> Supreme Commander of the Multiverse
>  by Zedfire
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> Chapter 1, A Vending Blowout, the defeat of Tirek, Explanations and Letting out Emotions
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As with all stories, I should probably tell you my story from the beginning, I was your slightly average Young Adult, at 19 years old, I liked sports, was adventurous, yet I was extremely cautious unlike some other idiots that are out there, though I was rather moody after several deaths of previous generations of my family. I stood at 7'4 and had stopped there a little while ago, people claimed I had Giant-ism, but if I did then why did I stop growing if I was to grow forever? Anyway, I was at a real-time strategy convention; a place where anyone who loves games where you command your units within war in real time. So far I had seen people who made models of Warhammer 40k battleships, people cosplaying as various characters/races from their favourite RTS games, some of which I can no longer un-see, even showing off their own custom made mods for games with their laptops that they had most likely brought from home. I had been looking for parts to complete a Supreme Commander 1 (Not Forged Alliance) Cybran ACU that I had been cosplaying as so I'd also have all the upgrades from the game for better customization purposes. It sounds pointless, but I liked versatility. The reason I was even there in the first place was because one of my friends convinced me that I should go to 'lift your spirits' as he put it. I had, after 17 minutes, found a man who looked almost precisely like Dr Brackman from before the Infinite War began; his hair was the same, his eyes the same colour and his facial features were spot on. "Hello there, my boy, would you like to buy some of these parts?"

'Oh lord, he even sounds exactly the same; in voice and accent!' I thought, I quickly got over my shock and shakily spoke. "Y-yeah, I'll take..." I looked over what he had there, they were labelled with tags for distinguishing purposes, there were all the upgrades for all the ACUs from Supreme Commander 1 and, strangely enough, Forged Alliance. The Microwave Laser Generator, the Personal Teleporter, the Resource Allocation System, he had it all, no doubt more just like them hiding under his desk. "The Microwave Laser Generator as I couldn't find one of this calibre of quality for a while, the Tech 3 Suite for the construction arm, can't miss that, and the Personal Teleporter, which doesn't work anyway." I finished, pointing out the specifications as to which specific parts I wanted. "I see, very well. That will be $30 even." I was about to give him the money when I noticed something in his eyes I couldn't describe at the time but I now know that it was, it was that of goodwill, pride and... Pity towards me for what was about to happen.

I then hesitated when I saw the look in his eyes. "Wait a minute, this isn't gonna send me to another world... is it?" I certainly hoped not, I had seen so many fan-fictions about situations just like this. Brackman (I decided to call him that at the time) shook his head and laughed. "No, my dear boy, there isn't even a catch, it's perfectly-" I'll admit I was a bit rude here, as I cut him off abruptly, pointing an accusing finger at him. "DON'T play coy with me sir, I saw that look in your eyes, I know precisely when someone is hiding something, so who are you and what do you want?!" I demanded. He certainly looked miffed at my demand but spoke calmly. "Well my boy, aside from your rudeness, you really are quite intelligent! You caught me! I want you to be the Savior of another world!" I looked at him as though he were nuts, I couldn't believe what he had just said; I was to save another world!? I was just an average guy! An average guy who can come up with some brilliant manoeuvres with his units on the battlefield, but still an average guy nonetheless! "Wait... you mean to tell me... that I am another world's final hope!?" The Brackman lookalike sighed; he looked up at me and spoke once more. "I'm afraid so, you have the right moral and strategic mind, more so than any other human on this planet, that is why you were chosen for this. Equestria needs your help, they will be in grave danger, you must help them as what you have seen in the show will not happen and they will be defeated by Tirek, will you accept this responsibility, Damian Tucker?"

I stood there for a long time, for 5 minutes at least, Brackman being patient with me as he didn't say anything during that time, I then took a look at the upgrades and sighed, he must have known I was not one to let the innocent die or anyone, animal or otherwise, get hurt. "I have a few conditions; one, I must have the ACU from the original Supreme Commander, NO MODS, expansion packs and DLC are allowed, but I don’t want anything unofficial without my approval. If I am to have Mods installed onto my ACU, I want them to be tested by me first before my approval of their usage. Two, I want all the schematics for every vehicle, weapon and building of the United Earth Federation, the Aeon Illuminate and the Cybran Nation from the original game, up to Supreme Commander 2, and I mean all of them! I will allow only Two mods to be pre-installed for extra assurance, the Orbital Wars mod and the Experimental Wars mod, both for Forged Alliance, make certain that they will not glitch out or be buggy like the actual mods they're from. 3; I want to go there with my ACU pre-installed with the Tech 3 Engineering Suite, the Microwave Laser Generator, and the Personal Teleporter that I’m buying. And 4; can you send me with a PS1, 2, 3, 4, Portable, Vita, VR, along with an original X-Box, X-Box 360, X-box 1, X-Box VR, Sega Master System, Genesis, CD, 32X, Saturn, Game Gear, Dreamcast, Nintendo Entertainment System, SNES, N64, Game Cube, Nintendo DS, 3DS, WII, WIIU, every other gaming system in existence and the most powerful computer you can find with unlimited access to every movie as well as every TV show ever made, the Internet, Online Servers for online games, Steam and Origin with all the games ever made for each system, PC included? I want all of them having enough in their internal hard-drives and external alike, to have all the video games currently on and will be on, the systems and more; 200,000 terabytes should be enough. As for the games that require to be installed, I want them to be pre-installed on their respective systems. Can you do these things?" Brackman nodded. "Very well, you may be a tough customer to please (especially with the last one), but as long as you can get the job done. For extra assurance, I will send a couple of other Cybran commanders to assist you, one you will most definitely be familiar with." I nodded and set the money on the table. "One more thing, may I ask you something?" I asked him. "If it isn't too trivial, I suppose I’ll allow it." He responded. "This is mostly out of curiosity but, are you really the Dr Gustaf Brackman? It's mostly because you look and sound precisely like him." Brackman laughed a genuine laugh and said. "I'm afraid so, I am the one in the same, Dr Gustaf Antoine Brackman, father of the Cybran Nation. Now go my son, your destiny awaits." Literally just as he said that, a portal opened under my feet and I fell through, awaiting my own fate on the other end.

What felt like minutes later, I opened my eyes slowly, I was in a dark, red light illuminated room it seemed, sitting on a Black leather seat with control panels everywhere around me, several red screens blazing to life upon my awakening, all around the ‘room’ I saw several steel crates filled with what I assumed to be the gaming systems and the games I had asked for, tied tightly with military grade cargo holding bonds. I then heard a computerized female American voice (Like the one in Supreme Commander 2) say; "Commander conscious." I looked around and saw the inside of some kind of command centre; it was mostly black with hints of red lines outlining some of the equipment. I saw a view port that showed the immediate vicinity of the outside world, in the corners of the screen was, I kid you not, the Supreme Commander 1 Interface, despite it being coloured red instead of that bluish tint I had known for so long. Somehow I instantly knew everything about where I was and what everything did, I was in an actual ACU, and I also knew I had all the upgrades I had requested already on my ACU. 'Well at least I know that's not going to be an issue...' I thought. I then saw an image of myself to the left in some kind of Cybran Armour-exoskeleton hybrid, no doubt attached to my nervous system via implants, designed specifically for maximum combat improvement via allowing the wearer to do things that he or she couldn't do before on their own, at least it did not sacrifice maximum protection in the process like the Exo-suits in Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare did. Surprisingly, the suit didn't feel heavy at all, in fact it felt as light as a feather. It was completely black with the exception of two red glass pieces in the area meant for eyes that glowed a bloody red with red highlighting lights that ran down the entirety of the exoskeleton, the armour itself was comprised of advanced carbon-ceramic reinforced Titanium/Polyurethane mixture, with laminated Kevlar in the flexible areas.

The exoskeleton was actually cool looking; its overall look was one of high authority almost as though it was made for a Supreme Commander... ironic I know, with the contours of almost being natural looking. The shoulder pads looked heavy, housing hidden mini-turrets with 3 tall spikes lined up in a straight line, the arm guards had built in laser cannons in the wrist section, there were also more spikes on the back of the hands, each of them far smaller than the ones on my shoulders. My hips also actually had rocket launchers on them, firing 9mm anti-armour rockets. The boots were large for my feet, mostly because they had rockets built into them allowing the wearer to either hover or get out of tight situations. Smaller spikes, like the ones on the back of my hands, were lined up on the outside of both the boots, not on the toes or heels. The legs had shock absorbers built like muscles, Impact Compensation as it was called, allowing the wearer to fall from great heights and not get injured at all should he or she land properly.

The chest piece was by far the most heavily-armoured of the exoskeleton, able to withstand multiple Supreme Commander 2-era tank shells and still keep the wearer alive by keeping shrapnel away from the wearer's face, arms and general body. The head wasn't very aesthetically pleasing, very triangular in overall design, it had a few jagged edges that were extremely sharp, it also had 4 glowing red eyepieces that 2 of which seemingly served no purpose, the top of the head was rather flat, nothing truly special. (Based off of this (http://zeiram0034.deviantart.com/art/Combat-robian-redesign-199612848) and the Supreme Commander 1 Player character's head in the opening cut scene of Supreme Commander 1's Cybran Campaign (https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=zQkyhrZHT0k) instead of the Robian wolf's head in the image and the massive gun on the left shoulder is replaced with a copy of the massive shoulder pad on the right shoulder)

In fact... what did my new body look like? I quickly gave the mental command to take the armour off the image and when all of it came off, I was completely silent at what I saw. I apparently had cybernetic implants all over my body, some absolutely necessary for me to live, others not as important. The chest had several backup systems in the event that my internal organs fail, the legs had been reinforced with metallic boosters and muscle enhancers, making certain I could run faster and longer than any other being. The lower arms were able to actually open up and expose built-in laser cannons if there were no other weapons available. ‘It must be painful to use those.’ I thought. Several cables were connected to the back of the arms, supplying the weapons and cybernetics within the necessary power in order to function. The upper arms had several muscle and hydraulic enhancements, allowing me to lift over 6 tons in total weight of materials, more cables led into them as well; supplying them with much needed power much like the ones on the back of my forearms. My entire skeleton was reinforced with the same advanced carbon-ceramic reinforced Titanium/laminated Kevlar material as my exoskeleton. The head was the worst of it all, I had several wires going into the back of my head, and it had all the important cables that controlled my body, thoughts and functions, connecting most of my systems together. Both eyes were still functioning, but one had a piece of (Thankfully) see through red glass over it that doubled as a heads up display and a life monitor, which was connected to a piece of metal that fitted comfortably over my left ear and looked eerily like a Scouter from Dragon Ball Z.

I then shot to attention at the female AI's voice. "Incoming transmission; other Cybran commanders wish to speak to you, commander." I nodded to confirm that I wanted to answer. "Onscreen." I said simply, the view screen in front of me was filled with two images of humans with similar implants as I, but I recognized both of them instantly. "Hex-5! Dostya! You're the ones Brackman sent with me?" Dostya nodded. "Yes Commander, me and Hex-5 have been sent to assist you in keeping Equestria safe." Hex-5 then spoke up, his voice... how do I describe it? It sounded almost... well; think of it sounding like a combination of C.A.B.A.L.'s from Command and Conquer 2: Tiberian Sun/Firestorm and Q.A.I.'s from the original Supreme Commander. I’m not certain as to why it didn’t sound the same as it did in Forged Alliance, but I’d rather not question it. (I decided to do that because they both sound cool, but a fusion is just better for me) “Awaiting our orders, commander, where do you want us?" He asked politely. I took a look at the area that we were in, we had a few trees around us that hadn't been destroyed when we first arrived, as gating in can be extremely messy for Supreme Commander 1 ACUs. I then took a better look at our surroundings and realized that we were in the Everfree forest! The trees were totally wild, untamed by any Pony’s hooves for what I assumed were centuries. ‘Perfect’ I thought ‘No one would dare set foot in here without some kind of assurance and it’s also pretty much the only natural place here; the only thing that reminds me of home about this place actually.’ When I took a look at the scanners, I saw a few Mass Deposits and an area for a Hydrocarbon power plant. "Alright, listen up, I want you both to begin construction of our main base of operations here, first off, put up as many Tech 3 Mass Extractors as you can fit within a 1-mile radius upon the Mass Deposits along with a hydrocarbon power plant and several normal ones, use a mix of all 3 faction technologies starting from tech one all the way to what I call, the S.C. 2 technology. More details will be given to you on how to proceed to construct the base as I forward the specifications into your ACU databases and schematic storage areas. As for me, I'll-" I was cut short from a Nuclear sized, rainbow-coloured explosion going off behind me, the wind from it knocking a few trees over completely, but me along with Dostya and Hex-5 were unharmed, but were shaken so violently that if we hadn’t been strapped onto our seats so tightly, then we actually would have fallen out of our seats in the ACUs, the latter of which remained unharmed. "SIR!! Are you alright?!" Dostya demanded. I managed to recover from my headache and say: "Yeah, I'm good... What the heck was that anyway!?" Hex-5 looked at his scanners for a moment and replied. "A massive discharge of some kind of energy, I cannot discern it sir, it's completely erratic, there's more build up and discharge at an increasing rate!!! It's unlike anything I have ever seen before!!!" I suddenly realized that Twilight's battle with Tirek had already begun. I then looked back at the screen and said. "Continue with my instructions, I will see into this matter myself." I then, without thinking, turned the ACU in the direction of the explosion and began to walk off. “Commander! You cannot be thinking of going off on your own are you!?” Dostya desperately demanded, but I already had my mind made up. “Carry out my orders at once Dostya!” I demanded on the communicator before I was gone, Dostya and Hex-5 looked at each other, realizing that the two of them could not stop me even if they wanted to. “Understood commander, whatever you believe is right. Hex-5 out” Hex-5 said before the transmission was cut off by him. “Be safe.” Dostya simply stated before she cut off her own transmission.

I walked in my ACU for a few minutes; I had the straps keep me in my seat extra tightly in case of another explosion. More, less powerful explosions going off in the direction I was walking, each one getting more and more powerful as time went on. I could feel the tension in the air, the adrenaline pumping through my veins; I even heard my own heartbeat as I continued to trek towards the battlefield, knowing the whole world’s fate rested within my own enhanced hands. I eventually reached a clearing as I soon saw Tirek finally talking to Twilight and soon showing her own friends in their prisons. Soon after their release, Twilight was about to release all the magic within her Alicorn body before I cranked the external speakers on my ACU to the ‘Maximum Overclock’ setting and screamed as loud as I could into the microphone: "STOP!!!!"

I realized that I may have overdone it a bit as I was pretty sure that I could be heard all the way in Griffonstone. Frightened, Twilight immediately stopped the process and jerked her head in the direction of my ACU in surprise and fright as did Tirek and everyone else that was there, I had to admit, just waltzing over there and demanding them to stop may not have been the best idea, but at least Tirek didn't get Twilight's magic. "You dare interrupt me?!" Tirek demanded, I turned the volume down to a more reasonable level and spoke into it again. "Why not; you are threatening the balance of this world, killing it as you go along your journey of destruction, do you understand as to what you're doing!?" Tirek was unimpressed. “Of course, I know precisely what I'm doing, you on the other hand don't, do you?” I raised an eyebrow, not certain if I should let him ramble on or to shut him up. “I actually know what I'm doing, if you wanted to gain true power, you could have made true friends, true allies, and gained power the natural way, instead you decided to take it by force and violence, you care about nothing but yourself, that's why you will lose! Honestly, I'm disgusted by your performance.”

He seemed unmoved. “Maybe so, but I will be victorious; this world will be mine to use as I see fit, I might as well have your own head as a trophy!” I actually began to chuckle, then guffawed and finally I cackled loudly at his threat, I have to admit, I sounded an awful lot like Super Saiyan Rosé Goku Black when he laughed in Dragonball Xenoverse 2, leaving everyone else confused. Believe it or not, I actually found the threat funny; this idiot had the fact that he had the gall, the sheer audacity to attempt to harm my ACU! It was one of the most ridiculous things I had heard in a long time. After a full 20 seconds of laughter, I had enough breath to finally speak. “I'd like to see you try, because I'll certainly be surprised if you can do it without destroying the rest as you'll be incinerated by my Nuclear Reactor that will quite literally explode when destroyed! You’d be signing your own death warrant!” I said maliciously, raising one of the cannons to firing position. “You are crazy! I suppose I would expect nothing less from a freakish thing like you! I’ll erase you from this world before you cause damage that I could!” Tirek sneered as he and I both stared at each other for a while before we charged directly at each other.

I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly the ACU moved for its size, this ACU was extremely manoeuvrable, it was almost as if it were an actual Human in terms of movement. Dr Brackman must have made some extreme upgrades to my ACU other than the three that I had mentioned. We ran about as fast as one another, I then gave a mental command and the ACU's right arm reared back and threw it forward in a motion similar to a punch. What happened next was difficult to describe; the attachment to the arm retracted into the arm itself and was replaced with a 5 fingered hand, curled into a tight fist, which then connected with Tirek's jaw, cracking it in the process. ‘I think I’m beginning to like Brackman more and more!’ I thought as Tirek went tumbling backwards from my massive punch, me following at top speed, I then decided to use my actual weapons and opened fire with a few shots with my main gun, striking him in the chest multiple times, doing noticeable damage. He then roared as he charged up to what looked like a spell of some offensive nature, I then activated my scanners and found the precise part of his brain that controlled all magical functions. 'Microwave laser generator, prepare to make the beam about as small as 100 cells apart, then fire at Tirek's left frontal lobe via eye socket of same location on my order.' I mentally ordered before Tirek's spell hit me dead on, I'm glad that this thing could take a nuclear blast without slowing down, I then ordered verbally into the computer one simple command: "Fire!"

The Microwave Laser Generator let loose an almost invisible laser beam right into Tirek's eye socket and hit his brain at the exact spot that I had calculated was his main means of controlling magic, upon contact, that part of the brain ceased to work entirely and Tirek fell to the ground, holding his head and roaring in absolute agony, he then got up after recovering and attempted to use magic, but he couldn't, just as I had predicted. "What have you done?!" He demanded, rage filling his eyes, I chuckled in response. "The Microwave Laser Generator, under the right setting, it focused through your pupil like a scalpel; instant Lobotomy. Now you can no longer use magic of any kind, face it Tirek, you're done." I stated coldly. His face contorted into one of pure defiance, rage and near insanity before he screamed. "This isn't over you... WHATEVER IN TARTARUS YOU ARE!!!!!!!" He then literally charged me like a bull, I wish I was kidding, head lowered, galloping at full speed, the whole shebang. Without thinking, I made the ACU's body spin faster than most airplane turbines would ever rotate, at about 120,000 revolutions per minute, one of the arms hit Tirek on the side of the head, sending him in the direction I was rotating, when my ACU and my own head finally stopped spinning (which took a while), I then proceeded to walk over to the severely injured enemy. I took a scan and found that I did more than I had intended, his skull was THIS close to shattering and he no doubt had a life-threatening concussion from my hit.

"Do you surrender? Because believe me, I can do this all day!" I stated as Tirek nodded weakly. "I... I will release all the magic I stole back to their rightful owners, unlike a few others who tried before me, I know when I've been defeated." He then relaxed his body and several thousand multicoloured lights flew out of his body and went to god knew where. I looked back at Tirek, to be honest, without his added power, he was absolutely pathetic, he was about the size of an average pony, as thin as a twig, not a scrap of muscle on him, he even had the smallest and most under-developed looking bull horns I had ever seen. I could not bear to see someone so weak, I wanted to help him but, I could not allow him to cause more pain, or suffering. It was something that quite literally sickened me; it was unbearable to look at for long. I knew that if he were to be put back into Tartarus he would just escape again, I had to eliminate a potential problem before it even began! "I may have made you release the magic, but I didn't say anything about putting you out of your miserable state. I can't live seeing anyone like this, even those who don't deserve my kindness, it's like I said earlier, if you wanted power, you should have gotten it the natural way, not the forceful way. Because of this, those who are like you, who don't deserve to live…” I paused, letting a tear fall behind my exoskeleton. “I will instead give you the kindest act possible in your current state… death." He somehow understood my words and let himself go limp completely, his last words being; “I'm sorry.” Before I activated my overcharge... and let loose.

I returned to the site where Twilight was and stopped about 100 feet from them. Discord apparently had gotten out of there sometime after the fight’s end and the time I was walking towards the group, most likely to watch from afar, since I made Tirek release all the magic he stole, it would make sense that his power would be included in Tirek’s pool of magic and now that it was his again, he apparently sensed me come that way and made certain he wouldn’t be seen. I’m not certain to this day as to why he just booked it like that, but I didn’t question it at the time. Anyway, I noticed that the Mane 6's appearances had changed drastically, the Rainbow Power (I wish I was kidding, but that’s what it’s officially known as) had been unleashed. Their hair (or in this case, manes) had been lengthened immensely and had a couple more colours added to their already colourful appearances. I honestly felt when I first saw the episode where they looked like that, and even at that point until now, I still thought that it was over-exaggerating their attributes quite a bit. I had also noticed that since Twilight hadn’t quite returned all the Alicorn magic she was carrying, she was glowing far brighter and her hair was waving in the air like a flowing cape. The scanners were going absolutely ballistic with the readings they were receiving; the power within her was so high she could probably power a massive base like the Coalition Command Centre from Supreme Commander 2 for several decades! I turned on the external speakers. "If I may ask, what are you still doing here?" I asked politely, Twilight quite literally flew up to me and demanded right to my ACU's face; "Where is Tirek?!" I sighed. "I'm afraid that Tirek... is no longer with us." Twilight's expression twisted to that of absolute horror before switching to anger.

"Before you say anything, I only wish to explain why. He was beaten, broken and returned the magic that he stole back to their rightful owners, I had him disarmed and weakened, but I had done far worse damage than I had intended, I had hit him so hard that his skull nearly shattered and I destroyed the part of his brain that allows for magical control and manipulation. My sense of morals couldn't allow him to remain in such a pitiful state, but I knew I couldn’t let him be imprisoned again. I absolutely cannot stand it when someone or something is suffering; it quite literally makes me sick to my stomach. Therefore, the only solution I could find was one thing; death. I blasted him through the head with an overcharged shot. I personally believe that if someone can't live like the way that they've been forced to, then they shouldn't or if they’re suffering, they must be helped, even if they don’t want to be saved. I couldn't however, let Tirek live, he was far too big of a threat to Equestria; if I let him live and allowed you to send him back to Tartarus, he would have escaped again later on down the line, no matter the cost! As such, the only solution I could think of, was to, again, kill him. If there was another way, I would have taken it, you have to believe me! I truly don’t want you to think of me as a monster." I went silent after that, Twilight and her friends were shocked at my speech, letting their guard down and de-transforming into their base forms, they obviously didn't know what to think. "You... you really don’t want to hurt us?" One of the two Pegasai there, Fluttershy, asked quietly, she probably never realized before that day that there were some beings out there that looked as downright terrifying as I did that only wanted to be friendly with everyone. "I truly don’t. I want you to know that I knew what you were trying to do, it was truly justified, I realize that you believed that what you were doing was right and I respect that, but while what you were doing was morally perfect, it isn't perfect, nothing ever is, not even your methods are." The equines nodded in understanding, though one of them didn’t agree with my logic for maintaining peace.

"I still don't think even he deserved that!" The rainbow-maned Pegasus, Rainbow Dash, said bitterly. "Really, then you would have rather to put him in a life of slavery, or perhaps condemning him to a life of absolute misery even if his psyche changes for the better?!" I demanded as they visibly flinched and reeled back at my accusation. Twilight then asked, choosing her next words carefully. "Why would you ask that? We would only have sent him back to Tartarus to be detained for the rest of time; he would be treated fairly and made certain to be taken care of." I scowled in my ACU and decided to explain a few things as the mares sat themselves down. "Do you even realize what I’m getting at? Do you even know what true terror or slavery or even what oppression even looks like!?” I demanded, already knowing the answer, each of the mares shook their heads in saying that they didn’t. “Then allow me to fill you in on a few things that you missed.” I spat bitterly before I began my explanation. I decided to make the tale of the Supreme Commander story line and use it as an example and a basis for my ‘Case in Point’ and origin story. (Que the sad music immediately! (Legend of Dragoon OST – Death and Mourning (https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=qFIalM7kXro)) “Many years ago, Humanity, was in pieces, the world had lost 90% of all its resources to our own carelessness and as a result, was in complete, utter shambles and in a constant state of chaos. Not like the chaos that you know, but harmful, violent chaos, fires were started for no apparent reason, mass panic was the norm, and there were riots in the streets! There was only one option left; space. It held such hope for humanity... a fresh start, a chance for old grievances to wither and die. Newly installed quantum gate networks allowed humanity to push itself deeper and deeper across the stars and into space. Countless planets were colonized, governed by the relatively peaceful Earth Empire; humanity entered a golden age of peace and prosperity."

Pinkie Pie, who had somehow gotten a folding chair and a bunch of popcorn and candy from seemingly nowhere (It's just Pinkie being Pinkie), raised her hoof and asked. "Hold on a second! What do you mean, 'relatively'?" I shook my head, silently reminding myself that Pinkie can be rather inquisitive when she wants to be. "I was getting to that, as with all races, the pace of developing technology quickened dramatically, a human brain was successfully joined with an artificial intelligence by our leader and father, Dr Gustaf Antoine Brackman, at that moment, my race, the Symbionts were born. However, Humanity didn't take us lightly; eventually their own basic instincts and fears took hold of their own moral consciousness, as such, the thread began to unravel. We Symbionts demanded independence; the Earth Empire's response was a secret loyalty program that pacified anyone with an A.I. implant. It turned them into the complete opposite of what a freely thinking being is; it turned them into mindless slaves, using them for the most menial of tasks. It seemed as though those who were infected with the 'Loyalty' program had completely forgotten who they were, like they had just came into this universe with no prior memories of their past life, nothing more than complete slaves.” I paused to let the facts sink in before I continued. “Imagine having no control over yourself, no one to help you, doing nothing but what whoever is in control of you tells you to do. Nothing but their bidding, you want to break free, you want to scream for help, but you’re trapped in a state of utter obedience that you can’t break free from. I want you all to imagine, Twilight, think, if you did all sorts of reports for Celestia, and you did it whether you wanted to stop yourself or not. Rarity, try thinking about if you were to do all your orders at once, without any breaks in between it all, just because a person ordered you to. Pinkie Pie, imagine for a moment if you were told to bake nothing but cakes for 48 hours straight and couldn’t stop until you were done and no one bought them, because you had orders to follow. Applejack, think of doing nothing but apple-bucking for a whole week straight without help, and no one bought them, just because someone ordered you to. Rainbow dash, what if you were told to do nothing but stunts for a full 12 hours! With no breaks, no excuses, not even to let you have refreshment at any point, just because someone ordered you to. And finally, Fluttershy, think if you did everything that Angel told you to do for him, no matter how trivial for the rest of your life, doing nothing but being his servant and doing nothing else... all because he told you to!” The 6 mares just looked on in horror, Twilight looked like she was going to throw up, Fluttershy burst into tears, Rainbow was too angry to care, Applejack looked on in sadness, Pinkie's mane literally deflated and became completely flat and straight, and Rarity, almost fainted.

"How... how could anypony be so heartless?!" Twilight demanded, I decided to humour her a little more. "Anyone who doesn't have their priorities straight and has lived for so long in only one way and doesn't want anything to change, it can do that to you.” Rarity looked down at the ground in sadness. “Those scenarios you described to all of us...” She started. “…They… just…” Applejack continued slowly, trying to stay strong. “Suck, I mean... Royally SUCK!!!!” Rainbow finished angrily. I then decided to finish my first part of the story. “After the Loyalty program was released, Dr Brackman had no choice but to flee with his closest Symbionts and created the Cybran Nation, we had fought for our freedom ever since. However, that's not the worst thing they've done, that honour has to go to when they almost completely wiped out an entire race of sentient beings because of pure xenophobia." The Mane 6 paled (Rarity more than her usual white colour) almost to the point of pure white at what I had just said. "THEY DID THAT!?!?!?" Rainbow screamed. I made the ACU nod its head and I spoke once more. "A few years after we had fled from the Earth Empire, they had discovered an alien race called the Seraphim, they introduced the settlers to their culture, known only as 'The Way'. Despite peaceful overtures being a natural occurrence, the aliens were attacked by xenophobic soldiers. Nukes were launched from orbit, the aliens were slaughtered in public areas, entire cities, once gleaming chrome silver and the most beautiful kinds of structures you could find in the entire universe, being reduced to a smouldering pile of radioactive waste. After years of this, there were no more Seraphim to be found on the planet at all, in revenge for this, a group of humans known as the Aeon Illuminate formed from their ashes, they began to spread The Way and 'cleanse' the galaxy of non-believers." I paused to let the facts sink in once more.

"All this led the Earth Empire to collapse, the Galaxy fell into total darkness and chaos. From the ruins of the old Earth Empire rose the United Earth Federation, an old idea made new. Their purpose was to unite the galaxy and restore order, no matter the cost. A few years after this, the technology of destruction surged into an all new realm of high, called the Armoured Command Unit or ACU, it made killing quite efficient, as an army could be created anywhere at any time. The Infinite War raged for over 1000 years, billions upon billions of lives were lost. Thanks to a new super-weapon called 'Black Sun', a Cybran Commander was able to alter it to fire a concentrated beam of data into the Quantum Gate network, freeing all Cybrans and destroying the Quantum Gates in the process. The war was won however, as all sides eventually made contact and finally agreed to peace." The Mane 6 were relieved that the war had been brought to a close at last, but were still disturbed by the billions that had lost their lives to it. "Now you know where we came from, how we came to be, what we’ve done, but you don't know what we truly look like, I am still in my ACU or Armoured Command Unit at this time, please allow me to show you what I truly am." I then turned off the speakers and unstrapped myself from the control chair and made my way to the hatch that led to the top of the ACU's head, I could only hope that this meeting would go well. I opened the hatch and looked around, my eyes adjusting to the bright sun; I climbed outside the hatch and breathed in some fresh air, taking it all in. I then saw the 6 equines in front of the ACU.

"Up here!" I called down to them, they looked up and I jumped, I activated my jet boots mid fall and slowed my descent, making precise and flawless adjustments if I leaned too far forward or backwards. I then came to rest right in front of them all, my jet boots deactivated and I landed with a soft 'clunk', I then saw each of their reactions to my appearance, Twilight was a mix of worry, admiration, curiosity and fear, Rarity quite literally fell on her rump, scared out of her wits, Applejack was left with her mouth agape trying desperately to process what she had just witnessed. While I will admit, my performance was quite dramatic and hard to believe, it was actually kind of fun, and who said you couldn't have fun once in a while? Pinkie Pie's was about the same as Applejack's but I knew it was an entirely different reason. Fluttershy was cowering behind Rainbow which the latter tried her best to not look scared, ultimately failing. I let them take in my Exoskeleton's appearance before I broke the silence. "You wanted to see what I truly look like? It's also part of the reason why the Earth Empire treated us so unfairly and even attempted to enslave us, as well as seize our higher thought processes for their own purposes." I then turned around, gave a mental command and my metal exoskeleton began to open in the back, first the back of the legs, moving up to the posterior, then the back, through the arms and it stopped at the helmet which opened up completely in the back allowing me to finally step out of my exoskeleton and reveal myself to the world.

Aside from my cybernetics, I was covered in a black skin-tight jumpsuit, over my heart there was a serial number in bold white letters: GZH-2001. My jumpsuit had holes in the back and front for my cybernetics to attach their cables into my other systems, providing power and nutrients to my cybernetics and organic pieces respectively. My face was what many would consider handsome; I had the best of what someone would call a mix between Roger Moore and Sylvester Stallone with soft lips, a chiselled chin and an aura of charm around me. My entire body (at least whatever skin was exposed) had various patches of red veins, clearly visible red veins, in actuality; my body was filled with Nanites that repaired any injuries that I would sustain in the battlefield. My hips also had two holsters that were filled with two MCR-92 auto-pistols for self-defence, slung over my back was a MY-27 Plasma rifle with laser sighting and a detachable sniper scope for better long range combat. I wasn't sure as to how I managed to make the rifle fit inside the exoskeleton aside from it becoming part of the exoskeleton until being pulled out for combat situations. (The one the Combat Robian was holding in his right hand in the picture except with a Stoner-63 standard-issue magazine on the bottom (http://www.deviantart.com/art/Combat-robian-redesign-199612848)).

I then said: "This is what we truly are, we may be able to take more damage, heal quicker, think faster and live longer, but we are still just as susceptible to injury as you are." I knew that the 6 mares didn't know what to think. Me, a bipedal, cyberneticly enhanced being was probably unlike anything they had ever seen. I could see that Twilight was extremely giddy at the thought of meeting a new species, but at the same time, she was also scared, her adrenaline was at the peak that her body could handle, her brainwaves were firing on all cylinders and her heart was beating out of control, I could tell because I had scanners in my eyepiece that was over my left eye. Twilight eventually lost all her inhibitions and fears however as she suddenly became angry for some odd reason, at the time I knew that she had always solved problems the non-lethal way, but when she spoke, it was as though she were something else, as though she were a completely different person at that particular moment. Though she later told me that she said this without thinking at all, and that she was sorry, it couldn't excuse what she said next; "Why would you go to war if all you wanted to do was to live in peace?! You could have hid from them, you could have talked to them, anything but war, so why!?"

I understood why she would demand something like that, as she never had seen war, only battles, not a full scale war. I however, did not condone with her use that kind of voice when asking as to why the Cybrans never found a diplomatic solution. My face twisted to that of pure rage, my ocean blue eyes quite literally turned into a blood red mixed with a sickly yellow colour. "We had no Choice!” I retorted, fighting with my emotions, trying to keep myself calm. “Think about it, when we fled, we were considered public enemy #1! They thought that we would come back as tyrants, all because they acted before they thought. I’d like to see what would happen if the same thing happened here, you seem like the type to do that kind of thing, you act before you think! Take for example your little incident with your zebra friend, Zecora! You never thought and instead acted on impulse, sound familiar?! Well that’s what happened with the Earth Empire Leaders that wanted us dead! You don’t know what war is like at all, do you?! Hiding underground for years, living in fear, living knowing that, aside from your race, everyone hates you, they see you as monsters, as a virus that needs to be terminated! You will never know that, because that never happened to you, because I will not allow it to, I simply cannot! You would die within the first few months or at the latest the first 2 years! I will not allow such atrocities TO GRACE THIS WORLD!!!!!!”

I then realized my eyes were already letting the tears fall, I rubbed at them with my right hand, the salty liquid staining the leather gloves that held my true metallic hands. Twilight and the others were visibly traumatized by my outburst, Fluttershy was on the ground, wanting to cry, but she couldn't, her eyes remaining dry, Applejack eventually couldn't take it anymore and let the tears flow, still refusing to cry audibly. Rarity was still sitting on the ground, looking extremely guilty, Pinkie Pie was sitting on the ground closest to Applejack, hair completely straight, her eyes watering to the point of tears herself, Rainbow Dash just sat on the ground and hung her head in her own thoughts.

Twilight had taken it the worst however, as she knew what it was like to have someone or pony strike a nerve when it came to something sensitive, heck she admitted that she had it had happen to her and she had even done it herself a couple of times, but my reaction was one of the worst she had ever seen. I had never intended to scar them or accuse them so blindly but it must have been deeply personal to whoever owned this body before me, so it wasn’t my own fault that I was sensitive to such an issue. She then carefully chose her next words, not wanting to damage me any further. "What... what do you... want... now?" I slowly and gently kneeled in front of her and placed one of my hands on the left side of her head, I broke down into more tears, my eyes turning back to their original ocean blue and spoke once more, my voice almost breaking. "What do I want? All I want is for my race to live in peace, to live without fear of slavery, I don't know what we would do if we were forced back into what we worked so hard to destroy! I want us to live a peaceful life and to protect the innocent. You have done no wrong; therefore you are innocent and I..." I realize that I may have gone completely childish at that point, as without warning I actually put both of my arms around her in a gentle hug, Twilight’s face filled with surprise as she had clearly never dealt with this kind of thing before. "I thank you for trying to understand why I have done these things, if you hate me for it, I won't stop you from doing so, I will respect your opinion if you so wish." I closed my eyes, bracing myself for what may happen next.





(You’ll know the music when you get to the page (https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=rWDHcyo-uLg))





I suddenly felt two hooves wrap themselves around my torso. I opened my eyes and saw that Twilight had done exactly the thing I never expected; her forelegs were wrapped around my torso, her head was actually resting on my shoulder, her face was one of understanding and kindness, her mouth a gentle smile, she then looked directly at my face, her eyes filled with understanding and forgiveness. "I don't; I don't hate you for what you've done, the way you described your position, I probably would have made the same choices as you did. While I may not like the choices that you did make, I can accept them, as I won't judge you any longer, you aren't what I thought you were. I once thought than anything could be solved through non-lethal means, now I know that that was wrong, you have shown me just what I might have needed to see that, now I thank you for it." She relaxed her body in a manner similar to Tirek, her horn glowing brightly, 3 sets of multicoloured lights flew out of her horn and sped off to parts unknown. I looked on as they flew, having a distinct suspicion as to who those magical lights belonged to. “Was that...?” I asked, never finishing. Twilight smiled, answering the unfinished question. “The Princesses’ magic, successfully kept from Tirek, thanks to you.” I smiled, tears still flowing. "You want me to blush don’t you?" I asked, Twilight giggled. “What’s wrong with a little appreciation? I’m certain you don’t mind a little bit, because thanks to you, the whole of Equestria has its rightful magic back to its owners!” I then frowned, pondering something. “Won’t Celestia see me as a monster for my actions though, killing Tirek I mean?” Twilight winced at the mention of death but smiled nonetheless. “I’m certain that she’ll understand. I have to admit, I prefer Tirek’s life over the entirety of Equestria.” I brought my own smile back to my face, nuzzling her cheek with my own. “Thank you Twilight, you’re as kind and as fair as they say.” I don't know how long we stayed there hugging each other, but we just couldn't seem to part from each other, I just let my emotions and tears flow off me and into the equine I was being so intimate and so clingy with. The sun was still high above us, keeping the both of us warm as we kept ourselves practically glued to one another. It seemed as though nothing could break our newly formed friendship, as the others along with a couple of new arrivals to the scene, who had managed to listen in on quite literally everything I had to say. They all simply looked on, awed or (Mostly in Pinkie's case) cheered about our scene, but we didn't care, all that mattered at the moment, was each others' comfort.