• Published 6th Jul 2012
  • 3,207 Views, 112 Comments

To Turn a Life Around - TheEngineer



Our pathetic hero Matthew Anderson has found himself in a very odd situation as he stumbles upon

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End Game

Chapter 11: End Game

The bright light that is currently pointed at my face is threatening to burn out my corneas, it's so bright! It makes it hard to think straight too.

Okay Matthew, assess your situation here... Bright light, faint outline of two people... Are those ropes? Yep, I've been tied down on a chair. One rope on my wrists around my back and another on my legs to the chair. You have two options on how to react, Matthew: You can try to talk this out, or you can panic.

Panic sounded very tempting at this point, but something was driving me towards the former. That guy said that I have questions to answer.

"What kind of questions?" I asked innocently, trying to squint past the light.

"Don't play stupid with me, we know everything." the same voice as before retorted.

"Define everything." I called back, trying to buy myself time once I realized that the rope on my wrists wasn't as tight as it should be.

"Mr. Anderson, do we have to fall back on more... Conventional methods of questioning, or will you cooperate with us?" the male voice replied in a disturbingly soft tone, "By everything, we mean that we know that your father was in the CIA, we know that you worked as an AMT until your license was suspended not too long ago, we know that your hobbies include skateboarding and we especially know about your relationship with three certain extraterrestrials." the voice mock-answered my demand, finishing in a very menacing tone.

"Aliens? I don't know what you're talking about." I bluffed. I heard a metallic table being smashed, followed by the sound of falling tools.

"Damn it! Will... You.. Cooperate or not, Matthew Anderson?" the voice responded, clearly aggravated. I felt the rope around my wrists giving some way.

I huffed, "Does it look like I have much of a choice?" I said. I was starting to see through the blinding curtain. I could see two men, one was talking to me, and the other was standing by a door. The door had an aluminum table next to it, there were scattered tools on the floor around it. Behind the man that is questioning me I could see a tool locker, along with it, the faint outlines of a hacksaw, carpenter's and machinist hammers, pliers and other tools that didn't seem to belong.

Why are all of those tools in the same locker... They're all for different materials, what purpose could they have other than... Oh no.

They're planning to torture me aren't they?

"I don't see you getting out of this any other way." the man replied.

"Fine, if you raided my house, you must have known anyway. Can I at least have a name to call you by? I don't feel very comfortable speaking to a nameless shadow." I complied.

"Call me Gregory." the voice replied maniacally.

"Okay... Gregory, what do you want to know? I'll be happy to answer since my schedule has been so conveniently opened up for you." I replied, hating the fact that he's using that name of all others.

"Tell me who you work for."

"Work for? I used to work for the FAA; I've never had any other occupation in my life." I replied confusedly.

"No, tell me who you really work for!" the man shouted.

"Look, I don't know who you think I am, but I'm just a regular man with a regular life. Whoever it is you think I work for, I promise you, I don't." I responded.

What? Do they think I'm a spy?

There was a heavy sigh, "Okay, that's one truth. Now, where are your three little friends from?"

"..... Equestria." I replied hesitantly.

"How did they get here?"

"Unknown."

"Lies, tell me how they got here." the man said menacingly, I heard the distinct sound of a knife being lifted from a metallic surface.

"Look, they seriously don't know how they got here, and I seriously only ran into them by accident!" I said desperately, I was hoping they would buy that since they definitely wouldn't buy the weeping angels story.

"Okay, part truth." the voice began, I heard the knife being put back down, "They know how to get back, don't they?"

"W-why do you want to know why?" I asked nervously.

"Who exactly do you think is asking the questions here?" 'Gregory' began, there was a slight pause, "We want to know, Matthew, because we are at war with multiple nations. We can both prevent an invasion from another world and exploit so many possible resources from said world at the same time. Now, answer."

This is bad.

"First, I really need to know this... How did you find us out?" I asked, stalling for time.

"I will give you this at least." 'Gregory' began, somehow giving in to my plead for answers, "We knew from the beginning, Matthew. We have satellite imaging of the day to ran into your new friends and we have had agents on your tail ever since. I even had a little fun with my task force and shadowed you in the most obvious way to get you a little freaked out. I dare say that you made this a little too easy for us." he finished.

"What?" I questioned in disbelief.

"Yes, did you really think that your friend's tinkering with the archives wouldn't go unnoticed? Even if we weren't actively watching your every move, we still would have found out. Ted Kimell's death was your fault." he said, his words stung, "Now stop stalling, answer."

"I think they might know how to get back home." I replied, defeated. I felt the ropes on my wrists start to undo themselves.

"Hey Ca- Greg, I'm going to be on the other side of this door before you start your thing, last time was a bit too messy." the other man spoke for the first time, and left the room.

"Well, now we have some one-on-one time with each other." 'Gregory' said, and I swear I could see the faint glimpse of a sadistic grin on his face through the curtain of light.

Okay, that guy left. One-on-one isn't too bad right? Better chances on my part. I thought as I surveyed the room slightly, it looked like it had been insulated to keep sound in. I recognized the padding from what we put in aircraft walls nowadays.

"It appears we finally have time to have a bonding experience." I said in a mock cheer.

"Stop fooling around, I know you are a bright man, much like Gregory Anderson was. How are your friends going home? Some ship maybe?" 'Gregory' asked, his previous statement stung me.

"I dunno." I replied, feigning ignorance.

'Gregory' leaned in close to me, enough for me to see his sadistic face. He held a yellow folder in front of me, "Mr. Anderson, this is my last contingency before I fall back on using my toys." he said menacingly.

Do I know him from somewhere?

"And what, pray tell, would that be?" I questioned.

"Tell me something," he began, "Have you ever found out about what happened to your parents, younger sister and uncles?" he said leaning back into the light.

"They... Died... In a car accident." I growled.

"Is that so? I am so terribly sorry to hear that." He began in mock sympathy, "Now, do you want to find out what really happened to them?"

That was when it hit me; I knew where I had seen this man before. My mind went back to when I spent the day with Rainbow Dash; he was one of our followers... My mind went back to the day I got the news of my family's death; he was the man that informed me to begin with....

"What did you do to them?" I questioned desperately.

"Me? Oh, it wasn't just me. This case file states that it was four agents on a mission to terminate a loose end. Those loose ends being your father, the rest were just... Witnesses." he said heartlessly.

My hands were free now; I just had to wait for an opportunity, "Witnesses?" I repeated.

'Gregory' leaned in close, "Witnesses." he snarled back. I head butted him, hard. I then released my arms and pushed him back before he could react and went in to release my legs.

I froze in my tracks at the loud sound of metal on concrete, with a yelp of pain following it. I looked up, but failed to see anything through the blinding light and decided to untie my legs first.

I set myself free and stood up, ready for a fight. What I saw when my eyes got accustomed to the darkness, though, was not what I expected.

The interrogator was on the floor, pinned by a locker that fell and caught him at the ribcage. I had pushed him into a locker that wasn't secured into anything, and it fell on him. The amount of blood on the floor was making me sick, along with the gargling that came from the man.

"You... Will......Not.......... Esc-" he said before his gruesome demise. I stood there in utter shock.

Luck is on your side today, and you just killed a man.... It doesn't quite balance out.

I felt sick with myself; I never thought that killing would be so sickening.... Or quite so easy.



I eventually came back to my senses and reached for the gun in the man's shoulder mounted holster.

Ted, I've never even held a gun before.

Learn as you go Matt.

I fiddled with the weapon a bit to find all of the buttons and such, there was a safety, which I switched to off, and there was the release, which I found out was how you take out the magazine, it holds seven bullets... And I guess I figure the rest out as I go... I will learn as I go.

My eye caught on to the yellow folder that now resided on the floor... Could what he said be true?

I almost went to go pick it up and read through it, but decided that I didn't want to know. If it was true, it would lead to more pain and suffering. If it wasn't, the same thing would happen, only pain could come from that folder.

I walked over to the door, the guy that left is now waiting on the other side.

He mentioned four agents before... Could that be the number of people here too? Unless I'm in some sort of military base, but this room isn't exactly high-grade. Here's hoping there's three left, and that the mares are here too.

I tried my best to open to door in a stealthy manner, and it seemed to be working. I found myself to be mere inches from this man's shoulder, and he didn't seem to notice me yet. I began to raise the gun slowly, but he noticed me.

Crap.

"Don't you move a single muscle." I whispered as menacingly as I could, he just raised his arms in the air and-
*Oomph!*

Holy balls he's fast! Whatever he did, I was effectively disarmed and had a gun pointed at my face.

"Well, you sneaky son of a bitch." the man snarled, "How did you get out of your cage?"

I didn't respond, I was too busy trying to mentally prepare myself to die. The agent moved towards the door, keeping the weapon fixed at my head, but was distracted by the gruesome sight of his partner's demise.

"Jesus! Calvin!" he whispered, looking away. I lunged at the opportunity and grabbed at the gun and pushed him into the room, I managed to yank the weapon from the man's grip of steel, but not without letting a shot out that ringed my ear.

"Hey!" he shouted in the room before I shut the door, thankfully the door has a deadbolt on my side.

Why wasn't it locked before? Maybe because his partner was in there.

The agent punched at the door fiercely, but to no avail. But I was sure that the shot got everybody else's attention. I took in my surroundings.

I was at the end of a really long hallway lit by florescent lights, the hall gets narrower at one point and it seems like it goes in two directions at the other end.

Someone turned a corner and spotted me, pulling out his gun without hesitation. I ran to the small wall provided by the narrowing hall.
*Bang!* *Bang!*

The man fired two shots at me, and thankfully missed.

That was two. I thought, hoping that his pistol held as many rounds as mine. A few moments passed in silence, no shots and no footsteps. I crouched and peeked around the corner.
*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*

Shots flew over my head; I looked at the wall behind me to see that they would have hit me in the face if I weren't crouched. That's five, and that was too close.

I pressed against the wall, my heart racing with adrenaline. I needed to find a way to get this guy to shoot without putting me in too much danger... Idea.

I fired into the hallway without looking.
*Bang Bang!*

Four left.
*Bang Bang!*

The man had fire back, that was seven!

I took a deep breath and turned the corner, running at the guy at full speed. I saw him around the other corner, reloading. I only had a few seconds for this.

I sprinted as fast as I could and threw myself to the ground as soon as I saw my enemy show himself.

They are shooting to kill, they have only aimed at my head so far.

I found myself sliding on the ground, the agent was clearly surprised and I intended to use that to my advantage. I pulled the gun up and fired, I wasn't ready for him to fire too.
*Bang!*

*Bang!*

I felt pain shoot up from my left thigh; it was like nothing I've ever felt before. I yelped in pain, holding back tears as I watched the agent's lifeless body fall to the ground. I had shot him in the head, on the right temple.

Blood was pouring profusely from my thigh; I desperately tried to stop the bleeding.

Oh, this is bad.

Matthew! Whatever happened to you?

I um... I kinda fell a few times.

A few times? just look at your arms! What on Earth were you doing?

I limped towards the end of the hall, I heard a crash to the right as I approached the end. I looked towards the source to see another agent getting up from the floor; she must have heard my footsteps because she turned her focus to me.

"Do not move." she said sternly.

I stared blankly at her, I felt a little light headed and didn't feel like talking to a stranger.

"Rargh! Don't you even think about hurting him!" Rainbow yelled fiercely before pouncing on the agent. The woman was clearly stunned, and dropped her gun.

Seeing Rainbow gave me enough hope to regain my energy, I quickly limped over to her to help. I painfully caught up with the two fighters and pulled the blue one away, shooting the woman almost without thinking about it.

"Matt! You're okay!" Rainbow cheered, not noticing my bleeding leg.

"Are... You guys okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, Twilight and Pinkie are in that room back there, the idiots also brought the materials to cast the spell." Rainbow replied happily.

"Oh.... Good." I said, leaning against the wall and slumping down to the floor. It was then that Rainbow noticed my leg.

"Oh, crap. Matthew, we need to get you some help." Rainbow pleaded.

"No, you have to go now." I ordered sleepily.

Rainbow started tearing up, "I can't just leave you here! You can still come with us, Twilight knows a bunch of magical healing spells and stuff!" she offered desperately. I saw the agent twitch in the corner of my eye.

"Equestria is not my world," I replied sternly, suddenly remembering something and reaching into my pocket. I fished out my father's timepiece, and placed it around Rainbow's neck, "Go, before more come this way. I'll buy you as much time as I can." I ordered.

Rainbow hugged me, not caring about my blood touching her, tears now flowing freely. "You stubborn fool; I'm going to miss you." Rainbow sobbed.

"I'll miss you guys too... Go now."

Rainbow gave me one last glance before going back into the room, I soon saw a soft purple aura coming from inside. I turned my attention to the woman laying face down in front of me; she was starting to get up.

I tried lifting the gun to her, ready to finish another life. But my arm felt so... Heavy.

The woman just laid back on the wall opposite from me, staring at me.

"Well, what do you know? It appears that we have similar injuries." she observed. I noticed he leg was bleeding too.

"I guess so."

"Mr. Anderson.... It's been a great hunt, but I'm too tired to finish it." she breathed. I simply closed my eyes for a moment, opening them just in time to see a blinding flash of white.

"I think it's finished now.... Miss?"

"Hawthourne." she finished for me, "Was that them? Are they gone?" Hawthourne asked. I nodded.

My vision was starting to get blurry, my eyelids became heavy and my hearing became dull. I closed my eyes and gave myself time to think.

So, this is what dying is like. I thought to myself. It certainly isn't what I expected it to be, I thought it was all 'my life is flashing before me and I see the light'. All I saw was blurriness.

Life doesn't flash by you when you're on the brink of death, no. It's actually something much more focused, it's one train of thought and a few number of people that you remember. You focus on that one thought as hard as you can, hoping that whatever comes after this, this is what you will remember when you get there.

What was my thought? It was: I'm done, I'm finally coming home, I'm finally joining you all. Mother, father, Sadie, aunt and uncle, I'm coming. Goodbye world. Goodbye Rainbow, Pinkie and Twilight.

I opened my eyes once more; I don't know how long I've been lying there... But I started seeing a golden aura around my vision, at the edges of my blurriness. I closed my eyes and it was still there, the golden aura.

Then, I felt it. I felt myself take my final breath....

....

What now? All I see is darkness. I no longer feel the ground beneath me... Actually, I no longer feel anything, not even my body.

I still saw the golden aura though.

What is this? This can't be the afterlife.... Could it?

Seriously, if this is hell, then I must say that it's disappointing. If this is heaven, then it leaves much to be desired.

I silently thought to myself in this void.

And what is that golden aura? Is it getting bigger? I think it is....

I observed the golden aura begin to engulf my formless 'vision', and then... Nothing.

No wait... No. Not nothing, I can feel something.

Is that... A floor? It's different from the one I was on before....

"Hey, is that him?"

"It can't be, come on!"

I heard rapid hoofsteps and flapping wings.... Wait what?

I shot my eyes open just in time to see a cyan blur slam into me, the blur held me at arm’s length.

"Those same hazel eyes...." a familiar voice muttered quietly, "It's him! He's alive Pinkie!"

What?

I shook my head rapidly, attempting to get rid of the blurriness, only to get pulled into a fierce, cyan colored hug.

"Matty! Yay!" yet another familiar voice cheered before I felt another hug from my side. I started getting back my vision, and the sight before me was unbelievable.

I saw Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie right in front of me, as hard as it was to believe, I could feel them in front of me despite my previous numbness.

Eventually, my gaze wandered past the two. I saw smooth porcelain flooring, tinted windows and a massive white horse.... With a pair of wings, a really big horn, and majestic multi-colored hair that waved in a non-existent wind. Is that the princess Twilight told me about?

"What...?" I managed to utter. Rainbow managed to release me, as did Pinkie. The teary looks on their faces told me just how worried they used to be; now it looked like tears of sheer joy.

I tried to stand up, but quickly fell back to all fours. I guess that, whatever happened, I'm still tired.

"You know, that color coat kinda suits you." Rainbow managed to say.

"What?" I repeated my previous question, now looking down at my... Hooves?

I stared down at myself, as much as I wanted to see my fur-less torso and legs, I could only see light brown hooves.

"I believe that you might want an explanation." the princess finally spoke.

"Yeah, that would be of some help." I replied quietly, falling back on my new haunches.

"Well, Rainbow Dash here was, very luckily, transported into my sleeping chamber. She hastily explained to me the situation that you were in and how you were the one to take care of my little ponies when I could not. With that said, I tried my best to resurrect you. Unfortunately, even my powers are limited; your body was too fragile to bring through the wormhole that Twilight opened up. I did, however, managed to get a hold of your soul and preserve it before bringing it here and, in some odd way, put it into an equine template. So that body is technically yours, it's what you would have looked like if you were born a pony." the princess explained.

"Soul? I didn't know souls were physical, tangible things..." I questioned.

"Silly, you can't touch a soul, though I think they would be really really really squishy if you could! They actually exist in the magical realm more than they do in the physical." Pinkie suddenly jumped in.

Pinkie just explained something to you, don't question any further! Pinkie just gave you your final warning!

"Okay." I nodded at Pinkie before turning back to the princess, "What about Twilight? Where is she? Is she alright?"

"Well, Twilight was found in the courtyard, unconscious. My dear sister, Luna, was the first to find out that my faithful student was suffering from a mildly serious case of magical exhaustion and began giving her proper treatment at once. Twilight Sparkle will be alright soon enough, but she needs her rest." the princess explained, and also hinted at me that she was Celestia and not Luna. Awkward situation avoided.

I simply nodded, relieved that Twilight was going to be okay, I tried my best to not freak out at the words ‘mildly serious’. I turned to Rainbow, who was still just inches away from me and looking slightly past me, "What?" I questioned.

"Look behind you." she smirked.

I whipped around and saw nothing, "No really, what?"

"I meant your back, silly!"

I looked at my back and stared for a while, taking a few moments to process the information. "Wings?"

"Yep."

"Huh, I guess it's only appropriate since I've been working on aircraft for six years."

Celestia gave a slight cough to get our attention, "Now that you're here, I believe that I would very much like a few answers. You all left a lot of ponies worried sick, you know."

"Oh, I think I should start then, since the three mares were unconscious when I found them..." I began

...

We gave princess Celestia the whole story. I had the strange pleasure of meeting the other princess, her name is Luna, and we discussed many things about things to come. Celestia, very generously, offered me a place to live in Ponyville since I already have friends who live there.

Pinkie Pie already began making plans for the 'welcome back to Equestria Twilight, Pinkie and Rainbow! And welcome to Ponyville and Equestria Matthew!' party. Celestia offered Pinkie a ride home, but she refused on the grounds that she "Can make much better time when I travel alone."

...

Rainbow and I are now quietly finding our way out of the palace of Canterlot. Luna is busy taking care of Twilight, Celestia is busy taking care of a nation, and Pinkie is busy organizing a party.

"So... What now?" I asked.

I immediately felt a hard slap on my left cheek.

"Ow! What the hell was that for!?" I complained.

"That was for making me leave you like that." Rainbow explained in a heartbroken tone.

"Okay, I guess that's fair enough." I trailed off, "So, will you answer my question?"

"Of what now?"

"Yeah."

"Now, we get to live don't we?" Rainbow smirked.

"Ooh, now you're getting abstract on me aren't you?" I teased.

"Maybe, right now all I want to do is get out of Canterlot. This is a place where modesty died long ago." Rainbow almost seemed to gag.

"Alright, what's the fastest way to Ponyville?" I asked.

"We can take the train... We should probably ask Celestia for some bits, I'm broke right now." Rainbow added.

We awkwardly came back to the palace and asked princess Celestia for some cash to ride the train, she gave us the counter offer of giving us a ride on a chariot, but Rainbow insisted on the train ride. I didn't complain.

...

"Two tickets to Ponyville please."

"That'll be twelve bits."

"Here you go."

We grabbed our tickets and waited patiently on the station. We waited for only five minutes before the train arrived, we grabbed a pair of seats by a window and Rainbow happily painted out and explained every single landmark there was along the way.

"That's the tree I fell through when I busted my wing! Man, you should have seen the trick I was trying to do!....."

...

We hopped off the train the moment it stopped at our destination, walking lazily through the empty streets. It was getting late.

"Where did Celestia say I was living again?" I asked curiously.

"Some place that's been up for sale for I-don't-know-for-how-long. The nice mare that was selling it even offered it furnished and nopony took it, lucky you huh?" Rainbow replied.

"Yeah, very lucky me..." I trailed off, thinking off all the close calls I went through recently.

"Well, there it is. You see it?" Rainbow pointed at a house about a block away.

"Yeah, looks lovely." I commented.

"The princess told us that the owner would be waiting for you, so I guess not having a key isn't a problem right now."

We walked over to the house, a mare opened the door before we got there. "Hello! Are you.... Matthew?" she asked, having some trouble pronouncing my name.

"Uh, yeah. I came to see the house." I answered.

"Well, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Berry Punch, pleased to meet you!" the reddish mare introduced herself.

"Likewise." I replied.

"Please, do come in." she offered, Rainbow and I stepped inside. Berry Punch showed us around the house, it looked nice and the foundation looked pretty sturdy.

"Why would you give up a place like this?" I questioned.

"Well, I'm raising a foal with my husband, and it's a little nerve wreaking when some other pony manages to pull your house for many meters before finally stopping. My husband and I managed to get a small place where we can raise little Berry Pinch, it's at the edge of town, far from Sweet Apple Acres."

"Pulled... Your house?" I asked in surprise.

"Uh, I'll explain later, Matt." Rainbow intervened.

"Okay then."

...

Berry Punch gave us a full tour of the place, giving me the key and walking away with a big bag of bits.

"Well, I guess I'll be going home now.." Rainbow said, looking at the sunset through a window.

"Sure." I replied.

"Uh, I guess I'll come back tomorrow morning to give you a tour of the town." Rainbow began.

"That sounds awesome." I commented.

"Oh.. And I guess I should be giving this back to you." Rainbow motioned to the timepiece around her neck.

"No, keep it. My father always wanted me to pass it on to someone anyways." I insisted.

"Well, okay. I guess I'll see you later." Rainbow replied awkwardly as she began making her way to the door.

"Wait, just one thing." I said.

"Yes Matt?" Rainbow turned around quickly.

"You slapped me for making you leave, but what do I get for coming back?" I asked.

Rainbow walked towards me, leaning in really closely. "Depends on what you want." she answered slowly, almost biting her lower lip.

"Well what do -" I began, only to be cut off by a sudden kiss. Surprisingly, I didn't fight back, I just let it happen.

Rainbow pulled away, looking at the ground, "Um, sorry... I shouldn't ha-"

I didn't stop to think about it, I close my eyes and leaned in for another kiss. It was pure bliss. Rainbow didn't pull away this time, instead, her tongue started pushing outward, begging for entry. Who was I to say no?

Our tongues danced for what felt like an eternity, only the two of us, with nothing to interrupt. I heard Rainbow's wings shuffle slightly before we pulled away.

"So, um... Goodnight." Rainbow said dreamily.

"Yeah, goodnight." I replied quietly. Rainbow then walked out of the house and left me with my thoughts... I didn't have any; my mind was on the fritz.

I closed the door behind Rainbow, not bothering to lock the door; I don’t have anything of personal value in here anyway. I then found my way to the master bedroom since there was nothing else to be done today. As someone would have expected, I couldn’t fall asleep. There were so many thoughts sprinting back and forth across my mind.

I actually died today… Not only did I die, but I somehow ended up coming back as a Pegasus in a really faraway land. I guess I would be patting myself in the back right now, since I managed to rescue my friends in the end, if only I had hands.

At least an hour had passed by before I finally found a comfortable position to sleep on and drifted off into a deep slumber.

This bed is really comfortable…

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