• Published 17th Aug 2014
  • 9,227 Views, 478 Comments

Metal Gear Spark: Peace Zero - GreenS21



Metal Gear Solid crossover. Princess Twilight returns to Equestria after vanishing, but what story does she have to tell?

  • ...
18
 478
 9,227

The Illusion of Peace

Snake had made his way down from Peace Walker and was looking at it from its left side while Twilight and Dr. Strangelove stood on the opposite side, all of them looking up at the severely damaged machine before them. Despite the damage done to it and the Mammal Pod having all of its memory boards removed, it was still transmitting the false data. It spoke, its electronic voice no longer sounding anything like The Boss’ voice, “MIRV re-entry vehicles detected five-thousand two-hundred, five-thousand three-hundred… Entering terminal phase.”

Snake was already pulling the Carl Gustav rocket launcher off his back when Miller contacted him, “Snake! You have to stop that data from being sent!” He still had a couple missiles left over from the supply drop and he immediately loaded one into the launcher after he launched the one in it up at Peace Walker’s drill missile launcher. The explosion from the second one caused the launcher to break off and fall to the ground.

Strangelove and Twilight moved away from Peace Walker as he began reloading again, both knowing he was going to throw everything he had it to get the data flow to stop. They stopped in front of one of the warehouses on the side of the road as he finished reloading and watched him fire it up at the Mammal Pod. After a few seconds, Miller shouted in Twilight’s ear, “Don’t just stand there, Twilight! Help him out!” Twilight didn’t really appreciate the screaming in her ear, but she knew he was right. Snake was trying to do something, anything that would cause the contacts to short like Huey mentioned. Even if it meant pushing herself to her limits, she had no reason not to be helping him out.

She looked back at Strangelove before spreading her wings and flying towards Peace Walker again, her horn already glowing with magic. She began firing magic shots at it as she got closer to add something to the damage Snake was doing with his missiles, which he was quickly running out of. It wasn’t long after she landed that he switched to the M60 he had called for earlier, both him and Twilight moving around it while firing up at it, explosions going off every few seconds that caused the machine to shake and let out what sounded like a scream. As they continued firing at it, they could hear the others talking over the radio.

“I’m scared, Amanda…” Chico murmured.

“Do something, Snake!” Miller yelled.

“Snake…” Paz breathed.

“Is there nothing we can do?!” Amanda asked.

In the midst of their firing on the AI weapon, a jolt seemed to run through its body as it struggled to extend its back legs to their full height like it was trying to get up. It managed to do it, but it then froze in that position, its legs remaining extended even as it shook from the explosions that were occurring even in its legs.

Despite the M60’s large magazine, Snake did not have infinite ammo. After reloading twice, he found himself unable to reload when his gun became empty for a third time. Twilight wasn’t in much better shape, the earlier fight with Peace Walker having taken a toll on her magic reserves and now she was really starting to feel it, the beginning of a headache making it difficult for her to focus. She dropped down to the ground next to Snake and held a hoof to her forehead while he prepared to throw a supply drop marker, but Twilight forgot about her pain and Snake didn’t throw the marker due to a prolonged shudder running through Peace Walker catching their attention.

All of a sudden, Peace Walker began to move again, raising itself up from the ground as its electronic voice began droning, “Estimated time to impact, two-hundred seconds, one-hundred ninety-five seconds, one-hundred ninety seconds…” It dropped down from its full height, seemingly unable to do any more, and slammed its head against the ground. “…one-hundred eighty-five seconds, one-hundred eighty seconds, one-hundred seventy-five seconds, one-hundred seventy seconds, one-hundred sixty-five seconds, one-hundred sixty seconds…” As Snake, Strangelove, and Twilight stared at it, they noticed the red lights going around the Mammal Pod flickering. Suddenly, the pod itself began to move. “…one-hundred… fifty-five seconds, one… hundred… fifty… ty seconds, one-hun… five seconds…”

The red lights turned back on, as bright as ever, and the Mammal Pod shook again as Peace Walker began to struggle to stand up again, slipping once before managing to successfully raise itself up. The red light on the front of the pod began to blink rapidly as it reached its full height and stood its ground. It looked out at Lake Colcibolga as, instead of the electronic voice, everyone began to hear music coming from it. It was a short melody, then they heard, “Sing… Sing… a… sing a, sing a… song.” The flock of butterflies from before began fluttering around Peace Walker again as it continued, its voice becoming less electronic and more life-like as the melody began to accompany its words.

“Boss…?” Snake asked.

“That voice…” Strangelove murmured as she stepped up next to Twilight.

“Is she… singing?” Twilight asked in wonder.

Suddenly, the red lights on the Mammal Pod changed to yellow and Peace Walker began to walk forward. “What…?” Strangelove breathed.

In Washington D.C., the Congressmen finally stopped pointing guns at each other as they began to hear the song too. “…What’s going on?” the first Congressman asked.

“That… song…” the Chairman breathed.

In Nicaragua, Snake took a step forward as he asked, “Boss… Is that you…?”

At Mother Base, Huey’s right hand shook a short distance away from his glasses as he stared at what was happening on his screen. “How in the…?” he started to say.

Peace Walker raised its left front leg and moved forward, setting it down in the water followed by its right front leg. “A ghost in the machine…?” Strangelove breathed as it continued walking forward, even as its whole body became surrounded by water.

“She’s heading for the deeper water,” Twilight realized as Peace Walker slowly began to sink below the surface.

“She’s drowning herself to stop the transmission?” Strangelove asked. As Huey had predicted, the contacts getting wet shorted them out and the false data stopped appearing on NORAD’s map, but even then, Peace Walker didn’t stop walking out into the lake.

While watching, Huey spoke, “It’s functional compensation. When the human brain is damaged, sometimes it recovers over time. Other parts of the brain take over functions of the damaged parts. Mammal and Reptile were patterned after different parts of the human brain. When those parts were assembled together into one, they must’ve become capable of functional compensation…”

On NORAD’s map, the points of impact disappeared and were replaced with peace symbols, not only on the United States, but the rest of the world as well. “Her memories… remained with her…” Strangelove murmured. Her shoulders began to shake and her breath quickened, “Is this her answer? This song?”

As Peace Walker began to sink completely beneath the lake’s surface, the rays of the Sun began to poke through the clouds in the sky. “It’s clearly not thinking rationally… It’s not using its head… It’s using… its heart,” Huey realized.

“This is the fate she chose for herself,” Strangelove choked out.

Out over the lake, Miller’s chopper continued to hover high above the water, the blonde-haired man having witnessed everything through the chopper’s windows. He let out a sigh and said, “The Boss’ innocence has been proven…” He looked over at Paz, seeing her draw out the peace symbol in the condensation on the window next to her, “Do you hear it, Snake? Do you hear The Boss’ song?”

Back at the base, Twilight noticed one last butterfly overhead, its brightly colored wings carrying it out over the lake towards Peace Walker. As she watched it, she heard Strangelove say, “You saw it, didn’t you? …When you went to space… that there’s beauty outside of battle. At last, I understand. In the end… it was you who put down your gun… and chose instead to sing…” Her voice began to break, “They can all hear you… I know they can… And your will shall surely live on. That’s what you wanted… So much that you gave up everything you had… But you couldn’t achieve it.” Twilight looked up at her as she heard the woman start to softly sob. “Isn’t that right? And still all you can do is sing. There’s no peace to be found, anywhere. And so, we can only keep on hoping… Hoping for the illusion we call peace.”

Twilight looked back at the lake, seeing Peace Walker nowhere in sight. She thought she saw something whipping through the air heading out over the lake, but she couldn’t think about it. She didn’t want to think about it; at that moment, all she could think about was what she had just witnessed, about how her understanding of this world was being questioned once again by this sacrificial, selfless act.

________________________________________

Twilight could feel her eyes growing wet as she watched Peace Walker’s final moments play out before her again. She’d insisted on using her magic to show the end of the incident, saying she didn’t think words would be able to convey what she saw. It seemed to have had the effect she was hoping for; as she used a hoof to wipe her eyes, she looked over at her family and friends and saw that they seemed to be amazed by what they had seen.

Rainbow was the first to say something. “Whoa, Twilight… Was… Is that…?” she tried to say.

“Yes, Rainbow. Peace Walker really did that. No one told it to do that; it made that decision,” she said.

“Twilight, that’s amazing. That doesn’t happen every day, does it?” Spike asked.

“It certainly doesn’t, Spike. I was very lucky to have been there and witnessed that,” Twilight replied.

Naturally, Discord felt it was his duty at this point to interject with his two bits. Everyone looked at him when he bent his long body forward, his half-lidded eyes close to the magic screen as he looked at it. “Hmm… The videography is quite good, and it’s an emotional piece to be sure. I do have one question, though.” He turned his head to look at Twilight, “Why was it all black, white, and gray?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow as she glanced at the screen, then back at him. “I don’t know. I didn’t do anything to it. It just… came out that way?” she shrugged after a moment.

Discord’s expression didn’t change as he said, “Hm. Well, if you’re going to be using magic like that, Twilight, then you should be able to explain what appears better. Maybe you should study more. Or maybe your horn simply needs an upgrade.” As he was finishing, he started moving his lion paw up and over to her horn, one finger extended as if he was going to tap her horn with it. He stopped short when Shining loudly cleared his throat, causing the draconequus to stop short and Twilight’s screen to disappear as everyone looked at him. “Oh please, Shining Armor. What are you trying to do, one-up your sister?” he asked, keeping his finger where it was.

“Back off, Discord,” Shining ordered firmly.

The draconequus snorted as he pulled his paw back, “You know, you’re not really going to do it right if that’s the best you can do.” Still he complied, going back to his regular sitting position.

Celestia gave a hum before saying, “Well, as Spike said, Twilight, that was certainly a powerful spectacle to be a witness to. Perhaps in some way, magic does exist in that world.” She saw her former student give a slight nod before looking off to the side a bit sadly. “Is something wrong, Twilight?” she asked.

Everyone looked at Twilight as she started, “Uh… I don’t think I could ever forget that. It was an incredible sight to behold and definitely a ray of hope in what was a very bleak situation. Just… I…”

Rainbow spoke up, “What? Spit it out, Twilight!”

The lavender alicorn finished, “It’s just… kind of a shame that Snake didn’t see it like Strangelove did, that what Peace Walker did wasn’t the answer he was expecting.”

That statement resulted in confused looks from everyone. “Whatever do you mean, Twilight Sparkle? You said Snake raised his hand in a salute to what Peace Walker did. You even showed it in your… recording,” Luna said.

Twilight replied, “Yes, I know, Luna. But did you also notice that he took off his bandanna and threw it to the wind? That’s what I saw flying through the air.”

Rarity asked, “So? What does a scrap of old cloth he was wearing have to do with anything, Twilight?”

Twilight answered, “That bandanna used to belong to The Boss, Rarity. Snake told me about it once. He said he pulled it off of her head when she ‘defected’ to the Soviet Union. He wore it for the entirety of Operation: Snake Eater.”

Pinkie piped up, “Ooh! Then he was wearing that bandanna for a long time! That means head had it for like… ten years, right?”

Twilight nodded, “Right, Pinkie. And in spite of that and what The Boss meant to him, he still took it off and let it go.”

Rainbow asked, “Why?”

________________________________________

Twilight was looking up at Snake curiously when she heard Dr. Strangelove start to walk away. She turned to look and saw her pass by Miller, who was walking towards them. The two passed each other without a word and continued walking, Miller coming to a stop near the two. He looked down at Twilight as he spoke, “There you two are. Come on, Twilight, let’s get you back to Mother Base. After all you’ve been through… you must be starving.”

Twilight glanced down at her stomach, blushing as heard it let out a rumble at Miller’s words. “Yeah… I am,” she admitted. She’d had to put it at the back of her mind due to everything that happened since she was captured, but it hadn’t gone away completely. She’d tired out sooner than normal because she was running on adrenaline rather than proper fuel for her body.

“We landed the chopper over there. Just follow Strangelove; we’ll be right behind you,” Miller said. Twilight nodded and walked around him, trotting after Dr. Strangelove. As she walked away, she heard him say, “Snake? You still here? C’mon, let’s go back.”

She almost didn’t catch it, but she came to a stop when she overheard Snake say, “I’m not going back.” Twilight turned around in alarm at that, seeing Miller looking at him like he was trying to figure him out.

“Huh?” Miller asked.

Snake stated, “I’m done.”

Miller started, “Snake, you don’t mean…”

Snake looked up, looking out over the lake as he clarified, “I’m done looking for the truth.”

Miller asked, “What are you saying, Snake?”

Snake shook his head, “I was wrong.”

Miller held out his right hand in the direction of the chopper, “C’mon, Boss. Everybody’s waiting for you.”

Snake quietly said, “…She betrayed me, Kaz.”

Miller was just as confused as Twilight about that statement. “She what?” he asked.

Snake continued, “In the end, she put down her gun. And when she did… she rejected her entire life up to that point… including me.”

Miller shook his head, “What do you mean?”

Snake finished, “In giving up her life, she abandoned everything she was as a soldier…”

Miller questioned, “And you consider that betrayal?”

Snake said, “I won’t make the same choice as her. My future… is going to be different.”

Miller started, “Then…”

Snake nodded, “Yeah, that’s right.” He turned to face his friend, “From now on, call me… Big Boss.” Twilight felt nervous when she heard those words. For some reason, the way he said that sounded… ominous to her.

________________________________________

“He did not say that,” Applejack said, sounding aghast at what Twilight had related.

“He did,” Twilight said simply.

Cadance shook her head in disbelief. “He… He really thought that her putting her weapon down in the end was betrayal?” she asked, Twilight nodding in reply.

Rarity spoke, “Perhaps this is a line of thought that I simply cannot fathom, but I fail to see what would make him think that. Putting down your weapon and saying you don’t want to fight anymore is not always a bad thing!”

Rainbow nodded, “I know, right? You all know what I’m like. I love action; my dreams are filled with all sorts of crazy action and even I think what The Boss AI did was awesome! She gave up her actual life and being brought back to life to try to bring the world back together! How could anyone not have total respect for her for doing that?”

Fluttershy asked, “Was Snake just… not thinking right when he said that, Twilight, or was he really convinced of that?”

Twilight let out a sigh, thinking about her words before carefully saying, “I… I remember him telling Paz once afterwards that he has nothing against people who believe in peace, but… I feel like the only thing I know for sure about him is that he never really imagined living in a world where there isn’t a constant fight going on somewhere.” She raised her right hoof and rubbed it across the front of her chest as she said, “He was really, I guess, passionate about what The Boss really wanted in the end, but looking back at what Peace Walker did… I do have to wonder.”

Applejack asked, “Wonder about what?” Twilight seemed about ready to answer her when a yawn suddenly escaped her mouth. “Twilight?” Applejack asked, concerned.

Twilight stretched a little before saying, “Sorry. That slipped out. Come to think of it, though… what time is it?” She unclipped her iDroid and clicked it on, glancing at the clock. “It’s… actually starting to get kind of late,” she said after a moment.

Luna blinked, “What?” She quickly stood up and moved around to Twilight’s side to look at the display. She spied the clock clustered down in the lower right corner and, based on when they had dinner and when they came down for the mock battle, it seemed Twilight had set it correctly for Equestria time. “Its been that long?! I got so caught up in the sparring and storytelling I stopped moving the Moon! It’s probably still just sitting in the sky!” she exclaimed.

Celestia stretched a little and noticed that some of the others seemed to have caught Twilight’s yawn since they were starting to show signs of tiredness as well. She spoke, “It has been a long day for everyone, Luna. Why don’t we stop here for the night and hear some more in the morning? You’re all welcome to stay in the guest rooms here.” Everyone liked the sound of that and, after Twilight retrieved her saddlebags, they all left to find a place to sleep.

A little while later, Spike was laying in a small bed that had been provided for him, quietly snoozing away. For the first time in about a month, he had had little trouble falling into a deep, restful sleep. Having Twilight back safe and sound and awake was a great load off of his mind, and it was a good thing they usually slept so close together since he wanted to be sleeping close to her tonight. Not in the same bed, though; he was too big for that. Sleeping in the same room as her was enough for him. Although, at the moment, her bed was empty.

Twilight was sitting out on the guest room balcony, her paipo in her mouth again as she tried to get the last bit of oil out of it. She looked up at the night sky as she sat, the familiar sight relaxing her further. The night sky out in the Caribbean on clear nights had looked beautiful too, but there was just something about looking up at the night sky in Equestria that she couldn’t put her hoof on, something that felt so much more right to her. It really did cement the feeling that she was finally home, that it was over, yet it felt like there was something nagging at the back of her mind.

After a few minutes, smoke stopped coming out of the end of the tube and Twilight knew it was empty. She probably would’ve fallen asleep on the balcony at this point, but the night air was a bit chilly, so, after capping and putting the paipo away for proper disposal later, she stood up and walked back into the guest room. She was heading straight for the bed when her eyes fell on her saddlebags and she came to a stop as her face fell. “Right, that’s it,” she thought to herself. The thought that had been bothering her was now at the forefront of her mind.

She stared at her bags for a short while, hoping it would go away before finally shaking her head and looking at the bags with a more determined expression. “No. I have to know,” she thought as she walked over to them. As she started to lower herself onto the floor, she stopped and looked over at Spike, seeing him still snoozing peacefully in his bed. She looked back down at her saddlebags and then back at him a few times before using her magic to pick them up and place them on her back. She then crossed over to the door and quietly opened it, closing it behind her as she stepped out. Content that Spike was still fast asleep, she set out down the hall to find a little privacy.

Twilight soon found herself standing outside the door to the tower that she used to study at. She looked up at the tower as she said to herself, “It’s been a long time since I was last in here. I wonder if somepony else is using it now.” Still, she pulled out the old tower key she still had and put it in the keyhole of the right door, unlocking it and pushing it open. She lit up her horn as she stepped inside, looking around. Everything looked about the way she remembered it. There were some cobwebs here and there and more dust than she remembered, but it didn’t look like anything had been touched or disturbed.

Suddenly feeling a bit nostalgic, she closed the door and walked up to the second floor, walking in a circle as she looked at the books sitting on the shelves. “Wow. So many memories in here. So much time spent in here. Alone… without any friends… and making Spike do the same…” She came to a stop by one of the bookshelves as her memories of living in Canterlot came to light, particularly remembering the day she left. “My friends… Did I have friends when I lived here? I guess I didn’t, considering all I did was study… Those other girls reached out to me… and I always found excuses to not spend time with them…” She looked down in shame, the light from her horn dimming slightly.

She looked up after a few moments, turning her head to look at the bookshelf next to her. As she did, her eyes fell on a red book on the bottom shelf. “A First Edition of Principles of Magic?” she asked as she used her magic to pull it off the shelf. She looked at the stars on the cover, “I remember this one. It was a gift from…” She stopped as she flipped it open and saw some writing inside. “‘To my friend, Twilight Sparkle. Thanks for introducing me to the classics.’” Her eyes shot up, “Moon Dancer. Moon Dancer gave it to me. And I… I…” She clutched the book tightly to her chest and closed her eyes, remembering that day.

After a few minutes, she opened her eyes and looked down at the book sadly. “I… I should do something… Try to make it up to her, to all of them… if that’s even possible at this point…” She glanced back down at her saddlebags, “But… even if things are different now… even if a lot of time has passed by now… if that ray of hope is still there…

She finally composed herself enough to walk over to the stand where she’d read Predictions and Prophecies so long ago, the spot that set so many things in motion for her. Maybe it would happen again. She dropped her saddlebags on the floor next to it and opened the main bag, carefully, almost reverently sliding Principles of Magic inside beside the blank book, which she picked up with her magic. She held it up in front of her and stared at it intently, knowing this was her last chance to back out and try to pretend it never happened.

She nodded to herself after a moment and tilted the book back slightly before opening its cover. Inside, there were actually no words or even pages; the book was actually hollowed out, a deep space taking up essentially most of the inside of it, almost like a safe. And within this space was a large collection of cassette tapes.

Twilight used her magic to pull out seven tapes and arrange them neatly on the stand. She didn’t have any trouble picking them out; they were on top of all the other tapes. She then set the book on the floor and selected the first tape in the line, sliding it inside the cassette player on her belt. She then pulled a pair of headphones out of her bag and plugged them in before putting them over her ears and pressing the ‘PLAY’ button. She listened to the audio, hearing a familiar voice panting and grunting for the first couple of seconds. Afterwards, she heard the voice say, “I made it ashore. I’m in Cuba. Security looks lighter than I thought. I wonder where Paz is.”