Chapter 7: Deal Or No Deal
Date: Oct, 13, 2012
Time: 7:03 A.M
Location: Canterlot Castle, Chris’s bedroom
(Perspective Shift, Third person, Outside of everyone’s room)
As Chris was busy battling the dreamland demons of his mind, (who knows what goes on in there), the girls were all stirring and waking up. After a couple of moments while everyone took their sweet ol’ time freshening up, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie, exited their rooms and entered the refined atmosphere of the Royal castle hallways.
Rainbow however didn’t want to marvel at the castle’s beauty; instead she has “other plans”
“Pinkie! Get over here!” Rainbow whispered to her companion.
“What is it Dashie?” Pinkie asked bouncing to her, it was only for a split second that Pinkie Pie instantly recognized the face Rainbow had on, it was the face of an upcoming prank. “Ohh, you want to prank someone don’t you Dashie, who is it?”
Pinkie asked with giddy.
“Let’s play a little joke on Chris here,” Rainbow nudged to Chris’s doorway, “Here’s the plan,”
(Perspective Shift, First person, Inside of Chris’s room)
As my mind followed the crazed adventures of Heavy and Ellis battling zombies, throwing cars at each other, and throwing water at a giant cat while punching a train, my dream was nearing its end,
And not the good kind…
My mind and ears got blared with the sound of a bugle playing the wake-up call of the military, as my self-consciousness tried to reboot and register the noise, my body thought otherwise and scrambled out of bed and into salute.
“Lieutenant on deck!” I yelled out, memories screwing around with my body, giving the sense that Dale, my step father, and leader of the squad was on the premises.
It wasn’t until I heard the sound of laughing did I snap out of it, and finally look around my surroundings, landing lastly on the two girls who gave me the wake-up call.
“Yea, yea, laugh it up you two,” I sigh irritably, drawing out the desktop screen to check on the downloads from last night.
‘Downloads completed’
Closing it, I draw my attention back to Rainbow and Pinkie, STILL laughing on the floor.
Getting bored with the constant laughing in my ears; I throw on my shoes and shirt, that’s still ripped, then exit out of my room.
The girls are waking up and exiting out of their rooms, I say hello to them and answer why Rainbow and Pinkie are in my room laughing.
“Prank, military wake-up call,” was all I said.
I enter the main hallway and activate my HUD to bring up the mini-map of the castle.
Finding out where I need to go, I immediately make my way towards the dining hall to get something to eat.
“Wait a second, I almost never eat breakfast…Oh well, get something to drink then,”
Continuing on, I head inside the Dining hall and ask one of the servants for some orange juice, they comply, and bring it back.
I drink it down hastily and place it on the table for when they pick it up.
Exiting out of the dining I happen to see Celestia heading to her throne room to begin her royal court hearings, something that, although sounds interesting, might become boring within an hour.
We exchange pleasantries and go on our merry ways, I was going to head to the castle gardens, but memories of last night made me think otherwise.
‘Don’t want another assassination attempt, especially if it succeeds,” I thought to myself.
Finding nothing better to do I head back into my room in the guest hallways of the castle.
However just as I was about to open the door, I ‘felt’ something. It wasn’t a feeling, more like a sense to keep wary for something and that ‘something I had an idea of.
Slowly opening the door, I look up and down, finally noticing that on the ground, was a trip wire, leading towards a catapult that’s loaded with cream pie.
“…Yea, good luck pal,” I murmur, slowly stepping over the tripwire, and walking past the catapult, waiting for the prank to get back fired when the person who set it up comes to check.
I turn on my holographic desktop and set the volume to low, so I can keep an ear for someone coming, I begin playing some TF2 mann vs. machine, luckily it wasn’t with anybody I knew, so they didn’t recognize my username.
It was about an hour before my visor picked up motion coming down the hallway, and according to the appearance, it was rainbow dash.
Doing the best thing to come to mind to lure her here, I fake a yell, sounding like I was pranked yet again.
Luckily it worked, and rainbow immediately picked up the sound and began flying her way towards my door.
I turn and watch the doorway, waiting for the moment’s truth…
*SPLAT*
“pffft,” I chuckle lightly, for some reason my normal laughs are silent, only when I’m sadistic I laugh loudly and that’s not a pretty sound.
I face back to my computer again, giving Rainbow half of my attention.
Looking past the cream pie filling her face, she had a dumbfounded look, her brain rebooting on what just happened. It then got replaced with a look of anger, then, acceptance.
“All right, all right, ya got me. Nice move there, backfiring my own prank like that, can’t say I’m happy about it,” Rainbow said.
“Mmm..,” I reply, uninterested.
“Whatcha’ got there?” she asks, noticing me playing TF2.
“Team fortress 2, it’s a video game back in my world,” I reply, giving her half of my attention.
“A video game?”
“A virtual reality program fit into a monitor, if you want it in Layman’s terms it goes like this, it’s a game in a screen, that you can control with a controller,”
“…You lost me at ‘virtual’,” she said.
“It’s big stuff that lets you have fun, how about we leave it at that?” I resent.
Rainbow shrugs and leaves the room to wipe the remaining cream pie from her face, while I return to taking out robots as the pyro on Mann vs. Machine.
Hours passed and the time turned to 11:36 A.M, I shut off the holographic desktop and keyboard and exit the room, only to come face to face with SQ-741, about to knock on the door. His exoskeleton plate is showing and his armor and chain blade isn’t on him. His red bulb was replaced with a more realistic look, showing of blue eyes situated on the front of his head. And metal teeth on his jaw-line.
“...Can I…Help you?” I ask him wearily.
“…May I come in?” 741 asks, in which I hold the door open for him.
We both enter the room, and I take a seat near the desk. 741 opting to sit like a dog.
An uncomfortable silence fills the room, neither one of us knowing what to start the conversation with. It wasn’t for a couple of minutes until 741 broke the ice.
“I just wanted to express my gratitude for freeing me from my captors, killing people for their own gain…Wasn’t what I wanted,”
“Did the blacksmith disable the memory wiping?” I asked.
“Indeed, he has also disabled my remote piloting, and removed any connections to my…Previous group,” he answered. “My memories have also been returned to me as a result of the disabled memory wiping,”
“That’s good to hear, so I guess your position is neutral now?”
“In a way, yes. At least until I find out what to do now that I’m free,” He answered
“Any ideas?” I asked him.
“…Not any that I can think of, but even if I did, the princesses have said that I was to remain in your care until further notice,”
“Yea, I’m aware, sorry about that, but you have to understand she doesn’t exactly trust you right now since you *ahem* attempted assassinated her and I,”
“Speaking of which, I am sorry for poisoning you earlier,”
“Nah, don’t worry about it, you didn’t have a choice,” I reassured him.
The silence reigns again, except this time it wasn’t as uncomfortable as before, as 741 seems to be as ease standing next to me, the silence continues on for a little bit longer, until he breaks the ice once again.
“Chris, why do you do this?” 741 asked.
“Excuse me?” I asked, confused.
741 fidgets for a bit before continuing, “What is your purpose in this? Why are you willing to kill?”
I grew unease from that question but I answered honestly, “At first, when I was young, I killed for vengeance, for my little sister’s death at the hands of incompetent terrorists from a different country,” I grab my M1911 and begin examining it, looking at the tally marks I had etched into the side of it, for the kills of the terrorists who killed my sister, “I was going by that sole purpose for a while, until I just…Ran out,
I had no more reason to fight anymore, I could have quit right then and there, but I continued. Not for the enjoyment of killing, but for the defense of the innocent.”
“…” 741 stayed silent, a subtle sign telling me to continue,
“When I was fighting for my country, these terrorists were preying on the innocent, the people who had nothing, nothing at all to do with the war. They beat, killed, and sometimes raped, these people for their own enjoyment. This…It pissed me off, I couldn’t let myself go on while innocent people needing help, died by the devil’s hand,
So I fought for the innocent people that couldn’t protect themselves, to protect them from suffering the same pain as I did, that’s what drove me on, knowing that without me, innocent lives would be taken just for the sheer enjoyment of the enemy,
The same thing could happen back in my world in here, these private military companies disrupting the peace Celestia and Luna worked so hard to keep, and all it would take is the life of an innocent civilian and this country would be plunged into chaos, which is why I’m helping them combat this threat before it begins,” I ended.
“…I see,” 741 replied, “Your purpose is to protect the weak,”
“That about sums it up in one sentence,” I deadpanned, a bit annoyed at how he just disregarded that dramatic scene.
“Are you accepting any help?” 741 asked.
“I dunno, why?”
“Seeing as that I am under your care for the moment, and that my position is neutral, the only logical thing to do would be to join you in your endeavors, as I am in your debt,” 741 explained.
I was surprised by this, I had thought he didn’t like killing, but here he is, saying he wants to join me in battling the upcoming war on terror,
“What if we run into your previous group? What will you do then?” I ask 741, making sure he won’t turn on me if we fight them.
“I would fight them without hesitation,” he replied.
“...Very well, welcome to the team,” I hold out my hand for him in which he sets his metal paw in it and we shake, “All we need to do now is await further orders on what to do when we get to Ponyville, that and we need to get you some stronger armor.”
“Indeed, your blade was able to slice through it easily,” he agreed.
“That, and I don't want a bolt lodged in my throat...How about we head on back to the Blacksmith and check up on my light armor, hopefully he should have half of it completed,” I said.
“Very well, I shall accompany you,”
We exit out of the room to come face to face with all of the girls, who were apparently eavesdropping on us the entire time.
“…” I stood there with a blank expression, and so did 741.
“…”
“...Soo, how much did you hear?” I asked.
They responded with a collective bunch of ‘Enough’ save for Pinkie and Applejack, who decided to be blunt by responding with ‘All of it’
“…Mhmm…” I stood there, everyone waiting for the next word, “Well, I’m out,” I said and began walking away.
And then I was tackled…By everyone save for SQ-741.
“Eh?” I blurted out in confusion.
Twilight was the one who spoke first, “We never knew how bad your life was Chris, We never knew the hardships you went through to protect the ones you care about,”
‘Because we just met yesterday,’ I thought, starting to struggle from too much touching...(I'm touch-shy, all right!?)
“We may have saved Equestria a couple times from Discord and Nightmare Moon, but none of us would go farther than what you did,” Twilight finished, and a collective bunch of ‘Yea’ echoed.
“That’s…Nice and all…But…Air!” I exclaimed, from the resulting group hug started depleting my oxygen supply.
The girls released the hug and I drew a big breath of air, i could have sworn I heard 741 do the equivalent of a chuckle behind me.
“All right…All I did was protecting the innocent, which is pretty much the job of a natural soldier, the only difference was that I was more involved…And extremely young…” I say, and then turn around to head to the Blacksmith, “I’m not special, and all I did was do what any other person would do in the same situation, and I made the choice to do it,”
And like that, I left, although I was a bit moved by their affection, but I didn’t exactly need it.
My persona immediately changed darkly.
'They don't know what kind of Hell I've been through, they don't know what it is like to fight everyday for your life, always waiting for the first shot to ring out so you can shoot back in hopes you don't get shot yourself. They got the easy life.'
My rationality kicked in after the thought.
'Of course they got the easy life, comparing this world to mine, these so-called 'Discord and Nightmare-moon' sound to be about the equivalent of a terrorist attack on your own country. Only differences is, they seem to be unaware of the consequences of taking one's life'
I shake off my mental argument, continuing my walk in silent bitterness.
After a couple minutes of walking in the hallways and marveling at the sheer architecture of the castle, I eventually found the Blacksmith and entered it... And almost burned my face off from wall of fire.
“Whoa! Geez man, it’s hot enough already in here!” I yelled.
“Heh, heh, heh, sorry mate, just trying to add some finishing touches to your armor before I send it off to my contact in Ponyville,” I hear the Blacksmith say on the other side of the room.
“Huh, convenient, we are leaving to go there in a couple hours,” I say surprised.
The blacksmith wrapped up the half-finished light armor and got it ready for delivery.
“Now, what can I do ya for?” The blacksmith asks.
“Just checking up on the armor’s progress, and thanking you once again for your help, especially with 741,” I motion over to SQ-741, in which he steps up and bows his head before backing away.
“Ah, no problem, mate, Least I could do, it’s nice working on something different than the occasional sword and bow,”
“By the way, I never caught your name, Name’s Chris, friends call me Silver, You are..?” I stuck my hand out in a handshake.
The blacksmith wipes his hands on a rag than walks over to me and shakes my hand firmly, “Name’s Steel Forge, mate, though friends call me Forge, pleasure to meet ya.”
“You too, it was nice talking to you, see you later, Forge,” I turned to leave but was stopped when Forge told me something nice.
“By the way, if you happen to do any missions, look around for Girasol crystals, they normally contain training information or blueprints regarding the enemy, and in exchange, I am authorized to give you upgrades and enchantments for you and your companions,”
“That’s good to hear, I’ll be sure to keep an eye out.”
After leaving the Blacksmith I wander the halls aimlessly for a bit looking at the foundation while also speaking with 741 about how he came to be.
“So, are you like the only AI with the capability to speak?”
“It’s likely, unless the group happened to be able to back up the data needed to make my design, they couldn’t make another 741 that has the same functioning capabilities needed to comprehend and learn speech,” 741 answered.
We turned left and entered the main hallway.
“So how did you come to learn the Equestrian/English, language? Where you taught automatically, Or..?”
“I learned the speech recognition from the scientists who were working on me and teaching me, at first all I could do was do what I was told, but eventually, I was able to respond with a nod or shake, from then on it escalated to finally having a fluent vocabulary of the Equestrian language,”
“And then what happened?” I asked, after we entered the dining hall, not noticing the girls or the princesses at the table.
“After a couple months of more teaching from the scientists, my reputation was beginning to spread, in which PMCs, starting trying to buy me. Each time they offered an amount, the scientists would always turn them away, saying I wasn’t for sale,” he responded.
“…” I motioned for him to continue on, while taking a seat at the table and ordering a plate of Grilled chicken, with a side of vegetables.
I then noticed the girls and princesses but decided to give them my attention later, as they seemed to be interested with 741’s background.
“It was then the PMCs decided to become more aggressive, turning to underhanded tactics to try and collect me, at first they began with threats of property loss and such, then escalating to killing of friends and family, each time the scientists still rejected them and called security to escort them away,” 741 continued.
“Sounded like those scientists liked you,” ‘Or they were aware of your capabilities in combat’ I finished in my mind.
Beginning to eat the food place on the table not too long ago, ‘Sooo, delicious.’
741 deciding to ignore or acknowledged it, either way, continued, “It was then a certain group going by the name of ‘Green-Wing Corporations’, got lucky and broke into the labs while I was in standby. They killed the scientists in cold-blood and took me away to their base by teleportation, when I awoke most of my memories save for speech and combat were blocked, and they put me in the field for the past six months,” 741 ended, finally acknowledging the presence of everyone, “Unfortunately, whenever I was put in and out of the field, it was by teleportation, so I am unable to firmly disclose the location of the base, what I can say is that they were all black, each and every one of them with a pair of bug-like wings and jagged horn.”
Celestia nodded and gave the name of the description, “Changelings, they impersonate people and start fires and make off with the love and money gained from the onslaught, fortunately we know of most of their bases and keep them in check enough for them stay in their area, problem is, we can’t find their leader, nor do we know what he or she looks like.”
We all eat in relative silence, while I was thinking about the changeling leader and her possible whereabouts, it wasn’t for a while when I was shaken out of my stupor when I comment from, surprisingly Fluttershy, was directed towards SQ-741.
“Mister Wolf? Umm.. Do you think, if you don’t mind that is, tell us what you are going to do now? That is…If you don’t mind,” Fluttershy timidly asked, hiding behind her pink hair.
If it weren’t for my visor automatically registering and raising the voice volume, I probably wouldn’t have known what she was saying.
It appears 741 has the same capabilities as well, “I will be accompanying Chris on his Endeavors against the war on terror, either providing reconnaissance or reinforcements on missions. However, until Princess Celestia gives us further orders regarding missions, then we will be practicing our abilities.”
I then realized the name Fluttershy gave to 741, and decided to put my two cents in, “Wolf? Huh, that actually sounds like a pretty nice name, though his real name is SQ-741, but to be honest I think he might need a name change, I don’t think his current name brings any happy memories,” I finished and turned to 741, “Do you want a different name? if you don’t want it just say no, I’m giving you a choice here.”
“A…choice?” 741 pondered for a bit, seemingly confused by the term, “I’m…Not sure how to say…,”
“If you need time to think, I’ll leave you to it, it’s all up to you,” I proposed.
Turning back to Celestia, I offer up my questions of the day, “Backtracking a bit, 741 does have a point, in order to prevent our abilities from rusting, we need further orders regarding missions, even if they are simple recon, plus, I need to find a way to make some money, and my skills all fall within the military category, save for technology, but you don’t have that here.”
Twilight looked like she was about to protest, but Celestia cut her off, “Maybe not as high as yours, but if you wish, I can offer a stipend in exchange for simple outpost liberation's and reconnaissance near Ponyville, Canterlot, and Appleloosa,” Celestia offered.
“Is the Stipend going to be a set amount of money? Or will it start low and rise throughout the week, months, or year?” I asked.
“The stipend will change depending on the missions, outpost liberation's will be regarded with a stipend of 1000-5000 bits, depending on the size, recon, will range from 250-750 bits, “Everyone was left open-mouthed at the payment, I can only deduce the amount of bits being paid were large, “there is also the bonus of the girasol crystals Forge told you about,”
“Yea, he said he was authorized to give me upgrades and enhances in exchange for them,” I confirmed.
Celestia nodded in acknowledgement, “I assume this will be all right?”
I nodded my head in agreement, “it’s perfect,” I agree happily, “We have a deal.”
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2952135
Yea, i kinda got it the first time Dragon, though i will have to ask you to at least delete half of these to prevent spam.
Thanks for the compliment though
2997821
...I don't even know how to respond to this...
who tipped you off? :3
i'll pay you double to stay quiet.
nah just kiddin' but my serious side kicked out and he just wanted to say no, that's not him.
P.S, you were never supposed to understand this comment...
2998302
It's technically Metal gear Rising: Revengeance
but yes, this story is loosely based off of it, in the future when my writer's block wears off i can come up with more original items.