Filly Fantasy VII: Evolution

by ChaosknightRB

SOLDIERs in the Making

Chapter 2: SOLDIERs in the Making

"Marcus get up! We have to hurry!" The red pony heard a woman's voice call out to him. His vision was blurry as he opened his eyes to see he was no longer in the laboratory, but rather a spacious open field covered with snow.

"Come on Marcus! Get a grip on yourself! The dragon's almost here!" The voice had called out to him again. He looked around to see the shape of a pony no more then a few feet away.

A roar that shook the very earth bellowed from the distance. Suddenly, from seemingly nowhere, a great red dragon appeared before Marcus and the mysterious pony. Standing nearly ten feet in height and reaching over twenty in length, it looked at Marcus as though he had offended it. The beast roared as it spread it's wings, bearing it's teeth as it stood within arms reach of him. Merely out of instinct, he swung his hoof at the great beast. As his hoof made contact with the dragon's face it became enveloped in flames, causing a small explosion and the dragon to stumble back from the force. Marcus felt a rush of energy run through him as he quickly stood up. Looking at his hooves, he realized they were still engulfed in flames. They did not feel hot, however, the flames felt more like a blanket around his hooves as he looked at them in awe.

"This is no time to fool around Marcus, we have a dragon to kill!" The voice said to him. He looked at the pony who stood but a few meters away. He could see her more clearly now. She was a unicorn with a pure white coat and a golden mane. "Miranda." The name ran through his head for a moment, though he didn't understand how he knew it. The dragon roared once more snapping him back into reality. As Marcus looked at the dragon, he felt an irresistible urge to attack it. No longer thinking, he charged headlong at the beast. The dragon released a cone of flames which covered Marcus in seconds. He closed his eyes in expectation, but as the flames traveled across his body he felt nothing. It was as though the flames themselves ignored him. As he approached the dragon, he struck it again with as much power as possible. The dragon was sent back by the force, falling on it's side. It swung its long tail at Marcus in retaliation. Marcus stood his ground and braced himself as the tail struck him. The immense force shook through his body, but he remained unharmed as he blocked the dragon's attack. Miranda was now charging at the dragon. As she passed, Marcus noticed her hooves were lit with a strange white light. She threw her hoof at the dragon just as he had, causing a small burst of light from it. The dragon roared as it swiped it's claw at her. The unicorn's horn glowed as a thin layer of light enveloped her body. As the dragon's claw made contact with her, the light caused a force to push it back, fading after. Marcus rushed forward and with all his might struck the body of the dragon. A cracking noise could be heard as the impact crushed one of the dragon's ribs. It cried out in pain and turned it's attention back to the pink maned pony. It bared its teeth and immediately bit into Marcus.

Marcus suddenly sat up in a cold sweat, feeling a burning sensation on his left foreleg. He looked around to find himself in the corner of a room. The bed he was sitting on had it's blankets singed and tore to pieces. A window overlooking Midgar adorned the wall beside him. 'It was just a dream.' He thought to himself. He looked at the source of the pain to see a burn mark had appeared were the dragon had bit him. A sudden wave of fear washed over him at the realization. "Was it really just a dream? Did I really fight a dragon?"

His thoughts were short lived as he heard a knocking sound. He turned to the door on the opposite side of the room to see Angeal walking in. The navy blue pony looked at Marcus curiously as he noticed the damaged bed sheets. "How are you feeling?" Marcus wasn't sure how to reply. He was still in shock over all that happened. "It's alright kid, the others went through the same thing you did."

"Others?" Marcus asked confused. He was suddenly reminded of the other four ponies that he had met in the elevator. "Wait, what? What exactly did I go through just now? Did I really fight a dragon with that girl?"

Angeal gave a surprised look at Marcus as he mentioned the girl. "There was a girl with you? That shouldn't have happened. Anyways, I need you to come with me. Hojo and I will be shedding some light on what just happened to help put your minds at ease."

Marcus was still confused by the whole situation, but something about Angeal made him a bit more comfortable with the situation. He had a certain air of authority about him that made him seem like he had the situation under control. Marcus stepped out of the bed and nodded at Angeal. "Lead the way."

Angeal lead Marcus back to the elevator. They entered the glass walled elevator and the steel doors closed behind them. Looking out into Midgar, Marcus could see it was a very clear day. "What have I gotten myself into..." He could see all the way to the outskirts of the city as they rose higher and higher. It was not long before they reached their destination. As the elevator doors opened, he could see the laboratory he had arrived in before. He could see Hojo and four other ponies. He quickly recognized them as the four he had already met, but let out a small cry of surprise has he looked at Trenton. The gray stallion was now a giant in comparison to the others. A horn appeared on his head that was clearly not there before. As he turned to Freddie, he could not help but to laugh. Freddie was now barely over two feet in height. Marcus had remembered that the orange pony was a bit shorter than him, but this was just ridiculous.

"I sure am glad you're enjoying this." Freddie said, clearly frustrated. Trenton let out a small chuckle. Freddie gave him a glare that would strike fear into the hearts of the most seasoned warriors...if not for his humorous size.

Trenton began to laugh even harder as others joined in. Freddie turned around and bucked Trenton in the knee causing him to stumble back as he placed his hoof over it in pain. As he was preparing to retaliate, Angeal stepped between the two. "I think this has gone far enough boys. We've business to take care of." The two looked at each other with a look of frustration, but reluctantly agreed.

Angeal stepped further into the room and stood beside Hojo. "Let's get this going. It's about time we explain to you what's going on." At this, the five ponies began to pay close attention. They were desperately hoping for some answers. "You are now part of a special military program called SOLDIER. The program was designed to make the average pony go well beyond our average infantry, developing supernatural abilities. The goal with you was to see if this was possible. As you have noticed there has been some obvious changes with some of you, but also some that aren't so obvious at first." He gestured towards Marcus, "Would you mind throwing a punch at me?" Marcus was a bit nervous with the idea, recalling what happened in the dream. Angeal picked up on this. "Don't worry, you won't hurt me." Marcus nodded and stepped towards Angeal. "When you're ready kid." Marcus took a deep breath and waited a moment. He then raised his hoof and swung it full force at Angeal. His hoof was engulfed in flames as he swung forward, but Angeal blocked it with his hoof as a shock-wave shook the room. Angeal was completely unphased by the attack.

The four ponies looked in awe at what had just happened. Angeal gestured Marcus to step back to where he was. He complied. "Each of you have some special power of sorts, and each of you already know what it is."

Freddie gave Angeal a confused look. "Are you sure? Because I sure don't know how to punch with fire."

Angeal looked at the small orange pony, "Each of you had a dream. This is an after effect of the mako fusion process. It should have made it quite clear what each of your abilities are."

Velis perked up."What's this mako fusion you mentioned? Is that what changed us?"

Clearly eager to answer this question, Hojo began to speak. "It's quite simple really. We take the mako energy created from the generators and infuse it into your body. Simply by exposing you to mako your body absorbs the energy, but that alone was not enough..." Hojo began to mumble to himself.

Seeing Hojo trail off, Angeal spoke up. "How it's done isn't really all that important. The fact of the matter is that you're now part of Shinra. I've taken the liberty to add you to the roster here at headquarters, so you have the same access level as a lieutenant. With the exception of being able to access this floor as well."

Jackal had been listening intently the entire time. The brown pony's dream had changed him greatly, though not in a way anypony could see. "What do we do now that we're part of you?" Everyone looked to see Jackal had spoken for the first time since being in the elevator.

"We give you missions, you get paid, and you take orders from me. Simple enough?" Angeal made sure to address them in a commanding tone this time. They all nodded in response. "Good, then I have a few things for you. Think of them as welcome presents."

Angeal turned around and began to walk towards one of the desks. He stepped behind it and the group could hear him unlocking a cupboard. He pulled out a large box and placed it beside the desk, closing the cupboard afterward. He picked the box back up and walked back to the group placing it in front of them. "I think these will seem familiar to some of you."

He opened the box and inside a variety of weapons could be seen. There was a metal crossbow and bolts, a bastard sword, a staff, and a pair of nunchucks. All but Marcus had a surprised look on their face as he noticed there were only four weapons. "I think one's missing. There's not enough for everyone."

Angeal nodded. "That is correct. In your case Marcus, I believe you don't have a need for a weapon. You can buy one later if you really feel otherwise, but I think you can handle yourself well enough without one." Marcus could not help but smile at the complement.

Everypony began to take a weapon. Jackal immediately grabbed the metal crossbow and bolts, carefully observing it. He noticed there was no bow-string to load the bolts, but he could hear a faint humming noise coming from within. He placed one of the metal bolts on the crossbow to see it levitate off of it only slightly. 'Interesting,' he though to himself. He saw a small button on the side and pressed it. The bolt suddenly fired across the room into the opposing wall, narrowly missing a television screen. "I think I'm going to like this one."

Trenton followed in suit and picked up the bastard sword. He took a few practice swings to get used to the feeling. To him it felt quite light as he swung the sword with astounding ease. "I wonder..." he began to say. His horn began to glow and the sword was suddenly enveloped in lightning. He swung it forward once more and a bolt of lightning shot forward, destroying the television that Jackal nearly had. He smiled in approval of his new toy.

Next up was Velis. The lime green unicorn stepped over to the box and pulled out the staff. He did not feel the need to test it out. He was confident in his abilities before the transformation, he did not need to do what he already knew he could.

Finally, Freddie stepped up to the box and took out the pair of nunchucks. The orange pony was slightly confused on how to use such a strange pair of weapons. Then he seemed to recall something from his dream the night before. 'Might as well try it.' He though to himself. He picked up each one in his hooves and slowly started to swing them in circular patterns. He began to pick up his pace as everyone turned to him, waiting to see what amazing spectacle we was about to perform. He began to weave the nunchucks through his legs with graceful precision. As he continued he constantly increased the speed. He decided he would finish it off with a no-hooves around the head spin to show off. As the pair of nunchucks went up to his head, he let go. Rather than the expected result however, the nunchucks went flying backwards and wrapped around his tail. The force cause Freddie to fall backwards, only to be struck by his own weapon. He placed his front hooves on his head and let out a small shout in pain. The room burst into laughter.

Angeal had joined in on the laughter as he saw this. "Well I can see you've all got a sense of how to handle yourselves with them. I think it's time to see you put them to use on your first mission."

The laughing subsided and the five became more serious while Freddie tried to untangle the weapons from his tail. Angeal cleared his throat. "There is a small gang that has been causing trouble in sector eight for the past few weeks. They've been giving the local police trouble and need to be dealt with accordingly. Your job is to head to sector eight and take care of them. You will be paid upon completion of the mission accordingly, as well as being able to keep any gear they happen to have on them. Freddie will be able to lead you to the section being from Midgar. Use of force is unrestricted as they have been known to kill on occasion." He looked over the group. "Is everything clear?" The five ponies nodded. "Good, you're dismissed." He gave a salute to the ponies who returned one in kind.

The five ponies turned to each other and nodded reassuring. Freddie finally stood up. "Let's get going. I've nothing but good feelings about this!" They proceeded to head to the elevator and begin the decent to the ground level. They all looked out the the glass walls into the city. Freddie pointed out the area he could see as sector eight. It wasn't a very far walk from the building.

As they reached to ground floor, they could see dozens of workers. Many were lounging around taking breaks and speaking amongst each other, whereas others were heading to various rooms and offices throughout the building. A few stopped and looked at the group for a moment in surprise at the odd group of ponies who had just exited the elevator. The group paid them no mind as they began to walk towards the front entrance.

The five stepped outside into warm summer air. It was a beautiful sunny day with barely a cloud in the sky. The great metal building stood over them as the sun's rays reflected off it's smooth surfaces. Looking outwards, they could see a path of steps leading into a busy street. Many other buildings adorned the landscape before them as they took in the heavy air.

Freddie addressed the group, "Alright guys it's not a far walk from here. The area's close enough that off duty Shinra employees can go there on their breaks. Just follow me and we'll be there in no time."

The five ponies descended down the steps into the street. There were hundred of ponies walking in every direction, however even in a crowd of hundreds the group stood out like a sore hoof. The occasional onlooker would pass by, but as the group followed the lead of the small orange pony they were not troubled by others. It would not be long before they arrived at their destination.

"And here we are fillies. See? I told you it wouldn't take long." Freddie had told the group.

Velis looked surprised at him. "How do you know? We just walked in this direction for a few minutes."

The other four immediately face-hooved at the statement as Freddie pointed to their right. On their right was a thirty by thirty sign. 'Sector 8 - Loveless Avenue' was written in large bold letters.

"Oh, well...don't we have some gang to look for?" Velis said clumsily. Just as Velis finished his question a loud cry for help was heard by the group. "I think I have a good idea where to start our search."

Without hesitation, the five bolted down the street towards source of the cry. They ran for only a few moments before they reached a four-way crossing to see a group of six rugged ponies surrounding a young pink mare with a white scarf. The six ponies were laughing and slowly moving inwards towards the distressed mare. The group moved towards them as one of them perked up and looked at the group. "Look's like we got ourselves some visitors boys." The other five turned to see a very odd group of five ponies approaching them. They walked towards their new 'guests' while one whispered something to the mare. She was completely frozen with fear.

The two group walked up to each other standing no more than feet away. One of the six was slightly bigger than the rest. He had a dark brown coat and a scar over his left eye. "Something me and my boys can help ya with?" He said with a smile.

Marcus began to speak as Jackal suddenly stepped forward, standing face to face with the larger pony. Jackal had to look up a bit to make eye contact as he said, "You're the gang that's been causing trouble?" Jackal's face and words were completely serious, he was not interested in playing their games. Freddie seized the opportunity to sneak around behind them.

The small gang let out a small chuckle. "Well I guess we are. We're the Buckaneers. toughest gang aro-" The pony stopped as Jackal just turned and walked away mid sentence. "Hey! Don't turn your back on me you little runt! I'll kill you for that!"

Jackal quickly took out his metal crossbow. The steel reflected the sun's light revealing its luster as a small *thwing* could be heard. A crossbow bolt had been put directly into the eye of the dark brown stallion as he fell to the ground lifeless. Jackal looked at his first kill and mocked him, "You talk too much."

The five other members of the gang looked at their boss in shock as he lied on the street. They turned their attention to Jackal as one shouted "Get 'im!" They all drew their daggers as they rushed at the group.

One took a violent swing directly at Jackal in retribution for his fallen leader. The blade swung by him as he stepped to the side, sticking out his leg and tripping the attacker. He quickly loaded his crossbow once more and fired it through the back of the pony's head, causing his body to go limp. As another approached Trenton he swung his bastard sword at neck level only to as the pony ducked it. He retaliated by lunging forwards with his dagger and cutting Trenton's left leg. He let out a small grunt in pain as his horn glowed and sent the pony flying backwards. As he tried to get up to return the favor, he fell unconscious as Freddie stood over the body triumphantly with his nunchucks drawn. Two had decided to make a charge at Marcus. As they approached one was suddenly blasted by a large mass of ice as he was knocked to the ground. The other looked to see Velis' horn was glowing only to be blindsided by Marcus as he felt the intense heat make contact with his face. A burst of flames appeared at the end of Marcus's hoof sending the pony back in a smoldering, lifeless state. The last stopped to see that his friends had all been killed by these five 'monsters'. He quickly turned around and began to run as fast as he could. As he got further and further away he felt he could get away, that he would make it out alive! His thoughts of escape were quickly ended by a sudden pain in his neck. The pony's body slowed down as he could feel his energy draining from his body. Slowly but surely he fell down, let out one final breath, and then silence.

Standing frozen was the young pink mare whom the gang had surrounded earlier. Dead bodies littered the area around her as she gazed in awe. She was completely speechless. She had seen fights every now and again, but to see five random ponies come to rescue her and kill six tough looking gangsters in a matter of seconds was an absolute shock to her.

"Miss, are you alright?" The pink mare suddenly jumped in surprise as the small orange pony spoke to her. "We heard you yell earlier. They didn't hurt you too bad did they?" The pink mare looked in surprise at Freddie as she noted he was no larger than a foal.

She cleared her throat. "I-I'm fine. I just...who are you ponies?" She gave the group a look of confusion as they quickly introduced themselves.

"We're part of Shinra. We were ordered to find this gang and it just so happened you were here too." Velis explained. When the pink mare heard the name Shinra a wave of relief took over her.

"Oh thank goddess you're with Shinra. I thought you were all some kind of crazy vigilantes or something." She said letting out a nervous chuckle. "Umm...do you mind escorting me back to my work? I work at the main building. I mean, if it's not too far out of your way." She said shyly to her rescuers.

The five looked at each other and saw that nopony had any objections. "Sure, we're heading back anyways." Marcus told her. With that said, they made their way back to the Shinra headquarters.

When the six of them returned, the pink mare thanked her saviors. "I don't really have much to pay you with..." She paused for a moment. "Oh I know!" She removed the scarf from her neck and gave it to Marcus. "I know it's not much, but it's supposed to be a good luck charm of sorts." She thanked the five ponies again and went on her way. The group returned to the glass elevators they had now become so familiar with to the laboratory. Angeal was waiting for them inside. "So how'd the first mission go?" The group proceeded to report on the events that took place. "So you not only took care of our little gang problem, but saved a Shinra employee in the process? Did you get her name?" The group suddenly realized they never even thought to ask the pink pony for her name. "Oh well that's not a big deal. As long as she's safe everything is fine I suppose." The navy-blue pony went over to one of the paper-littered desks and grabbed a small bag. He tossed it over to the group. Marcus made sure to catch it. "This is your pay for the mission. One-thousand Gil." The jaws of everypony suddenly dropped as they realized how much they were just payed.

"Wait a minute, do all jobs pay like this?" Freddie asked excitedly.

Angeal smiled. "To be honest, this was a pretty small job overall. Future jobs will probably pay far more than this."

The group was suddenly thrilled to be part of Shinra. Wages before were livable, but no where near as staggering as the amount they would now be making. Freddie beamed as he said, "See guys? I told you I had a good feeling about this!"

"You guys should go rest up for the rest of evening. Meet back here at 8 a.m sharp and we'll see what I've got for you then." Angeal addressed the group. They all agreed as they head to the elevator. "Oh one more thing." The five turned around to see Angeal. "Don't expect every job to be this easy. Your lives will, more often than not, be on the line." Freddie was the only one who took this as any surprise as they continued onto the elevator. The five looked out once more to Midgar as the sun was setting in the distance. An orange-red hue filled the evening sky as the sound of vehicles and ponies could be heard. Freddie thought to himself, 'It's going to be a long night isn't it?'

Comments

[Mach and Gracie]

Excellent read! I spotted a few errors in the beginning, but I'm not bothered to point them out right now. ;P
Can't wait for more!

[Magical Trevor]

I thought you were all song kind of crazy vigilantes or something." ... Umm, whut? You mean some kind of, or... ?

Also, in the beginning, you did it a TON of tomes, so no quotes, but it's means it is, not possessive. You need to fix just about every single it's into its, which is possessive.

It's... Interesting, I guess. I mean... Okay, please don't take this the wrong way, since I'd like to think that you want honest input, but I don't want to come off as rude or arrogant, you know? Right now, the story just doesn't grip me. It doesn't make me go " *Pinkie Gasp* Come on! I want the next chapter! What happens next?!' It just... Doesn't really draw me in. I know that's a poor critique, since I can't explain why or how, or how to improve it, but that's what I feel. I just... Don't care like I should. Don't worry, I'll keep reading for sure! It's just... I don't know. Gonna shut up before I shove my hoof down my throat more than I am right now.

[the one guy on the left]

Hey guys what are ya' buying?