Subject 27

by Phyrexian

Human Nature

Chapter 10 - Human Nature

If you’re having trouble keeping up with the story, than go read the crossover. His story is a really good read. He and I worked on both of our crossovers together! Please go read his story and enjoy it as much as I have!

http://www.fimfiction.net/index.php?view=category&tracking=1&order=updated

I lept from the tree, landing on the manticore’s back. Wrapping my arms around its neck trying to choke it, but its fur was too thick for me to choke it. The manticore tries to buck me off its back, but I’m able to hold on by grasping its thick fur. The manticore lets loose a roar as it gets on all fours and starts to charge up the hill I came from. We reach the top of the hill and the manticore takes a sharp turn heading to the cliff and abruptly stops at the edge, throwing me off its back.

I land on my back as I hit the ground, the manticore jumps off the cliff and lands on top of me, trying to bite my neck I punch its nose before it can sink its teeth into me. The manticore backs off of me after I punch it in the nose, I quickly get to my feet and run to the hill and grab a fairly large rock weighing about ten pounds in my left hand. The manticore charges at me while on all fours, quickly closing the gap in between us. I try to dodge to the left but the manticore starts to slide swinging its tail to the left, sinking deep into my side injecting its poison into me.

I ignore the pain and grab the rock with both hands, and brought it down as hard as I could on top of its head, causing the manticore to fall to the ground. I repeatedly bash the manticore’s skull with the rock over and over again until blood starts to fly up into my face.

The poison that was injected to me from the manticore’s tail quickly went to work, causing my whole side to go numb. Ignoring the poison that is now in my body I pick the manticore up and put it on my back, dragging it back to the camp. After a while dragging the dead manticore on my back through the forest, I eventually see light coming from the camp fire. Getting closer and closer to the camp I’m able to see Colt sitting by the fire, still entranced by the dancing flames.

“Hey Colt, mind giving me a hand with this? This son of a bitch is really heavy.” I say as I try to carry the dead manticore to the camp fire.

“MEAT! I got a stick that would be perfect for roasting that thing!” Colt walks over to the firewood pile and pulls out a very large stick and impales the manticore to roast him.

“27 you’re ba-” Cloud stopping mid sentence as she sees the body of a manticore on the stick.

“W-What do you plan on doing with that 27?” Cloud cocks her head to the side with curiosity filling her voice.

“I said I was going to get us food, and well, I found this big guy and thought it should be more than enough for us for tonight.”

“2-27... Y-You eat meat?” Her face stricken with disgust.

“Yeah... Humans are omnivores... We eat pretty much anything … Do ponies not eat meat?”

“N-No... W-We don’t... I didn’t know that you ate meat....”

“Oh, sorry about that Cloud, here I’ll be back in a few minutes. I saw a few bushes nearby filled with berries.” Saying this I quickly vanish once more under the cloak of the night.

Only having to travel a few minutes out to find the bushes again, I quickly find the bushes and grab what I could carry in my hands, berries and fungi. I return once more from the dark veil of the night, holding a selection of berries and random edible vegetables.

“I’m sorry about that Cloud, hopefully this is more to your liking.”

“Thank you 27!” A smile breaking across Cloud’s face as she see 27 returning once more from the darkness.

You all sit around the fire to eat; Colt and I share the manticore, and Cloud has her veggies. As Colt and I begin to devour the manticore piece by piece, Cloud stops eating and just stares.

“Whatcha’ starin at Cloud?” I begin to ask Cloud as a piece of meat hangs from my lip.

“I don’t see how your kind can eat meat... It seems so unnatural.”

“Nothing is more natural then killing! I mean, we all die eventually, meat eaters just speed up the process.” Daimon says as he appears next to her.

“Cloud, Daimon does have a very valid point. Where we come from, it’s either kill or be killed for the most part. War is in our nature, some born to fight, and some born not to.”

“Don’t do that to me Daimon!” Cloud jumping back a little as Daimon appears next to her.

“But 27, is your world always so brutal? Your kind always killing each other?” Cloud says in between bites of veggies.

“Yes and no, Cloud, there has always been fighting going on in our world, no matter what. But for the most part of it, there is peace throughout the world. We only fight to keep our friends alive from others who seek to do them harm.”

“What does that mean for you and Colt then?” Cloud asking as she continues to eat.

“Well, from what I’ve seen of Colt and Daimon so far is that they’ve had a troubled life, but they are not a soldier like myself. I fight to make sure people like Colt can sleep peacefully at night or have a place to call home.”

“That you do my friend, but I don’t just sit on my ass either.” Colt says as he goes to town on the manticore leg.

“Be that as it may Colt, you make sure that there is someone for me to protect.”

“No problem. I prefer not to kill, though, but that's why Daimon is here, although he enjoys it a bit too much.”

“27, do you enjoy killing as much as Daimon? And don’t you want to return home and continue fighting for your loved ones?”

I stay quiet for a short while before answering the question.

“Cloud, I fight because it’s the only thing I know how to do... I-I.... I barely remember anything from my past... I can only tell you this though... I was an orphan after I did something very bad... I lived in the streets hand to mouth, horrible things happened to me until the day a stranger came and took me in and made me who I am today.” A tear runs down my cheek after saying this.

“Ah, so I am not the only one with a fucked up history. Good to know.” Colt says with a mouth full of food.

“I-I’m sorry 27... I didn’t know...” Cloud says, looking up in shock after hearing the grim life I had.

After an awkward silence Daimon speaks,

“Alright, well fuck this, I am going to bed,”

“You guys get some sleep, I’ll keep watch to make sure nothing happens.” Saying this I stand up and walk over to Cloud to give her a hug.

“Good night Colt, don’t le-,” I said as I looked over to Colt, but Daimon and him had already fallen asleep sitting straight up still clutching onto a piece of cooked manticore.

“Huh, didn’t know humans could sleep like that.” Cloud says as she stares at Colt.

“Yeah, humans can sleep pretty much anywhere they fall.”

“Your kind is a strange one...”

“Cloud try to get some sleep, we have a big day ahead.”

“What about you 27? Aren't you coming to bed?”

“No, I can’t sleep while my friends are asleep in dangerous areas. Old habits die hard. So get some shut eye and I’ll make sure nothing happens over the night.” Petting Cloud as I say this.

“O-Okay... Well, good night 27.” Cloud says as she lays down next to the fire to sleep.

Midnight approached in the Everfree forest. So far, it’s been uneventful for me.

“Subject 27....” Fade whispers into my ear.

“Yes Fade? What’s on your mind?”

“We didn’t find the unicorn in the facility... Any ideas on where we should start looking?”

“No, but when we go see Princess Celestia, I’ll confront her about the facility and ask her about the whereabouts of the unicorn.”

“Do you think she’ll honestly and openly say anything about the facility?” Fade sounding a little annoyed.

“I don’t know, but it’s better than not asking her, right Fade?”

“You do have a good point Subject 27... If anything I can just enter her mind and find the answers I’m looking for.”

“You’ll do no such thing, last thing I need is to get arrested for trying to assassinate the Princess. And we can probably find a more peaceful solution than trying to consume her soul.”

“Doesn't that defeat the purpose of being an assassin, Subject 27? And lass, don’t you remember what happened the last time you tried to consume someone?” My friend chimes in to the conversation.

Both Fade and I stay quiet after my friend stated the obvious.

“He does have a good point Fade... You’ll need to become stronger before you try to consume a powerful soul... Just make sure it isn't anyone I know.”

“And you best not pick anyone in Ponyville. . . . That’s my turf. Or shall we have another play date, my precious?” Daimon says as he materialises in front of me looking me dead in the eyes with a malicious grin on his face.

“Agreed, Ponyville is off limits Fade. You’ll have a chance to become stronger once we get somewhere without friendly locals.”

“How about I just nibble on your soul, Subject 27?” Fade says in a playful whisper.

“Careful lass, don’t you try doing that, you nibble on his soul and I’ll toss you out of Subject 27’s mind and let Daimon have you.” My friend threatens.

“Oh boy! Can you kick her out? I always wanted to try something with bamboo shoots and rusty nails!”

“Only if Fade tries anything that would threaten Subject 27’s contract with me. But if she plays nice with Subject 27, then I’ll allow her to stay.” My friend says in a serious tone.

“You guys are no fun.” Fade now pouting in a corner.

“Fine... But if she ever breaks that little rule of yours, you know where to send her... I even added a cage to keep her in, plus my associate would love to test her out as well...”

“Daimon... How many “associates” do you have in there with you?” I ask with a concerned look on my face.

“As of now, the other has yet to show, but let’s just say I am not alone anymore...” He says as he disappears.

Fade stays silent for the rest of the night, not speaking to me or my friend. It was past midnight now, the dead of night approaches, when all the interesting things come out to play. I stay vigilant as I kept watch over my sleeping friends.

“Hey friend, what are your thoughts on Colt and Daimon?”

“I don’t know, and that’s the fun part!” His insane laughter echoes through my mind.

“Besides that, what do you think about Daimon? Is he like you?”

“By me, do you mean another ‘friend’? No, he is not, he’s just a creation of Colt’s mind. Some trauma most likely caused Daimon to manifest himself to bury any bad memories of his past.”

“You do have a good point there. What do you think about Daimon’s power? The increased regeneration when Colt is in control, or the increased power or animal instinct that Daimon brings to the table?”

“Ah lad, I was wondering when you’d ask me that. To be honest, the regeneration is something not to worry about, he can still be killed. Hell, even you can. When Daimon is in control, his tactics change, he is more of a primal fighter, using anything from his fists to his teeth.”

“Yeah, I came to that same conclusion myself... As long as I don’t turn my back to him, I can easily take him on if I play it out.”

“Still having trust issues lad? That’s my boy, trust no one and you’ll stay alive a lot longer, what was that little saying that you adopted?”

“What, ‘Be polite, be efficient, have a plan to kill everyone you meet?’ Is that the one you’re talking about?”

“That’s it lad! Fantastic saying if I do say so myself!”

I walk over to the fire to restock it when I hear the bushes start to rusle nearby. I stand there, my eyes fixated on the bushes as they move, waiting to see what comes out. After a few seconds, a bunny rabbit jumps out from the bush, it stands there staring at me as I lean over to stir the fire, we both stare at each other until the smoke from the fire blows into my face causing me to cough and scare away the rabbit.

“I hate rabbits.” Coughing as I wave the smoke out of my face.

The dawn approaches as the fire starts to die down. Slowly but surely, the sun peeks up as the moon drops down. The birds start to chirp as the sun rises. Cloud wakes up first and yawns as she stretches out. I look over to see Colt still sleeping while sitting straight up.

“God, his back is going to be stiff and sore when he wakes up...” Saying to myself trying not to laugh at Colt.

“Good morning 27.” Cloud yawns after she starts to rub the sleep from her eyes, stretching out her legs and wings.

“Good morning Cloud, sleep well?” Saying this with a smile on my face.

“Yes I did, thank you. Did anything eventful happened last night?”

“Nothing too exciting.” I say as I walk over to wake Colt up.

“Wakie wakie, Colt.” Saying this as I push Colt, causing him to fall over still fast asleep.

“Sigh, looks like I’ll just have to carry him. Cloud, mind checking to see how far we are?” Cloud nods her head and takes off into the sky.

She comes back down to earth with a smile on her face as she lands.

“Good news everypony, we’re only a few hours trot from town!”

“Fantastic, now let’s get a leg up.” I walk over to Colt, picking him up on my back as Cloud and I start to walk towards Ponyville.

“Isn't he heavy to carry 27?” Cloud keeping pace with me as I carry Colt on my back.

“Nope, I’ve carried a lot heavier payload then him before. If anything he’s a lightweight.” Colt starts to drool on my bare back.

“Awesome... He’s drooling now...” Saying this with a nope.avi expression on my face.

Cloud starts to laugh after she hears me say this, and she looks up to see a rather humorous expression on my face which causes her to burst out laughing.

“Come on Chuckles, we need to get to Ponyville soon before he starts to gnaw on my shoulder like it was a marshmallow.”

Cloud and I keep on walking through the forest, every so often Cloud flys up to see how close we are from Ponyville. Just about an hours trot from the town, I start to pick up the pace. Cloud stops trotting and starts to fly, keeping pace up with me as they both start to haul. After a short while of power walking, I start to jog, causing Colt to flail about on my back, making his drool run further down my back.

“Jeez, this guy sleeps like the a log. You keeping up with me Cloud? Do you want me to slow down a bit?”

“Are you kidding me? I can fly, if any thing you need to keep up with me.” Cloud says as she starts to fly circles around me.

After Cloud says this I start to pour on the heat, increasing my speed, now going from a steady jog to a full-on sprint. Cloud doing the same, going from a glide now to a lazy fly. After ten minutes of constant sprinting, sweat starts to bead up on my body.

“It’s. Been. Awhile. Since. I had. This. Good. Of a. Work out.” Saying each part in between each breath.

“This is a work out for you? Wow, you humans are really strange.” Cloud says sarcastically.

“What, do ponies not work out?”

“They do, but not while carrying somepony on their back while sprinting through the Everfree forest.”

After another ten minutes of sprinting, Cloud and I break through the tree line of the forest, running into the town known as Ponyville. They come to a stop, I stood there breathing heavily as Cloud lands on the ground. Still standing there with Colt on my back, looking at all the other ponies walking through the small town, some stare at him but don’t pay too much attention to him. That is, until a light blue unicorn spots Colt and goes berserk. She yells something, but I wasn't quite able to make out what she said as she charges me.

“What have you done to Colt!” She says as she envelopes both Cloud and I in her blue aura and pins them to the ground.

“Hold up! You’ve gotten all wro-” Being interrupted by Pinkie Pie,

“Trixie what did you call. . . me. . . for. . . YOU MEANIES! WHAT DID YOU DO TO COLT! START TALKING MISTER OR I WILL THROW YOU A GOING AWAY PARTY!” She says as she pulls a large pink cannon seemingly out of thin air.

“Stop you got it all wrong!” I yell at the two mares as they interrogate me.

“Where did she hide that cannon?!” Cloud shouts as Pinkie is being Pinkie.

“If Trixie finds out you kidnapped Colt, Trixie will feed you to an ursa minor.”

“Wait, an ursa minor? Isn't that a formation of stars?” Saying this with a confused look upon my face.

“Yeah, and I will shoot you out of my party cannon!” Pinkie says as she looks towards the cannon.

“If you ladies let me speak, I’ll explain everything!” I frantically try to get a word in edgewise.

“Ursa minor? I thought that was a legend!” Cloud says with a frightened look on her face.

“Trixie, Pinkie, thank Celestia you found us! These two drugged Colt after we left to invite Fluttershy to the party and tried to kill him!” Daimon says as he points to the blood covering Colt and I.

“Wait, WHAT?! N-.” I try to desperately plead to the two mares.

“It was horrible! He tried to eat Colt’s soul and then when he couldn’t he stabbed him in the heart!”

“No! That’s not fully true! I didn’t try to consume his soul!” The gears now starting to turn in my head as I start to panic.

“You did what?!” Trixie shouted as the magic pinning Cloud and I to the ground increased in force.

“If you hurt Colt I will never forgive you!” Pinkie shouts holding back a torrent of tears as she looks at your bloody body.

Cloud cries out in pain as Trixie’s magic increased in force, causing me to go into a rage and start to force myself off the ground, resisting Trixie’s magic.

“No one and I mean NO ONE hurts CLOUD!” As I say this, I slowly start to get to my knees, forcing my way off the ground.

Nearly off the ground, resisting Trixie’s powerful magic, I feel Colt start to stir and wake on my back.

“*Yawn* Will everypony keep it down? I need some sleep. Oh yeah, 27, my heart is almost healed now.” Colt say as he slowly pushes himself off of me.

I stop almost free from the ground as Colt wakes up.

“You gotta be kidding me Colt...”

“TRIXIE, PINKIE! GIVE ME A HUG!” Colt shouts. Seeing the girls again brought a smile to his face as he ran over to hug them.

Still being enveloped by Trixie’s magic, I just sit there, my jaw hangs open as I watch Colt run over to the two mares.

“Hmm... Colt?”

As Colt picks up the girls into a big hug the girls hold onto him for dear life as they continue to glare at us over his shoulder.

“Umm what are you girls staring at?”

“Him!” Pinkie and Trixie yell in unison.

“Why?”

“Daimon said he tried to kill you!” Pinkie said.

“Oh, well yeah, he did break my ribs and stab me in the heart.”

“Only because you hurt Cloud! I swear to god I will kill you after this Colt....” I yell.

“Why? Okay before I get anymore death threats this soon after my nap, can somepony explain what the hell is going on here?” You say in a exhausted tone.

“God damn it Colt! Tell Trixie to let us go!”

“Oh, Trixie could you be a dear and let them go?”

“Why? T-They tried to kill you!” She stutters as she looks up at you as you are still holding her and Pinkie.

“That is true but how about we all go home and the three of us can explain what happened, please?”

“F-Fine. . . Trixie will release them, but if they so much as touch a hair on your head Trixie will turn them into bait.” She said as the glow enveloping her horn starts to dissipate.

The magical field around Cloud and I disappeared releasing both of us from her hold. I let out a sigh of relief as I can now freely move now. Cloud slowly gets up from the ground and trots over to my side.

“You okay, Cloud?” I ask with a concerned tone in my voice.

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine.” Cloud starts to hug me after she reaches me.

“Okay, now let’s go somewhere so Colt and I can explain everything to you two. And please don’t try pin me again.” I this while I stare at Trixie.

You all head back to Sugarcube Corner, as Pinkie enters she turns the sign to closed.

“Alright! Now tell me why I shouldn’t use you to play Pin the tail on the Pony!” Pinkie shouts.

“Whoa calm down there Pinkie, I tried to kill him too, it was all a misunderstanding. We were both kidnapped by some insane unicorn and he made us fight to the death against anything he sent our way. But due to a part of 27 that was a bit too aggressive, I thought him and his friend Cloud were enemies. Long story short we both tried to kill each other, realised what morons we were, teamed up and killed our way out of there.”

“That’s pretty much the whole story in a nutshell, Pinkie.” Saying this while looking at Colt after he explains.

“B-But if that is true why did Daimon tell Trixie you were in trouble?” Trixie says obviously confused by the whole situation.

“I think I know why, he is a prick and we should never listen to him.” Colt says as the girls, Cloud , and I nod in agreement.

“So Trixie, are unicorns all ways that powerful with magic? If so then I could be in some trouble later on.” I start to scratch the back of my head nervously.

“U-Ummm no, Trixie is not usually that strong, but when she saw you carrying Colt she just, snapped...” She says as she looks down at her hooves.

“Aww its ok Trixie, it means a lot you tried to save me.” Colt says as he picks her up and hugs her.

“Oh, makes sense seeing a friend in trouble can do that to someone.” Saying this as I lowered my arm to my side.

“Yeah, also how long have I been gone?” Colt ask looking down at the blue mare in his arms.

“You were gone for two days Colt, you had us worried sick! After that town meeting you ran off to invite Fluttershy to the party and never came back! We thought you left us. . .” Pinkie says as her mane straightened and made a deflating sound.

“Why in Equestria would I leave you girls? Come here!” Colt say as he scoops her up into a hug as well, both holding him close.

“That was only two days? I wonder how long I’ve been in that facility... But now that we made it out of there in one piece Colt, what should we do?”

“Well I can write a letter to Celestia and have Twilight send it for me! That way when another human covered in blood shows up on her doorstep, she won’t take you as a threat.” Colt saying this as he turns to look at me.

“That sounds a lot better then what I had in mind. And what about my clothing situation? I don’t want to go meet the ruler of this land mostly naked and covered in blood.” Letting out a small chuckle.

“Well since one human is enough trouble around here, you guys stay here while I go to Rarity’s and have her make seven sets of clothes, should only be an hour or two.” Colt says as he heads to the door.

“Okay, that sounds like a good idea, Pinkie do you have a shower that I could use?”

“Yeah, upstairs to the right, its in the bedroom.” Pinkie says pointing up the stairs

“Thanks Pinkie.” I walk up the stairs and turn into the room and then into the bathroom.

I start to strip down to my skivvies when Cloud comes around the corner. She stands in the doorway silent as her jaw hangs open. Unaware to me I step into the shower, not knowing what handles did what, I just turned one hoping for the best. Hot water quickly spewed from the faucet above, the hot water running down my blood stained body cleansing my body from the mixture of blood that is caked on me. Standing there letting the hot water run down my sore aching body watching the red and purple blood mix together as they both go down the drain.

“Hey 27...” Clouds voice snapping out of my zoned out state.

“Y-Yes Cloud?” Turning my head to see her standing in the doorway her face a bright red.

“Hmmm....” Cloud kicking her hoof at the ground as he face becomes even a brighter red.

“I-Is there something you needed Cloud?” My face now turning crimson as Cloud stairs at me.

“M-My I join y.....” Her face now redder than a strawberry.

“You forgot your towel.” She quickly grabs a towel and places it near the tub and flies out of the bathroom.

Standing there slightly confused on what just happened there I finished up in the shower and stepped out. I quickly dried myself off and put on my tattered blood stained camo pants and my boots before heading back downstairs to see Cloud sitting at the table her face still very red. Before I could talk to her Colt comes back from Rarity’s with a bag.

“Welcome back Colt, hydra blood is a lot harder to clean off then I thought.” I started to laugh after saying that.

“I bet, anyways here’s your clothes man, you might wanna start heading to Canterlot, the walk takes about four hours. The letter will arrive before you get there okay?”

“Okay, thanks for all your help girls and Colt, hopefully Princess Celestia will accept me with open arms.”

“Or at least you land on something other than a pointy metal fence hahaha, see ya!”

I quickly change into the new set of clothes and Cloud and I say our goodbyes to our new friends before we left for Canterlot

Credits

Editors

frieD195

Comments

[EXbronymaster]

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF i hate it when im on a reading spree then the chapters run out......

yay 4 chapters today!

[TheEnemyCube]

579472 Agreed.

[Vash_ts]

579837 It is no danger to you, but it could try to hump your head...

[BaronLostHeart]

580785 well when your the size of human the leg just wont do it for yah :P

[stringtheory]

wow, that's a lot of mind f**ks...
and I assume Colt and Daimon are from your friend's story?
oh, the link to your friend's story doesn't work, how about just giving us the name of it and letting us search for it
EDIT: never mind I found your friend's story by going to your favorites

[Phyrexian]

Name: itsmyfuneral Story: The Darkness Within Us All

Yes Colt and 27 are friends in the story, enemy of my enemy is my friend sort of deal. I hope the crossover was acceptable for everyone. He and I will be doing more work together later on down the road.

And yes Colt and Daimon are from his story, my story and his are both in the same timeline.

[summer storm]

ok. da fukkkkk????? not quite sure if you are mad or brilliant. leaning more twoards mad. head hurts will finish this later.

[SgtCarrotop]

YES YES YES ANSWERS FINALLY ANSWERS

[suggested123]

TF2 reference nice

[Dragaen]

lol, so even Cloud falls victim to the shower curtains, how nice.