Princess Celestia had concerns.
One would think that this goes without saying, but her little ponies, bless their hearts, had a habit of making poor assumptions. While they never bring this up to her in person, many seem to believe that she raises the sun every morn then proceeds to relax and eat cake (curse that tabloid) the rest of the day.
The reality of the situation was that a nation the size of Equestria takes quite a bit of effort to govern. While appointed officials and nobles can ease some of the burden and prevent Celestia’s need to micromanage, she still needs to handle a great number of things.
However such things were, at the time, the least of her concerns.
Her concerns were centered around (aren’t they always) Everfree Forest, and the recent magical anomaly that was sighted within it.
Really, if the anomaly had just stopped after unknown animals howling, she would just assume the problem (if there was one) would solve itself like Everfree problems usually do. After all, Everfree had a nasty habit of doing things itself.
Then a report of some never-before-seen monster had ruined that.
Everfree has always been strange, but never before had it just spat out some entirely new creature. She’d been around for almost as long as the forest itself, after all. She would know.
Under normal circumstances after hearing of some unknown bipedal betentacled creature, she would immediately send a squad of guards to keep Ponyville safe and discourage any beast from coming too close. However, the report of the creature was vague at best, and apparently supplied by the pets of the Element of Kindness. The letter had detailed that Fluttershy had no memory of the supposed encounter, as she had fainted and apparently gotten temporary amnesia.
Celestia wasn’t one to ignore her subjects, even the pets of her subjects, but the evidence suggested that the animals were jumping at shadows. That wasn’t to say that she was going to completely ignore the letter though.
Celestia had written a reply warning Twilight and her friends to keep townsponies away from the Everfree for a while, and to send her a letter the second anything escalated.
So the princess then lowered the sun, hoping her concerns would soon follow it below the horizon and out of sight.
It was not to be. After the sun had been lowered and her sister had taken over court, Celestia still clung onto her concerns as she restlessly tossed and turned in her bed.
She had the worrisome feeling that she should have sent a few guards to Ponyville anyway…
“It smells like cat piss.”
Blacklight and Dana stood outside of the mouth of a medium sized cave, Blacklight holding in his arms three six packs of sodas and assorted junk foods stacked high enough to cover his face. The sun was beginning its descent on the western horizon, and Blacklight wasn’t about to let Dana sleep outside.
Blacklight nodded. “That’s because a cat pissed nearby.”
“I figured. It smells pungently of cat piss.” Dana clarified, wrinkling her nose.
“It does.” He nodded again.
“Cats bury their piss.”
“They do.”
“So for it to smell this much like cat piss, a very big cat must have pissed. Recently.”
“Indeed.” Blacklight agreed.
“So… maybe we shouldn’t go in that cave?”
Blacklight looked at Dana. “Felines aren’t cave dwellers.”
“Yeah, and unicorns don’t exist. We were wrong about one certainty, we can be wrong about another.”
Blacklight blinked. That… was a surprisingly logical assumption.
“Fair enough.” He admitted. “But there’s nothing in that cave right now.”
“How do you know- super vision?”
“Super vision.” He confirmed. Not a lie; his vision is quite super compared to humans.
Dana blinked and shook her head. “Right. But what if this hypothetical cave-cat came back while we’re sleeping?”
“I’ll stand guard.”
Dana turned to him. “All night?”
“I don’t need to sleep” at all “as often as normal.” He explained. He figured this was readily apparent, considering she had never seen him sleep.
She creased her brow. “You know, I read a study online that going without sleep does some bad shit to the mind, even if you aren’t tired.”
That is true. It’s a good thing my mind is nothing like a human’s, Blacklight inwardly chucked.
“I mean, like” Dana continued. “sleeping is when your brain sorts out all kinds of stuff. It just isn’t healthy to go without it, even if you don’t physically need it.”
While touched by her concern, Blacklight couldn’t help but be a bit bewildered that she would assume that her brother, someone she knows is a genius and has a doctorate in genetics, would not know this.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” He said. “I can handle it.”
“Fine. But I’m keeping watch tomorrow night.” She conceded, in that ‘argue with me and I’ll launch a verbal assault the likes of which never seen before‘ tone. Blacklight was getting good at identifying her tones.
In the end, Blacklight would much rather withstand a hail of missiles launched by Blackwatch than withstand a hail of angry words launched by his sister.
“Alright.” He reluctantly agreed. It shouldn’t be too hard to pretend to sleep the next night, and he can leap into action the moment something is even slightly fishy. Yeah, he’ll let her ‘keep watch’ the next night. He won’t be happy about it though. Sleep deprivation is unhealthy, after all.
Dana sighed and started walking into the mouth of the cave. “I’d better not step in cat piss. That smell will never come out of my socks.”
Blacklight followed after, both soda and the assorted bags of junk food still held in his arms.
“Jesus’s erect nipples its cold in here! I thought caves were supposed to be warm!” He heard Dana complain while he set his cargo in a secluded corner of the dark cave.
“Cave temperature varies depending on location and altitude.” He helpfully told her.
“Great! Now I know! And knowing, as it turns out, was approximately zero percent of this fucking battle!” She raved as she found what Blacklight assumed was a relatively comfortable spot, and lied down curled in a fetal position.
Blacklight frowned. The temperature wasn’t low enough to be life threatening, but apparently it was low enough to be uncomfortable. He quickly decided upon a way to rectify the situation.
With a flick of thought, his form changed in unseen ways. He could feel as he sculpted his mass and silently allocated the excess flesh held within the ‘leather jacket’ back into himself, while he separated the jacket from himself, a difference only he would notice. With the article of ‘clothing’ no longer attached to him, he swiftly pulled it off of himself, leaving only the gray hoodie and dress shirt.
He wordlessly stepped over to Dana, who was shivering whilst curled up on the floor still.
Because his biomass is always writhing beneath the surface unless he forces it not to, he generates quite a bit of friction, and in extension, quite a bit of heat. He can obviously control his temperature and mimic that of a regular human’s temperature, otherwise the military would have been able to easily track him using thermal imaging. He chooses not to lower his temperature when he doesn’t have to, as he is stiffer and less agile when he forces his biomass to still. It takes at least half a minute for his biomass to become loose and agile enough for him to move with the same impossible agility he normally has.
Really, the heat had always been a useless side effect. It seemed then that he found a use for it after all.
He placed the biomass jacket on his sister, startling her due to darkness obscuring his movements. The biomass wouldn’t do anything detrimental unless he willed it to, and it will continue to subtly generate heat throughout the night. The only reason he didn’t make a blanket out of biomass was because Dana would inevitably question where it came from.
If she questions the heat, he can easily say it’s left over from him wearing it for so long. If she questions why he himself is so hot, then he can say he had an abnormally high fever ever since he was infected with the ‘superpower’ virus. Not exactly realistic, but she had been assuming up to that point that his abilities point to his infection giving him superpowers.
He was thankful at least, that being infected with a completely beneficial virus that hands out superpowers was more believable than being literally composed of the stolen flesh of his victims. The longer he thought about the lie, the more improbable it seemed, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was that Dana believed him, and that Dana believed that he was, at the very least, fundamentally human.
“Thanks, Alex.” He heard Dana mumble as she curled into the jacket.
Blacklight nodded as if she could see him in the darkness, before turning around and walking back to stand guard outside of the cave.
And so he stood there, motionless like an ever-vigilant golem until the sun rose, wondering what the following day would bring.
Darkness. Why is it so dark? Where am I?
Where is Alex?
I try to stand. I try to move. I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t why can’t I move what is happening?
Where is Alex? What is that pulsing why is it so warm? Where am I where is Alex?
Wait not darkness. A light! Sunlight! Ray of sunlight! A window? Where am I?
Where is Alex?
Red. So much red. Everything is red. Red with blood? No no no not all blood. What is it? What is it? Meat? Why is it pulsing? Why does it move? Why am I so warm? I can’t move I still can’t move why can’t I move? Why am I pulsing is that a heart why am I so warm!?
Where is Alex?
It’s on me why is it on me oh god oh my god it’s on me it’s all over me oh my god oh my god oh my god the red stuff is on me!
Footsteps who is that? What do they want? Will they help me am I like them what is happening where am I where is Alex!?
Oh my god I remember roaring bouncing screaming Alex screaming screaming my name what happened where am I where is Alex!?
Footsteps coming closer who is it who is it who is it please don’t hurt me please don’t don’t no where is Alex!?
There. There she is its what’s her name that college girl from Hope Elizabeth Greene it’s Elizabeth Greene what is she doing where am I she is looking at me oh god she is looking at me Alex Alex where is Alex!?
Oh no no no she’s walking towards me why can’t I move why can’t I run oh god why does she look like that what is she doing what is she doing she’s standing over me she’s looking at me why can’t I run why can’t I move oh god oh my god where is Alex!?
She’s kneeling over me what is she doing she’s smiling why is she smiling her eyes are so dead why is she smiling oh god she’s going to touch me why can’t I scream why can’t I move why can’t I run where is Alex why isn’t he helping where is Alex where is Alex!?
Her voice is echoing everywhere why does she sound like that like so many what does she mean why is she leaning in she’s going to touch me don’t touch me I don’t want this I don’t want to die please don’t touch me why can’t I move why can’t I run where is Alex where is Alex where is Alex where is Alex Alex Alex help Alex help me Alex oh my god Alex help me please save me save me save me Alex please save me Alex help me help me ALEX!
Dana awoke gasping for breath, covered in a cold sweat. She sat up, hyperventilating, her eyes snapping to every corner of the cave she occupied like a terrified animal. She held a hand to her erratically beating heart, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself.
“Holy shit that was intense.” She said to herself, taking another shuddering breath. Dana closed her eyes and shook her head vigorously, as if attempting to physically dislodge the nightmare from her mind.
She’d been having nightmares ever since that ape thing came for her and the events that followed thereafter. She wasn’t entirely certain what had happened after she fainted in the monster’s grasp, as most of her memories were fuzzy as if she wasn’t entirely lucid while they happened and had hallucinated them.
She did remember Greene rather vividly, however. Just as fucked up as the images on her brother’s computer depicted. She had this bloodstained grey jumpsuit on with a collar that met her chin, covering her neck. It had wires, pumps, straps, and other crap she couldn’t really recognize on its arms, legs and back. Her skin was deathly pale, only visible on her uncovered hands and face. She had red splotches on her face, and Dana wasn’t exactly sure if they were bloodstains or some kind of rash. Her hair was red, short and uneven, as if it was cut by a young boy.
By far the most unnerving thing about her was her voice. Dana wasn’t even sure if she imagined this or not, as out of it as she was in those dull memories, but Elizabeth sounded like she was several people speaking at once. Even long after she had stopped speaking, you could hear echoes repeating what she had said as if someone was right behind you whispering into your ear.
Dana shivered. She didn’t know what happened to Greene, but Alex said she had gotten killed sometime during her coma. He said that was why the infection was dying out, though Dana could also wager that the infection was also dying out due to lack of people to infect. What with most of them being dead at that point.
Dana remembers rather clearly the first thing she saw when she woke up after the whole ordeal. An ugly fluorescent light, and Alex’s face staring down at her, concerned, still covered with that stupid fucking hood.
It wasn’t comforting that she woke up in a morgue, but he said that the morgue belonged to Ragland, the doctor she had recommended him. She couldn’t help but laugh at the irony that she, just like her brother, woke up in a morgue after she should have been dead. Key differences being that she still had her memories and she didn’t have superpowers.
She would have really appreciated superpowers, though.
Dana sighed and looked at the cave floor in front of her, and the leather jacket occupying it. She must have thrown it off of herself after her violent awakening.
She looked at the jacket with distaste. She never liked his new sense of ‘fashion’, his fashion being never fucking changing his clothes ever. She actually managed to get him to wear something a mugger wouldn’t once, then she took an hour long nap and he was already dressed back in his damn leather jacket/hoodie getup. She just gave up after that.
Really, that was one of the other quirks of amnesia-Alex. She knew Alex would never wear that kind of crap before he woke up in a morgue with no memories, and now he fucking refuses to wear anything else. He said he woke up wearing that getup, and it made her wonder why he woke up after supposedly being dead dressed like a fucking alley rapist.
Speaking of her brother, where was he? She looked up to the mouth of the cave, not seeing him present. She blinked, before standing up and picking up the surprisingly hefty leather jacket in one hand. He’s probably just taking a piss out in some bushes.
With that thought, she walked out of the cave. She stood outside, looking around, before a faint whimper caught her attention.
Blacklight was, despite his rather short violent life, surprisingly patient. He stood still, not moving even once throughout the night.
There were no predators, small animals, or even birds within his sight. It was almost as if they were avoiding him, as if they could sense how dangerous he is.
…Which they shouldn’t be able to. Despite not breathing or blinking throughout the night, he gave no detectable sign that he was not an average human. If he was detectable to animals, the military would have wised up and used dogs to detect him. Perhaps it was the unknown that frightened them; after all, most animals fear humans at a glance. But for there to be nothing; absolutely no sign of any wildlife as if they were aware a predator was nearby…
Something was wrong.
Blacklight didn’t see, hear or smell anything. Nothing is quiet enough to escape his senses, especially in an environment such as the one he occupied. He was the only viable predator in the area.
He scowled. The animals knew something. It’s not that alarming if animals understand his true nature, but it makes him… paranoid.
What if the equine inhabitants of the town he was planning on scouting can sense him somehow, like the animals apparently can? That would… complicate things.
Blacklight wished there was a way to know for sure before trudging into the town with his ever-fragile sister in tow.
Then, as if some higher power was listening to his thoughts, in came a source of information.
It was a few hours after the sun had risen when he had heard it.
“Mí̱laálogo!”
The shout came from a scratchy voice from a distance far beyond the range of human hearing. Blacklight blinked out of pure bewilderment when he translated the statement the voice shouted as if it were a curse.
‘Horseapples’?
Then he heard a scream, steadily increasing in volume as if it was getting closer to his position. Blacklight averted his gaze to the sky. It was then did he sight the cyan blur rapidly approaching his position, screaming all the way. He tensed, wondering if he should do something.
Then the screaming blur zoomed beneath the tree line, before smashing into the hill the cave his sister was sleeping in was located to the right of his position. He couldn’t see where it landed, but it was close.
Blacklight hazarded a glance behind him, to find that Dana had not awoken from the noise. He then glanced around his surroundings, before mentally shrugging. If anything approached the area, he would hear it, as he was fairly certain the equine had crashed nearby.
He then began the short trek to the crash site, ducking and weaving around branches the whole way. He was rather surprised by what he came across.
The site itself looked like he himself just decided to fall from the sky rather than a small winged equine. The canopy had a strangely large hole in it allowing light to shine through, clearly the point of impact. The dirt and vegetation had been uplifted in the creature’s path, leaving a large streak of disturbed ground leading straight to the small stone cliff-wall that the creature had impacted.
The creature itself was a previously dubbed ‘pegasus’ judging by the wings. Blacklight hadn’t seen this one before; we was pretty certain that even if he had the memory of an average human he would never forget anything with a literal rainbow for hair. Its fur was sky blue, its mane and tail a rainbow ranging from the colors red to violet in a far too consistent pattern to be natural. A quick aside glance towards its rear confirmed its gender, with its evidence of femininity being displayed with ‘her’ tail being sprawled away from her the way it is.
The pegasus’s fur was matted down with dirt and mud from the crash, with clear red scrapes all over her body. Her left front hoof was clearly dislocated, as was her left wing. A gash lied upon her head, slowly trickling blood out of it, the cause of such obvious from the small speckle of blood on the wall she collided with.
Honestly, Blacklight was surprised she was even alive, let alone barely injured (comparatively to what should have happened). He expected a small equine moving at those speeds to be reduced to either an unpleasant stain or a fleshy bag of broken bones and ruptured organs after a crash like that. He clearly underestimated the durability of the creatures.
On the up side, Blacklight finally had a reliable source of information. It was perfect; the female clearly crashed into a dangerous forest, so none of the other inhabitants would look to him or his sister if she suddenly… disappeared after such an event. After all, forests are a dangerous place to be wounded and alone in.
He could easily consume only her head to get the precious memories, and leave a half-eaten mutilated corpse for closure if the natives came looking for her. They’d assume she got picked at by some predator.
He took a step forward, but stopped when the female equine whimpered. He gazed down curiously, seeing her eyes clenched and her muscles tensing in pain. She was still conscious. Barely. That just seemed improbable after a crash like that anything could be conscious afterwards. Blacklight internally shrugged. It didn’t matter if she was conscious or not; she wouldn’t have a chance to scream regardless of her state of alertness.
Blacklight took another step forward, wearing a genuine grin. Luck was finally on his-
“Alex are you back here? Did you hear- holy shit!” Dana exclaimed as she worked her way through the foliage behind him. His grin snapped back into a frown faster than a human eye could even follow.
Motherfucking-
“Holy shit it’s actually a- wait, did you do this!?” Dana was next to him, gawking at the sight of the apparently ex-mythical creature. Blacklight turned to give Dana a flat look at the question, before gesturing to the upturned dirt and the hole in the canopy.
Dana blinked. “Oh. I suppose I should have- wait no fuck that. You weren’t fucking with me!”
Blacklight looked at Dana with a half-lidded expression. “I thought we had established that.”
“We did but holy shit it’s actually a fucking horse with wings! And it’s got fucking rainbow hair! Mane! Whatever!” Dana said, dancing in place like a child, before suddenly stopping with a creased brow. “Wait, is it dead? Please tell me it isn’t dead; I’ve seen way too many dead things recently and this little guy is too cute to be dead.”
Blacklight was about to answer before a pained moan erupted from the small equine answered for him.
“That didn’t sound like a horse sound.” Dana stated the obvious. “That didn’t even sound like a guy sound and-“ She stopped, her eyes widening. “Wait didn’t you say that they were sentient!?”
“Sapient.” Blacklight corrected.
“Same difference- whatever- look!” The virus frowned. Sentient and sapient are not even close to synonymous. “We have to help her!”
Blacklight nodded his head, internally grumbling at the loss of his meal. He shouldn’t have stopped to gawk. Opportunity missed.
He vowed not to hesitate should another such opportunity present itself.
I love it! The little view into Celestia's mind, Dana's typical attitude about life, the universe, and everything. Then there was her PTSD nightmare. Jeesh, that LET ME FREE YOU terrified me.
Another excellent chapter despite its short length (I know that feel). I can tell Alex Mercer will forever have a grudge against Rainbow. I wish I could like this again, just for that picture in the AN. Missed some sleep staying up late to read this, but it doesn't matter because I don't need to sleep. at all. much.
This chapter I like it
Dat pic in the authors note though. ANYWHO! New chapter! Yay!
Ya did good.
Loooooved it!!!!!
“Great! Now I know! And knowing, as it turns out, was approximately zero percent of this fucking battle!”
OH my god, my sides hurt that was so funny!
That pic in the Author's Notes killed me.
My sides are in another universe.
I'm sorta dissapointed that the virus didn't go omnomnom on skittles over there. You could turn him all the colors of the rainbow!
The translation might be a small problem if Dana meets them on her own... Especially since there are already guards on the lookout for a bipedal creature.
3800096 who said it was going to be a ptsd nightmare?
There is actually a person out there who doesnt. Anyways, Thanks for the next chapter, your awesome. And I don't mind waiting as long as I get something good to read at the end.
Can't wait to see how dash reacts, why must you tease me so?
i1345.photobucket.com/albums/p678/MenialLabor/murdersRD_zpsa1de0caf.png
This could be useful. I may post this on stories where Rainbow Dash is being a prick. Heh.
Interesting.... and him choosing to willingly devour a sapient creature despite having sworn himself to start being more human? Kinda contradicts what you have characterized him to be.:( Drastically so, actually.:\ Figured he'd only eat those that attack him from then on based on that, and Rainbow Dash clearly did not do so. Goes against what you've developed him to be, honestly.:\
But, other than that clear deviation from your previous chapters, it's an overall great chapter, despite it being shorter than your average chapters.^_^
Oh thank friggin god. If you killed RD I wold likely instantly stopped reading this. After all, she is best pony xD
3800394
...Not really. He's clearly more concerned about Dana's safety than he does pretending to be human while she isn't watching. He wants to be sure of the ponies' harmlessness before attempting to make contact, and he figured the best way to do that is to get into the head of one of them.
Another thing is that I figure what he meant by 'pretending to be human' was that he was going to pretend while Dana can hear of his actions. There are already tons of reports about the 'Monster of Manhattan' being a horrible monster, as Dana's previously mentioned CreepyPasta adventures prove. I just think that he didn't want to kill people wonton anymore in a world where mass media can reveal his actions to Dana at any time. As for Rainbow Dash alone in a forest? I figure his reasoning is "what she doesn't know won't hurt her". Then Dana showed up and saw her, and like magic, he isn't going to kill her anymore. Probably.
Just sayn'. Doesn't look inconsistent to me.
3800492 Seemed to me more like he chose to even when Dana isn't aware earlier, due to the shopping scenes in the first chapter. He could have done so while in an alleyway quite easily, but chose not to. And just how he thought about it seemed to point towards him not wanting to harm innocents... not out of guilt, but out of a desire to be more human, even when not around Dana since she was no where near at the time he had thought that.
3800505
I suppose it depends on your perspective, but my first point still stands. He'd rather eat a pegasus than risk his sister.
3800530 That much is true.
More, i want more.
Also it is official, universe hates Blacklight.
lupinia.eu/gallery/main.php%3Fg2_view%3Dcore.DownloadItem%26g2_itemId%3D18969%26g2_serialNumber%3D4
Annnnnnnd first contact is established by best pony
Reeeeeeaaaally glad Blacklight didn't kill her. Still, I see the author is allowing for some of that killing intent to show through, setting up the anti-hero vibe. Gonna make it a bit hard to relate with Blacklight, but I suppose that's the point.
I really like this story, especially how Blacklight is trying to be less of a monster for the sake of his sister. I can understand his reasoning about wanting to Absorb RD however, as he'd gain vital tactical information about the strange place he & his sister are in, a form to blend in with the environment & the locals & also replenish his Biomass reserves.
I'm glad he didn't (And when he finds out who Rainbow is, I think he will too ), but that last point stands out to me. It's been a while since I played Prototype so is it established how long Blacklight can go without 'Feeding?' If he doesn't absorb will he begin to suffer ill-effects or even die? Can he 'eat' anything other than Individuals? Perhaps a Bushel of Apples & a nice "Welcome to Ponyville!" cake will be enough to replenish his reserves?
I agree with 3801251 here. A bushel of apples and a cake do contain a quite large amount of energy as sugar, and since we don't see Blacklight shedding any matter at all unless he does it willingly like in the jacket scene, I assume he doesn't need to replace its proteins.
But then there remains the question of how fast the energy of that snack would be burned away.
3801368
But that's assuming of course that Blacklight can 'metabolise' energy from food like a normal living being. If he's incapable of powering or restoring his biomass via any other method than direct absorption/assimilation then there could be a problem, unless he chooses to hunt the monsters of the Everfree for sustenance.
Well RD was clearly doing some stunts and it gone bad. I like that you are using their cartoonish durability mixed with realism. It will makes things more interesting.
Besides. God bless Danas ability to pop out at the most appropriate moments!
Oh and Alex/Blacklight might not be a human but he can lie to himself that he is emotionless as much as he can. He love and care for his sister and well...can be annoyed like we seen when he wasted oportunity for a meal.
3801251 It wasn't ever said. Some abilities even in first game (if I'm remember correctly) were allowing prototype to regenarate. Aaaand if his cells/biomass is anything close to cancer it is immortall and with how powerful this virus is I'm quite sure that he can be "alive" with no food, and no great damage inflicted during that time for hundreds or thousands of years. Besides. Biomass....he can eat almost anything from shit, to meat or plants.
3800505 You are right but look at this from his perspective. He is pretty durable but if he want to survive and want to protect his sister he need to know more about this world. Seeing that fragile looking pony is a helluva more durable than a human or a car is enough reason to gather some intel...and what is the best way to do than consuming someone else mind? As far as we know magic can be really devastating to him,besides he don't know about Princesses..... actually Dana probably saved his butt. Luna nor Celestia would be too happy to even try to reason with him if he succeded in what he was going to do.
3800096 Iimagine what would happen if he eaten Pinks. Universe probably would explode.
so far so good.
Keep it up.
Thank you Dana!
Well thank god. If he had consumed Dash's memories and then realized who he had just eaten, he'd know he had just condemned him and his sister as enemies of an entire world.
Also, most people don't gag at seeing horse genitals. Not sure what was up with that.
Ok, so far: Blacklight is quite interesting. I like what you have going for him, as it paints a character that has potential down the line. I also like that you, to an extent, bothered to actually take into account that the show is very consistent with the Equestrians being freakishly tough.
*edit*The problems I have however are apparently mostly in my head.
Nothing to see here. :V*edit*
-Design: Ending up in the everfree. This is already a bit too in to fix, but the overwhelming majority of stories have the visiting characters end up there, or nearby. In future stories, try somewhere else?
-Rainbows crash: She can break rock faces flying backwards, snap meter thick trees like twigs, and chew barns apart with her teeth. Chances are, any impact zone that could really knock her out of it for any amount of time would do more than make a trench in the ground. Try wrecking trees and knocking a crater in the rockface.
Lastly, and many people miss this, but you could probably take it into account for the "Comedy" part of "Dark comedy": Twilight is weaker than AJ(Winter Wrap Up). Twilight(And Rarity) is capable of hauling TOM from Canterlot to Ponyville. Tom weighs about a solid ton(Assuming ponies are 3'8"-4'4" based on the various scalings, that puts TOM, if made out of normal granite, within the 1800-3000 pound range for a cubic/spherical meter of said rock).
Twilight is weaker than AJ. AJ is high end for Earth Ponies, but not the peak(second place everything at a rodio anyone?). She's also not an athlete, but a farmer(different muscle groups). Rainbow can match AJ in strength. Rainbow is not unique in physical capability(Wonderbolts, Lightning Dust). Male ponies like Big Mac or the train ponies are larger than both of them.
Every pony in the show who at least keep fit could dismantle a house, or a car, or whatnot, on their own in relatively short order. Cheerilee, a schoolteacher, could break down a wall to the extent that it looked like a car drove through it.
The CMC were awarded a "Most Destructive" medal at the summer wrap up for launching repeated fireworks clusters strong enough to blow up houses and melt nails(IDW Comics, Big Mac issues). For reference, nails are freaky hard to melt with an explosion.
Equestria has rather loose values on "What's dangerous".
They have comic books that can be used like Ghostbusters ghost traps, but on non ghosts.
Ponies, and changelings, along with Alicorns, can soak energy blasts that crater stone(Canterlot wedding with the TwiGun spell, and the NMM flashback from season 4 with Celestia soaking 155mmHE grade castle wrecker spells.)
Watching Blacklight try and navigate the minefield that is "Mostly Harmless Equestria" will be quite entertaining.
Oh, also, since I hadn't seen anything of it yet, Blacklight operates by absorbing mass, and being incredibly dense because of it. His flight capability for instance has him vent blood in a pressurized mist like a bottle rocket, for flight. He's quite heavy, unless he finds ways to safely dispose of said mass.
I think his average weight though would be between 200-2000 pounds, depending on snacking and mass venting.
Still, I look forwards to seeing more.
3802977
Eh? I think you misunderstood there. She was referring to the pets of Fluttershy, like Angel, who described the 'monster' they saw.
3802990
I gain 10 "Missed something" points. What reward do I get?
3803041
An edited comment and perhaps a confused glance from the author when he reads this.
3802963
Most people don't. I, however, remember a line from the first chapter.
It would appear Blacklight doesn't like the sight of anything pertaining to sexy times.
3803589
Which is odd considering that infection is a form of organic reproduction. Even assuming that being a virus he is conditioned to be adverse to any form of reproduction other than that of his own species, those organs are only used for reproductive purposes maybe 1/100th of the time, and that is factoring in internal processes as well as sex. The rest of the time they are merely for organic waste excretion.
The only rational reason Blacklight would have a revultion to the mere sight of genitals is if he had a degree of sexual curiosity and considered those genetalia in that context. This is a standard human response but he is not human. Otherwise he should be revolted by direct implications of sex, but not by the body parts themselves.
3801452 You forgot that he's never shed any biomass at all since the start of the story.
RD you owe Dana some cider
3804515 3801452
I am sure Blacklight could "Grow" a stomach, super-speed metabolize nearly any food (Even "foods" that most creatures do not consider food, due to inability to digest it), and then re-absorb the stomach structure when he no longer needed it.
The main problem I see is this:
In the game, you tore through people and the infected like a child tearing through skittles.
Blacklight ate
dozensHUNDREDS of people every day.Now multiply that by the average weight of an adult human...
...all that meat and bone and fleshy stuffs.
That's no small amount of protein.
(Granted, he was burning through energy a lot faster, given how fast he needed to move and how many cars he tossed around as if they were styrofoam packing peanuts.)
A person or creature weighing as much as an adult human (His regular food source) would contain a LOT of material (which would not need to be digested, and then formed into new cells. So absorbtion of -at least similar [meaning carrots and apples won't cut it]- biomass saves a lot of extra steps).
A bushel of apples and a cake contain plenty of energy to keep your average human sated for about 4-6 hours.
As we all know, Blacklight can easily put out hundreds of times as much energy -if not thousands, or more- as your average human does in the same time frame.
Granted, when he slows down, so does his energy consumption.
But even the simple things, like his having a relatively massive -and constant- heat output, or his moving with super-human speed and agility, is a constant drain far greater than that of the average person.
All that drain equates to consumption of physical fuel (IE, food, AKA biomass).
So, his daily intake is vastly dependent on his activities, however, he would likely have to consume a full meal every few minutes if he stops "eating" creatures.
Perhaps, if he were to absorb
a few hundred thousand frogsa few hydra it would fill him up nicely.So, all-in-all, he just has to find a high-protein food source.
Specifically, one that people (And presumably ponies as well) will either be glad he's chowing down on, or at least won't care one way or another.
Side note:
He could supplement vast quantities of sugar (or other saccharides) to greatly reduce his need to feed on foods of substance (Foods that consist of something his body could use to create biomass -cells- other than just raw energy -sugars-), however, he would likely still need to eat much more than the average person.
This -could- allow a being -like Blacklight- that burns though so much energy to eat very large quantities of sugar, and then continue through the day eating meals hear and there as needed to replenish cells that are lost.
Without said sugar intake, it would take hundreds of meals -consisting of food with little or no protein, like apples, carrots, or even cakes- throughout the day (he'd have to eat almost continuously).
If hea ate a few 10 lb bags of sugar each day, he could probably get away with eating 2-3 times what the average human would.
(Just think of Blacklight like a giant black-tentacle laiden hummingbird from Hell ).
Or, he could just go massacre a changeling hive, and not have to worry about what he "eats" for weeks...
(Fun fact: Insects have more protein by weight than nearly any other form of life known to man).
3803632
Ever eaten/drank something you didn't like, but after so long of having to, you start to like it?
I hated coffee, but it was the cheapest way to get caffeine into my system to start my day, so I drank it all the same.
Now, I LOVE the stuff.
Likewise, Blacklight may not BE human, but he has thousands of lifetimes worth of experiences and thoughts FROM humans.
Even though he's not human, he can be influenced by what they would think in a situation.
Thus, he may think the same thing as a human, but simply have better control of how he reacts.
In this case, revulsion at the sight, just no gagging, as he has no gag reflex.
Just my two cents.
Ho,ho,ho
In a majority of the HiE stories ends up having the human/somewhat-human protagonist /antagonist/anti -hero get their ass beaten by a bunch of prissy little ponies.
static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/11111/111116349/3113672-0390384543-armor.jpg
Goddamn Mercer is a fucking badass!!!
I await more of these god-sent chapters!!
3809950
Play the game again, mate. It's stated that the infection started with Blacklight, but it was too deadly at first. It changed when Greene got a hold of it. Check the cutscenes, Mercer confirms that Penn Station was ground zero, not Gentek.
Heh, you seem to forget that Mercer wanted to pretty much kill the whole world before he died. Plus, I think that the author is characterizing ZEUS off of the way most people play him. I.E, as a complete fucking psychopath.
His tendrils looked very different from the standard shifting animation in the first game. 'Wiggly and writhy' is pretty accurate. His tendrils, however, are more 'whippy and murdery'.
3810105
The virus was engineered for humans. He wouldn't have to worry about local fauna getting infected, as most viruses are rather picky about what they infect.
Not bad, but you're definitely slowing down. Or maybe this chapter is just lacking violence and gore. Dunno. Can't wait for Mercer to meet the Ponies, though.
Also - That is true. It's a good thing I have a few hundred minds in my head to handle it, then.
If you'll recall, the drones and virus detectors were detecting airborne viral material. Which likely would have had a smell, detectable by animals.
Besides - virus. Do you really want to risk bringing animals in? They wouldn't be able to come back out of the quarantine alive, and handlers tend to get attached to their charges.
3810024
Two reasons I'mma have to disagree there. Firstly, I queried Dennis Detwiller on this, and he stated that, as far as P1 went, events ran as I've said.
Secondly, think about it. Blacklight was the bio-engineered superweapon that killed it's hosts quickly. If it was released in Penn Station, and escaped from Penn Station, why then did the population of Manhatten not start getting infected, and dying off in droves, until after Greene escaped? I say again, before she does so, there are _no_ signs of infection. Whatsoever.
I'd double check you're not contaminating your P1 info with P2 sources. P2 outright contradicts P1 on several key points, and is non-canon so far as this fic is concerned. Although, please do point me to a cutscene (from P1) which proves me wrong. I've never been able to find one, and I _did_ look.
And now I _know_ you're muddying the waters with P2 material. By the end of P1, we establish that Zeus... is having an existential crisis. That's it. He doesn't want to 'kill the world', at most, he wants to protect Dana. It's P2 and the comicbook tie-ins that turn him into a misanthropic psychopath.
As for modeling him off how 'most people' play... I s'pose that would do it.
Okay, this is a bit too vague. When Dana spoke of 'tentacles', there were three things that came to mind - the 'shifting' animation, the 'Consume' animation (specifically one of the more violent ones, where the body parts orbit around you as they're broken down and dragged into you), and his whipfist. The first is what Dana has seen. I believe it's close enough to the second for her to be able to make the connection. The third... yeah, okay, the third would need to be seen.
3810149
Redlight is basically wardialling evolution. Infected matter pumps out new strains of virus at an incredible rate. Is it worth risking that even one of those strains could jump the species barrier?
Even if that wasn't the case, so far as he's aware, they're in a forest, and a town is nearby. Now, I'm a bit paranoid about biohazards, even if I was at the bottom of a tepuis sinkhole, I'd still torch the material rather than risk a person maybe getting infected, but they don't know that humans aren't around here at this point, so they have no excuse.
3810369
Not quite. Elizabeth Greene pumped out new strains at an incredible rate, not the virus alone. Web of Intrigue made that pretty clear. Hell, Elizabeth Greene was the whole reason Redlight ever got fatal. Before her, it did nothing to humans until the births. That's when shit started going down.
So with no Greene involved, the chances of cross-species infection are so low they may as well be non-existent.
3810317
Trust me, I'm not confusing it with P2. I even have a source confirming it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSmSpTpvstE&t=6m51s
The video states the truth. "Penn Station was ground zero, not Elizabeth Greene."
You misunderstand. I wasn't referring to ZEUS, I.E the player character. I was referring to the original Alex Mercer who died in Penn Station. He died releasing the Blacklight virus hoping it would be unstoppable so it could take the world with him. He did this with full knowledge that his sister and his girlfriend were practically at ground zero, and he did nothing to warn them. With a 'human' template like that to be born from, I'm not surprised ZEUS turned into a monster. Not a 'kill the world' kind of monster, but a 'kill everyone in the vicinity because i'm hungry' kind of monster.
3810453
Being a bit overly literal there. He immediately goes on to say "Whoever did this...to me... I knew you could give me Mcmullen, and Mcmullen would know".
He's clearly referring to _the virus that killed him_, not the one that escaped into the city.
See, Alex brags about how he took Redlight (a virus with a 99.999%mortality rate) and made it more deadly by a factor of ten when he turned it into Blacklight. I again ask you - how could such a thing be released into the city and do _nothing_ for the three days it took for Greene to escape?
Moreover, if the virus _was_ released on the city in Penn Station, how did Greene, kept in isolation at Gentek, turn the floor she was on into something resembling a Hive, _before she could have encountered it_.?
Not quite. His gambit was the classic 'kill me and I cause problems for you'. They called his bluff, except he wasn't bluffing.
Except a) He fully expected Blackwatch to let him go without a fuss, and b) having engineered the Blacklight virus, and knowing how lethal it was, as well as it's inability to survive outside a human host, he released it in an _an underground, confined space_. Yes, he killed everyone in Penn Station. But he specifically ensured he was somewhere that _wouldn't_ allow the uncontrolled spread of the virus before he did so.
As for not contacting his sister and lover - if he had, Blackwatch would have noticed and definitely killed them. Maybe he cared, maybe he didn't want to lose potential assets.
Well, yes and no. Remember, Zeus didn't get the full picture from Alex. Nor did he get the full personality. His priorities seem to be the safety of people he cares for, primarily, and their happiness secondarily. So, nomming onzombies, soldiers, scientists, and Blackwatch? That's fine, there are perfectly good reasons for doing that. Civilians, though? The only justification there is "So I don't die", which should mean he doesn't do it all that much. Oh civilians getting in the way, sure, that's just an 'oops' moment, but killing them intentionally? He aught to be avoiding that after he rescued his sister.
Eh, as I say, I get the feeling he'd consider it, and weigh up the benefit of additional mass vs how upset his sister (as the only remaining person he gives a damn about), would be. So he'd need a justification that he could use to mollify her before going on a killing spree.
3810414
Not quite. The virus Greene was infected with was originally tested on animals, before they did the human trials at Hope, Idaho.
So, given that there is a non-zero probability that the virus could be transmitted, and that they are apparently not somewhere that could be easily quarantined, do you take the risk?
That picture in the author's note made me laugh so fucking hard xD
I still have problems breathing, after like 3 minutes of giggling.