Blacklight Retribution: Ondra's Fall

“There was a time when we thought we all had it worked out. A time when we all thought it was going alright for us; of course, that’s not how the world works.”

-Unknown

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I wake up... Could have sworn I was dead. But I woke up and I look around. I see that I’m in a forest, looking like it was almost sundown. The important thing was I was alive, but for what? I was just another man doing what he knew was right... What he thought was right... Then I passed out again, my surroundings.

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The Void

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“Ah I see you have awakened,” a mysterious voice hissed from the shadows of... My mind?

“Who are you, and what do you want?” it was a question, it wasn’t a very original question, but it was a question.

“We are the most powerful being in this land, and you will aid us in our freedom,” the voice was coming from lazily floating dust, blue dust. This dust was regrouping, forming into something, I tensed up, the form finished into a... Blue horse? With a horn? AND WINGS?! “You will lead us to our great return!” the form of dust then lunged at me, with something sharp... And long, not the way I thought I would go a second time. Something was holding me down, I closed my eyes in defeat, then it hit me. For a dream this really hurt, but I accepted that pain, for I had already died.

“We have preserved thy form, in exchange for a deal. Help us escape our prisons and we will give thee what is most desired,” she was bluffing, “Your way home...” This sent a shiver up my spine, reason being was because I don’t know what horrors await me back at Earth and questions reeling at my head, what was there to get back to? Would it be worth it to help this entity, what would happen to others? As some would say... YOLO. I had to give this a chance, this was my only way back, to protect what I held dear to myself. To get back to my friends,with hope that they’d still be alive. Ah hell what the fuck am I saying? They’re dead, and the only reason the realist part of me is saying is that there will only be a world to save, nothing else.

“What do I have to do,” I knew I was going to regret this somehow, “to free you.”

“We appreciate thy decision, though we will warn thee. Your form has changed since it has entered our world, so tread carefully.”

“Noted,” I respond.

“We need thou to incapacitate, this,” a large white horse with wings and horns were shown, I assumed this was my target to non-lethally kill.

“Non-lethally kill, huh? That’s new, I’ll try,” I chimed.

“We have plans for this one, specific individual, for she is the reason we were banished to the moon for many millennia.” Hearing that, I just shrug, I quit trying to make sense of it all after I saw a horse with wings and a horn.

“Good luck, my great vessel,”

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Everfree

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“Vital signs reaching critical levels,” said my suit AI as the aforementioned status barely shown on my HUD with flickers of lights, my helmet was damaged and running out of power, telling me shit I already knew. I stood up, but having problems so I look around. Touching the ground was a weird sensation, because it felt like I was touching it with one object instead of the usual six I pick myself up with: the palm and the five fingers. A hoof, what the hell happened to me? Was the explosion that bad?

I manage to develop only enough knowledge of my current motor controls to drag myself to a nearby pond. What I saw was another stranger thing besides my hooves, my armor had been turned into that of an equine’s structure, it was unmistakable. The helmet was working, just barely. I’m talking about enough energy to only recharge the HRV and nothing else, that didn’t bother me, at least I knew where everything organic and emitting heat was, should be easy enough.

I look back at where I was, I didn’t get a better look. It was a crater, much like ones where you’d crash into from re-entry, but what would I know about that? The world’s economy has turned into the kind of shit that cannot recover itself that we had to resort the becoming a wasteland. A kind of wasteland that shown no sign of relenting. That’s another story for another time.

After some time in my area of the forest, I learn my motor skills more thoroughly and finally got used to being quadruped. Running literally became a second nature for my legs, even though they looked like hammered-shit. Seems everything that happened in Earth followed me to here. I wonder what else did. I hope nothing did, and at that moment I heard a crack behind me. I took to the bush, and initiated Hyper Reality Vision. What I saw was a group of quadrupeds, but in a dog like form. Must be scouts of the alpha predators of this forest. I reach for my machete, because I know my lock to it should be able to handle anything. I realised I was an equine, Sonofabitch, and cursed more to myself until I felt the machete, remove itself from the sheath. I look back and my machete is glowing white, or concrete grey? Giving it a few test swings, I was satisfied that I could move the thing with lethal speed and accuracy, not that I preferred this over using it with hands, still took some effort.

The group was closing in at thirty feet, I prepared my self. Taking one last look at my only hope to getting out of here when hostilities unsu, and one last look at the sun if things go to high hell for me... Dying again? I think I could almost manage that, having that one last laugh, they were already closing in at fifteen feet, Damn! Time really passes by when you think of something else... Ten feet from my crater and one of them already started growling and turned it’s head towards me. These looks rabid, I guess I can kill them. Wasting no time I rushed towards the first to notice me and I hack at it.

This certainly was more fun than using hands because I could rotate, pull, thrust, and cut through with the machete more than the human could imagine. Being done with cutting the first like [like a twitcher, heh, I was a fan of the necromorph theory, so what? Last I heard, that only happened one-hundred fifty years ago on the Gulf of Mexico] I move to the next two, who in which were conveniently placed in a way that it was beyond easy to take them out with one strong and precise blow. No blood, thank god I don’t have to clean my shit... The wood is moving... Really? With no hesitation I used HRV to look for the area with the most heat emitting off, or rather the direction hoping to see civilization. I saw many signatures south-west; relevant to the sun, towards what I hoped was civilization. With that out of the way, I ran, only problem was my HRV was having problems, Note to self, see to it that the HRV is repaired before use. I then heard voices, faint voices from my location towards the same direction towards civilization. I ran to a different bush, I could account for at least three voices, barely coherent and the wolves were starting to reform.

“We don’t know what this is so keep your eyes open for anything strange, I know we’re in the Everfree, but you should distinguish what is of this Forest and what’s not,” female voices is what I could tell, it’s a search party of females?

“Look sugar-cube,” western accent... What the hell? “ whatever’s out here might be more dangerous than the things that are already out here in this darn forest, now Ah want to go home before supper so this is going to be the last place to look and then we go back, got it?”

“Yeah, AJ’s right, we need to get back, it’s getting too late to keep looking for what ever ended up here,” another voice, at least I was correct.

And with that last sentence of theirs, the wolves started growling from cover at the group of five, now that I see more of them. The group consisting of: purple, blue, orange, white, and yellow individuals. I was a stranger on a strange world, and I’m one with no knowledge about it.

I could see their eyes now, there was just something about them when they saw the wolves. IT was unmistakable, I saw eyes showing innocents, I haven’t seen those in years... How? I decided it was my duty to protect them as if it was a childhood dream, I just wanted to see a part of my life that was most enjoyable, when people didn’t want to see the world burn before the very eyes of those who enjoyed it more them.

I did the same tactic as I did on my last encounter with these wolves, they didn’t learn because I get them from behind, and the only one to notice me was the last one, in which I cut several pieces of wood to see if it would start reforming again when its limbs are severed to what I considered “BEYOND REPAIR”.

That action of heroism, and strength only got me a hit to the face, considering I was in a pretty bad condition, they probably thought I was a monster, with all those cuts and bruises and ruined armor. The last thing I saw was a blue blur straight towards me like a MAG round. I could see a yellow pegasus, it looked like it was out cold. Also a white Unicorn in a similar state? Everything was blacked-out

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Some time before the explosion

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“Just leave me, Mate!” Stranger coughed out, his mouth still barely dripping with blood.

“Shut the hell up! We’ll make it!” I yelled back with a bit of fatigue.

“Come on Ondra, the rest of the team is dead, I can’t do shit,” I keep running while carrying him by his shoulder. I found a spot we could hide from the infected, so I dove into that room with Dickson letting out a soft grunt. “You know, a man once told me. That a good man knows what’s right, but a smart man knows when he’s lost.”

“You’re going to make it, Freddie, it’s just a scratch we’ll get you fixed up!” I hissed with heavy breathing.

“You’re a bad liar,Poet,”

“My name is Ryman, not Poet. Just stop talking, you’ll get through this”

“Heh, the door is not too far, here,” he gave me his snub nose revolver.

“What? What is this,” my question was not about what the snub nose was, I’m glad he took the hint.

“I said the door is not too far, there’s a full cylinder on that piece, make it count,” he pulled out a hardsuit designator.

“That’s a one-way trip, they’ll take you out before you take half of them with you,”

“I know that... Just promise me something. If I don’t make it, you’ll get this done, right?” oh how I had wish I would have said, We’ll get this done, Freddie, you and me. But sadly, that was not the case.

“I’ll get it done,” I sigh with defeat.

“Good, I’m glad to hear that,” I didn’t notice he was designating the entire time, a hardsuit fell right in front of our door. He was limping over to the hardsuit as the infected were screeching at the sound of a falling hardsuit. “Hey, I”m sorry about Poet, man,” He had a solemn look about him as he closed the hardsuit on himself.

“Me too... Me too,” and with that, I ran for the control room, already hearing the screaming, the flamethrower and minigun of the hardsuit. “You will not be forgotten, not over my dead body.”

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Local Clinic: Ponyville, Equestria

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I feel myself get back to reality as I started to feel my limbs again.

“He’s waking up,”

“No duh, Twilight, we see that. Why did we help this thing by the way?” this voice interrupted the first. I manage to open my eyes, staring into the almighty ominous ceiling, the reason being ominous was because I did not know what I was about to see if I looked down, I was on a bed, no mistaking that. My armor... Where had it gone? I’m naked, not necessarily, I was in a gown, I hadn’t looked down, the feelings of what was on me were unmistakable. This was the time I look down.

“Sorry about that, Rainbow Dash is xenophobic,” the purple one said, the purple PONY said!?

“No, that was not it, it was teaching this thing a lesson it would never forget when it threatens us,” this much came from the columbian blue [A/N The color’s hex values implied, by technological law, that her coat was Columbia Blue] pony, with... A rainbow mane?

I only stared at the audacity of the Rainbow Pony. She was definitely the one who knocked me out, and has entitlement to be that full of herself?

“It was only tryin’ to help us, Rainbow Dash, you didn’t understand what it was trying to do,”

Noticing all these crazy names and the marking on their flanks, I assumed I needed an appropriate name; I look down, looking for a marking of my own. It was Crescent moon with a black and white flame? I had a concrete grey coat, with some of my tail and mane hanging across my peripheral vision, these two being black, grey, and white, just like the bow on my mark. Considering I had the color scheme, I got the first part down. I just needed-

“What’s yer name?” asked the orange, blonde: Applejack... I need to come up with something fast.

“ARE YOU SERIOUS, APPLEJACK?! LOOK AT ITS WINGS, IT’S NOT NATURAL, IT’S NOT GOING TO PLAY NICE!” I cringed a little because of the screaming at me... Wings? I look back and there they were... Metal wings? Why? I could move them, I’ll learn how to fly later.

“It probably doesn’t want to talk because of the injuries RAINBOW DASH worsened,”

“My name is: Midnight Flame,” wow... That was one hell of a long shot and way to be original, considering that my mark was about the moon with a blatant flame in it’s crescent, I thought it was rather appropriate. I face-palmed... Face-hoofed...

“Midnight Flame, interesting, how did you end up in the everfree forest? And with those injuries, you looked pretty messed up before Rainbow Dash showed up, and how did you get those wings?” Asked the purple one, to which I eventually know as Twilight Sparkle.

“I... Don’t know,” I lied™.

“Ah, well I need to get back to the library. Midnight Flame, ask around. Meet me at the library, I’m going to ask you some questions when you’re ready,”

I gave a stiff nod, and I ask, “Wait, where are my things?”

“Just ask them, I don’t know where they placed it all after we brought them here for you,”

Now was the time to ask.

“Where do I go to find a white, tall alicorn?” I asked with the worst poker face I could not block.

“SEE?! I TOLD YOU HE WAS UP TO NO GOOD!” Rainbow Dash snapped at me

“WAIT! Look, I know that was a strange question, but this is the most unique form of pegasi I had ever seen in my life as a student of Celestia herself,” She might be an obstacle, “it would be important to let her know that he exists!” with a huff, and some visible air through Rainbow Dash’s nostrils, she let herself out. “Sorry about that, she can get a little out of hand sometimes,”

“It’s *cough* fine,” heh, blood managed to end up on my hoof, this earned a gasp from the group of ponies, there was something in all their eyes, innocents? I haven’t seen those in a long time

“Heh, I’ve been through worse,” I chuckled.

“Worse? What the hay kind of things have you been going through?” Applejack asked.

“Death,” and with that, they all just stared mouth agape.

“What... What do you mean?” asked the lavender unicorn.

“To answer your question... I. Died. I think,” I emphasized those last two showing that I had lost my life doing something for what I cared about. “We were trying everything we could to save our entire race, until everything was ruined by someone who had known we were coming. Someone betrayed us, became corrupt by the influence of our enemy, and we were ruined, and along with every hope we had to do what he had to.” I look down at my bed sheets, these wrinkles of the white cloth suddenly becoming the most interesting things in my mind, the way they have no repeating patterns, unpredictable, just like life itself, though it was all not based on white values.

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” she responded with drooping ears, interesting feature to represent that kind of feeling.

“I’ve already gone past that, do not worry,” I gave a weak smile, since I was still weak on this bed, it’s very comfortable now that I think about it, I hadn’t paid much attention because we became hard-asses when it came to military training and training to get through fatigue. I could rest on a pure-wood stool and sleep to recover myself.

“Since you just got here and have nowhere to stay, I’ll let you rest at my library once you’re discharged from the hospital.

“Thank you,” I let out with a little crack due to injury.

“It’s fine, save your strength, the doctors say you’re going to be out soon,” soon in a hospital often meant later.

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Canterlot, Equestria: Castle Grounds

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Luna woke up with a jolt, feeling like she just got stung by a bee. Celestia came to her room with a slightly loud thump to the door.

“Is everything alright, sister?” a concerned look on her face.

“Yes, I’m fine. For now, feels like something bad returned,” Luna said.

“That anomaly, we both felt it. I traced it back to ponyville. We should travel there to see what the problem was, it could be something that we need to take care of before long,” Celestia becoming more serious in her decision.

“Understood,” and with that, they were on their way to Ponyville.