. Anyone who can do that should always be marked as extremely dangerous." The pegasus in black armor replied as he got back into the air, just high enough so that Sergi had to look up to him.

"Isn't that right? Monsters don't get privileges." The pegasus continued with a voice you would use with a small child.

"He's not a monster! He saved my life twice!" Twilight Sparkle shouted out with a voice filled with rage.

"Don't call it a 'he', 'it' just wants to get you when you get close." The pegasus shot back as he turned his head to look a Twilight Sparkle.

Sergi had enough of taunting from the pegasus and took his chances when he looked away. With one swift movement, He had the pegasus on the ground and had pulled a 8" knife out of his boot. Pressing the blade against the pegasus's neck, Sergi stared coldly at the pegasus. His eyes widened with fear as he realized his mistake. The surrounding guards murmured with anxiety as they did not know what to do with this situation.

"Never talk down to me! I have respected everyone I have met here that hasn’t tried to kill me yet. All that I'm asking for is to be seen as an equal. Your Princess would not be alive right now if I had not killed off all of those over grown snakes. Trust me when I say I have more combat experience than you." Sergi said coldly to the pegasus.

"You?! Have more experience than ME?! I am Commander Nightshade, Leader of Luna's Royal Guard. What experience, may I ask, do you have?"

"I have had 20 years of killing tyrants, toppling governments, crushing nations, fighting in a global war, and watching almost everyone close to me die." Sergi said with a voice so cold that it seemed to freeze the bloody slush.

"20 years, you don't even look that old yet. How old are you anyway?" Commander Nightshade interogated.

"I am 26 years old. Ever since I can remember, I have been trained to face anything that gets in my way." Sergi replied as he stared right into the eyes of the pegasus.

"So you have been brought up to be a cold-blooded killer? Well then finish the job, kill me right now!" The pegasus bellowed, trying to push Sergi over the edge.

"That will be enough Commander, this human saved my life when I thought nothing could be done. I have never seen such courage and bravery for many centuries." Luna said from off to the side.

"Sergi, I think you have gotten your point across." She continued.

Sergi stared at the pegasus for a little bit longer before he released his grip and stood back up. He placed his blade back into its sheath in his boot. Looking out of the corner of his eye, he could see the pegasus getting back up and rubbing his neck. Twilight Sparkle made her way over to Sergi, but half way, she looked off to the side and bowed down toward the rising sun. Sergi looked over and saw another pony slightly larger than Luna. This one though, had a pure white coat and her mane looked like one of the Northern lights. Sergi turned his attention to the newcomer and waited to be questioned. Ever since he arrived in Equestria, everyone wanted to know about him. He just wished that the attention would go somewhere else. All this attention made him feel uneasy. The new arrival walked up to him with a smile on her face.

"Hello Sergi, it seems like you have been busy. It seems like you’re not a normal human." She started off with.

"No ma'am." Sergi replied, assuming that she wasn't wearing that crown for no reason.

"You can just call me Celestia, ma'am just seems to...'Starchy'... Can I ask you some questions?" She responded to his stiff reply.

"Yes, you may." Sergi said, still as stiff as a board with his hands behind his back.

"What did you do in the other world?" Celestia inquired.

"I was a soldier fighting a war." Sergi simply answered.

"You weren't meant for regular situations, what was your purpose in this war?" Celestia asked as she probed deeper for more answers.

"Protect the weak and destroy the powerful. I have trained ever since I could remember." Sergi replied as his childhood quickly flashed into his mind.

"I have been around humans before, but you have surpassed the physical limits of your species. What is your secret?" Celestia asked as she started to walk closer.

"I would rather not discuss that in public Celestia." Sergi answered trying to hold the flood gate of memories.

"Let me try something. It will allow me to see what I need to see and no one else will know." She said as she continued to walk closer.

"What might this be?" Sergi asked as he saw her horn began to shine more than it did before.

"Oh, just a little magic trick I learned." Celestia simply answered with a grin on her face.

Celestia flared up her horn and approached Sergi. He felt a presence in his mind, rummaging through his thoughts. She flipped through his training and quickly decided that wasn't the answer. Digging deeper into his memories, she found what she needed, his time as a lab subject. Those dreaded three years being pumped full of drugs and pushed to the breaking point. Curious on how he became a lab subject, Sergi felt her dig back up to earlier events. She stopped when she found the reason. Within seconds, he felt the presence disappear and to see Celestia jerk her head back from the harsh information she found.

"Find what you needed?" Sergi asked already knowing what she had seen.

The Princess stepped back and tried to process what had just happened. She looked back up at Sergi and regained her composure.

"I think that will be enough questions for today. I have to think over everything I’ve just learned." She said to him "Oh, and Sergi? Next time we need to talk, you don't have to run."

With this both of the Princesses flew up into the sky with their pegasus guards. All of the Unicorn guards disappeared in personal bubbles of color. This left Sergi standing in the middle of the blood soaked courtyard with Twilight and the first guard he met. Twilight Sparkle had raised herself off the ground and was looking towards him. The guard walked up and approached Sergi.

"My name is Commander Dawn Treader, Leader of Celestia's Royal Guards. My job now is to escort Twilight Sparkle and you back to Ponyville, where you will meet up with your friends." The guard said as he stepped forward.

"Yes sir." Sergi replied more willingly.

"I think I like this ‘sir’ stuff from you." Commander Dawn Treader said with a smirk.

"Before we head off, I need to grab some things." Sergi said as he remembered why he came out here originally.

Sergi stepped away from the two and proceeded toward where he made his last stand. He found his weapons on the ground. It was easy to find his weapons. They were on the ground next to piles of shell casings. Sergi picked up his weapons back up and placed them in their respective places. Walking back toward the group, he picked up his PPSH.

"I assume that is what you needed." The Commander said staring at the unique items.

"Yes sir." Sergi replied as he straightened up a bit and gave a small salute.

"You seem to take a lot of joy from this. Why is that Dawn Treader?" Twilight Sparkle inquired Commander Dawn Treader.

"Once a guard knows your name, you almost forget what rank you are again until the Grand Galloping Gala." He said with a sigh.

"Grand Galloping Gala?" Sergi asked when he heard the strange name.

"I'll explain to you on the way. It's a very fun time!" Twilight Sparkle said, brimming over with excitement.

With that, the group walked off into the forest as Twilight Sparkle tried to explain the Grand Galloping Gala to Sergi.

====================

Back at Canterlot, Celestia and Luna stood looking over Canterlot. It was very easy to see that Celestia was deeply troubled.

"What's the matter? I haven't seen you like this in a long time." Luna probed.

"The things in that human's head...It’s just...Everything we have done in our lives doesn’t even approach to what he’s seen in just twenty years." Celestia replied trying to hold her strong demeanor. "I’ve only just scratched the surface of his memories too."

"What so you mean Sister? Let me try to help." Luna said as she stepped closer to her sister.

"Okay, first off he has been trained since he was young to fight the good fight. Similar to when we were left for dead by Discord." Celestia began as she stared down at the statue garden. "Growing up, he had to deal with death almost every single day. On one day he had to watch everyone he had known as family die when a traitor led them into a trap."

"That sounds horrible! It sounds so familiar to the fate of the Humans of Equestria back during the uprising. Are you sure of what you saw?" Luna replied as she tried to process these descriptions with what see saw earlier.

"I am very sure. He would’ve lived peacefully for the rest of his life after that." Celestia answered as she ceased trying to hide her true feelings from her sister.

"What happened then 'Tia?" Luna asked in a calm voice.

"As he lay wounded in the middle of the slaughter, he was taken to labs and tested on. They treated him so cruelly. How could they treat their own species so cruelly?" Celestia said as she started to break into tears.

"Can you elaborate on that?" Luna asked, desperately trying to find out if her version matched her sister's discovery.

"They pumped him full of special potions and placed him in situations where he would fail. Everything he did killed those he held dear....For three straight years he went through this... How?" Celestia said as she began sob uncontrollably.

"Dear sister, even though he has been through all of that, he has clearly held onto the beliefs of his early life. Do you feel any better getting that off your mind?" Luna tried to cheer up her sister after verifying that they saw the same things.

"Yes. Yes I do. Thank you for your support. You always seem to be able to make things better." Celestia said after wiping a tear away with her hoof.

"I learned it a very long time ago from a close friend of mine." Luna replied as her thoughts drifted back to her foalhood.

====================

The trio of Twilight Sparkle, Commander Dawn Treader, and Sergi emerged from the forest to look upon the small town he has already seen twice in the short time he has been here. During the walk he was enlightened by Twilight Sparkle about the Grand Galloping Gala, the general description of the area around both Ponyville and Canterlot, and a detailed description of all of her friends. Closer to the town were her six friends and his two companions. As Twilight ran up to her friends, Sergi slowly walked up as he checked the surroundings for any sniper spots, ambush positions, etc.

"You don't have to worry about any ambushes here. This is too far in for any bad guys to be lurking. Also Celestia’s student lives here, so we have guards undercover here." Commander Dawn Treader said as he knew what Sergi was doing.

"I once thought that way too when I was younger." Sergi replied blandly.

"Ease up there; we're both soldiers to different degrees. Consider this a vacation." The Commander said as they neared the group.

"I guess there's a first for everything..." Sergi said as he approached the others. The Commander stopped in his tracks and stared at Sergi for a few seconds before rejoining with the group.

"Sergi, I'm glad you got back. With how badly you freaked out Princess Celestia, I thought you would be watching from the moon right about now." Sir Henry said as he offered a handshake.

"The moon? Why would I end up there?" Sergi questioned, this day seemed to get weirder every minute.

"Um...Sir Henry. I don't think he exactly know about things work around here." Anderson said trying not to embarrass Sergi or Sir Henry.

"Oh, how could I forget! You’ve never been here before. This world is filled with all types of things from our myths, such as magic and flying. Don't worry though; I am sure you will get used to it after a while." Sir Henry said as he nodded to Twilight Sparkle and Commander Dawn Treader.

"Why is all of our equipment out here?" Sergi asked as he couldn't help looking at the duffle bags.

"Princess Celestia said that we were to live here in Ponyville so that Twilight can begin doing research on our world."

At that moment, Sergi's eyes dilated and the winter landscape was quickly changed to the dreaded halls of the Research lab he was tested at for three years before he broke out. The hallways were dark, but when a light flashed on for a few seconds, the smears and messages written in blood. The voices of those around him were quickly muffled out by the screams. Those damned screams from other subjects in the lab. They echoed throughout his head, they gave him more agony than any battle wound he received. Sergi fell down to his knees and reached up and placed his hands over his ears. This did nothing as the screams could still be heard in his head. Everything flashed back to normal when he felt something pushing on his shoulder. Sergi raised his head to see the yellow pegasus looking back at him

"Are you alright?" She asked in a calm, soft voice.

"Yes...Yes I'm alright. Just dealing with some old memories." Sergi said in a voice that was softer than normal.

"What just happened to you? I have never seen anyone react that way." Twilight Sparkle said as she looked concerned.

"It was just remembering some old memories. I will be fine now." Sergi replied as he stood back up.

"Well, can I do some research on your world?" Twilight Sparkle asked as she still looked concerned.

"Yes, ma'am." Sergi replied as he strongly held his cold demeanor as the screams began again in his head.

"If anything, I think that this would be a good time to talk about where we're going to live." Anderson said as he was still trying to figure out what happened to Sergi.

"I could house Anderson in my basement, but not everyone." Twilight Sparkle said.

"I could house Sergi and Sir Henry in my barn, if they aren't afraid to do some of the chores around the farm." Applejack said.

"Don't worry about me, I can handle myself." Sergi said as he walked over to the pile of supplies.

"You can't be seriously thinking of sleeping outside. In case you haven't noticed, it’s winter right now." The cyan pegasus said to him.

"I am seriously going to do it. The tent in one of these duffle bags can easily keep out the cold and snow. Also I don't want to hassle any of you with myself. I am more than capable of handling myself." Sergi answered as he began to pick up supplies. The others watched in amazement as they watched this human easily carry three of the duffle bags, one on his back and two in both of his hands. He turned his attention to Anderson.

"I am taking the weapons with me. I doubt anyone would want you to be dragging a bag full of weapons into town." Sergi said.

"Where are you going to set up? I doubt that you’re going to pitch your tent right here." Anderson said as he was befuddled by Sergi's actions.

"From what I have seen from maps and what Twilight has told me. A small forest lies close to town on the Northeastern side. From inside there I will set up camp." Sergi answered as if he had already seen everyplace in and around the town.

"Don't worry, I will stay in touch. I just don't want anyone or pony to walk into my camp without me knowing." Sergi said as he saw the faces of everyone else in the group.

Sergi started off on his own way. He could feel the eyes of the others on his back and hear the questioning voices. An old tune from his younger years played in his head. Unable to resist, Sergi began hum the song to himself as he made his way across the open field. Along the trip, Sergi saw little to no ponies. Right about when he crossed a road on the outside of town, he took notice of three little fillies near the side of the road. As he made his way into the forest, they still followed him. Sergi placed the thought of his followers off to the side while he dropped the duffle bags in a clearing and began to set up camp. While working on setting up the tent, he spied on who his observers were. One was a small light yellow foal with red hair and a big red bow, one was a small orange pegasus with purple hair, and the last one was a small white unicorn with a mane with three variations of purple. Once Sergi had put up the support poles on the inside of the tent, he went outside and looked toward where they were hiding. On this movement, they bolted out from their hiding spots and ran out into the woods. Sergi chuckled to himself as he went to throw the camouflage cover over the tent. After the tent was completely set up, he moved inside to work on the living quarters. The desk, furnace, and bed were the first things to get taken care of. Next was getting rid of what snow was in there. Lastly was the setting up the gun rack. Sergi placed his PPSH on the desk for cleaning latter along with the FAL. The 1887 shotgun went into a secret pocket under his cot, since it would be too short for the rack since the barrel had been sawed off. Sergi walked over to the two duffle bags full of weapons and began sorting them out. The floor of the tent space was soon enveloped by piles of old and new tech guns. Several AK-47's and AK-74's laid next to the desk. Three Beowulf-46's were on the ground between the desk and the cot. A Barret .50 caliber sniper rifle, a Woodson '67 anti-material rifle, and a Russian rail rifle leaned against the cot. Several variants of the SPAS shotgun were placer near the entrance of the tent. An American rail gun laid on the cot, taking up most of the space. A box of fragmentation grenades and incendiary grenades were placed on top of the desk. A Mittelstedt light machine gun laid over by the furnace along with a Mc'Alpine Light machine gun. Other than the guns, multiple types of combat blades and hatchets were sorted into piles, including an officer’s sword. With the small armory finally organized in piles, Sergi started to place them on the racks he had put together. Everything fit into the racks, except for the rail gun. A quick solution was made and the rail gun was placed leaning against the end of one of the two racks. After the guns were in place, he placed all of the ammunition in one of the duffle bags and placed it underneath the desk. Satisfied that everything was almost in order, Sergi placed his personal bag at the foot of the cot and walked over to the tent entrance while placing his helmet on. On the right side of the entrance was a screen with various buttons below it. After pressing some buttons and heading through some menus, a low hum could be heard. The metal poles holding up the walls glowed white.

"Command post activated. No networks detected. Create new network?" A monotone male voice said from the screen.

After pressing another button, the now white metal poles sent a pulse up to the connector piece at the top of the tent. Walking outside, Sergi could see a beam of light shining up into the sky above from the top of his tent.

"Network created, uploading images of surrounding area..." The male voice said through his helmet.

"Uploading complete, uploading information from helmet systems..." The voice continued.

"Welcome Commander of the Cossacks. Would you like to connect to other helmet systems in the area?" The computer asked in his headset.

"Yes." Sergi simply answered.

Seeing everything up and running, Sergi walked back inside and began cleaning his PPSH and the FAL. Once done, Sergi removed his helmet and placed it on the recently cleared desk and walked over to the cot. He took off his jacket and placed it next to the cot. Lying down on, Sergi turned over and reached into a pocket in his jacket. He pulled his hand out of one of the many pockets and looked at the handful of dog tags in his hand. He flipped through all of them, remembering every single one in great detail. The last pair of tags left he held longer than the others and memories of her flashed through his head. She was the first good thing that happened to him after the fall of the Cossacks and his imprisonment in the labs from hell. As Sergi placed the dog tags back into their respective pockets, he could hear her voice talking to him.

"My, my, my. What a situation you’ve landed in. Going from the doorstep of hell to almost paradise. Just remember to show me to everyone at some point." She said from his helmet.

"I will, don't you worry your pretty little head. I will..." Sergi replied back to his helmet before he laid down and fell asleep.

================================================================

Well, that's the chapter for you. I must again give thanks to frieD195 for proofreading this piece. I am very thankful for all of the input on the story, even the interesting discussion about the 1887 shotgun I only mentioned twice in the last chapter. Hopefully the small armory of weapons will interest you.

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